TWENTY-EIGHT
Lyla couldn’t have begun to know how those words would haunt her.
The funeral went as well as a funeral could. Everyone had left the house, everyone except for her family, Drea and Josie, who had become fast friends with her mother, aunt, and cousins.
Lyla and Trick had done most of the hosting, the greetings and farewells. While Drea and Josie took care of the practical details like food and jackets.
The last neighbor had just walked off the porch when Trick put his arm around her shoulders. “You okay, babe?” he asked, kissing her head.
He’d been there every step of the way today and when his boys turned up to carry her father’s coffin, she hadn’t been able to stop the tears. None of them had ego, none tried to steal the show, they were all demure and respectful. They gr
