Same Day, Afternoon

Rosehill Church, Outside



“I hope we’re not too late,” Joy Donovan said as she hurried up the walk towards the front of the church, Chaz trailing along behind her. She paused long enough to pull her recorder out of her purse. She wanted to make sure that she managed to capture every word of the service so she could use it later in her article.

“This feels really weird,” Chaz grumbled, stopping dead in his tracks. He looked down at his jeans and boots. “I’m not even dressed for a funeral. We’re gonna stick out like a couple of sore thumbs. No one’s going to believe that we’re legitimately here to pay our respects to this woman.”

“You said you were going to go in with me!” She paused at the front door to put on the black hat that especially matched her black suit – suitable for a mourning guest – and pulled the attached veil down over her face. “It’s not my fault you didn’t pack anything appropriate in your duffle bag!”

“Joy, this is seeming like less and less of a good idea.”

“Go!” she ordered as she reached into her purse and pressed the play button on her recorder before pulling open the doors of the church. She inhaled deeply, gathering her courage, and then began to stride confidently into the building.

Rather awkwardly, Chaz slowly followed along behind her – until he caught sight of him! Chaz felt his draw drop. Out of all the places in the world, why the hell would he be in Rosehill? Now? And then it hit him. The funeral was for Meg Marriott. Chaz felt all the moisture drain from his mouth.

“Are you coming?” Joy barked in a stern whisper.

“I… I can’t,” he muttered, a sense of panic overtaking him. “I can’t.”

Without another word, Chaz turned and bolted out of church, leaving a stunned and bewildered Joy behind.

Meanwhile, Edouard Aleata had turned just in time to see the anxious young man leaving the building and couldn’t believe his own eyes.





Rosehill Church, Inside



“Eddie, what is it?” Vanessa Sterling asked with concern, easily noticing his obvious distraction.

“It’s…nothing,” Edouard Aleata replied only half listening to her.

“The service is about to start. We should….”

“Thank you, Van, but I’m going to go outside and try to call Cal again.” He awkwardly began to move towards the door, all thoughts of Van and Meg’s funeral gone from his head. “Maybe I can get through to her.”

Although Van thought that Eddie’s tone and behavior were odd, considering the tragic circumstances surrounding their reunion, it made logical sense to her that no one would be acting in a normal manner.

As the light strains of organ music began to fill the room, Van stood at the end of the aisle and inhaled deeply, praying to the good Lord to give her the strength to be able to say “good-bye” to her sister Meg.

She began her walk towards the front of the church while the gathered mourners slowly began to take their seats in the pews. She reached out for the hands of long-time friends and loved ones as they extended their own hands to her in silent shows of support and sympathy. And then there was Andrew….



When Dr. Andrew Marriott had married her stepdaughter Barbara, he’d finally officially become a part of the family, but Van had always thought of him as family, even before. He’d been such a pillar of strength for her during the time after her beloved husband Bruce had died, and now here he was being that rock for her once again.



Andrew took her by the arm and led her to a seat on the front row next to her nephew Ben, Meg’s son, and Ben’s family. It was such a sad occasion for a family reunion. Yet, still, someone was missing – Meg’s daughter Cal from whom she’d been long estranged.

Although the minister spoke comforting words and read verses of scripture, Van could only half listen as her thoughts were flooded with both memories of her sister and concerns for her niece. What finally drew her full attention was Ben, rising to deliver a eulogy for his mother.

“I want to thank you all for coming today,” Ben Harper spoke as he stood by his mother’s casket. “There are quite a few faces here that I haven’t seen in a long time. I just wish that it were under better circumstances.” He stopped, looked over at the framed photograph of his mother that sat atop the casket, and inhaled deeply.

“As I’m sure you all knew, my mother wasn’t exactly the easiest woman to get along with.” The crowd couldn’t help themselves but to smile and nod. Ben’s comment was an understatement, to say the least. “I think Maggie must have crossed paths with every single one of you in a negative way at some point over the years.” He looked at two of his mother’s former husbands, Tom Crawford and Andrew Marriott. “But I don’t want to talk about that. I want to talk about a woman many of you might not have had a chance to know.”

“Yes, it’s true, my mother could be difficult. She could be headstrong and she could be irascible, but she could also be kind and loving. She was a woman who cared.” He paused and looked down at his hands that shakily held a program for the service. “Sometimes she cared too much, yes, and that made her go beyond what some of you would consider decent and noble, but she cared for her children more than any of you could ever know. She bent over backwards numerous times over the years for Cal and me. She cared for her grandchildren. She cared for her sister.” He looked to Van and smiled. “And this life will be a lot less interesting without her in it.” He stopped and took a long breath. “And…well…I guess that’s all I have to say.” He leaned over and ran his fingers lightly along the edge of his mother’s picture, choking back tears. “I love you, Maggie.”

As Ben returned to his seat, the room fell absolutely silent because everyone knew that he was right – the world would be a less interesting place without Meg Hart Marriott in it.

And then it was Van’s turn to speak….





Rosehill Church, Inside



“Dear Meg,” Van muttered softly, not even knowing where to begin to say “good-bye” to her sister. “So many years. So much life.” She paused and inhaled deeply, trying to find the words she so desperate sought. “I remember when we were growing up, Momma would always tell me how I was the baby who never made a sound – who always had a smile on my face – and you… well, you were the one always raising a ruckus. And that’s how you lived your life.”

“You were never content to just subtly make your way into a room. You had to make an entrance. You refused to let anyone ignore the fact that Meg Dale was in the room. You lived your life so full of passion, but sometimes you had so much passion that you didn’t know how to channel it. To some people, that might have made you seem overbearing or controlling, but I knew where that was coming from. I knew that all came from that deep seated sense of passion.”

Van turned her attention away from her sister’s photograph and towards the congregation. “You see, my sister wasn’t the type of person to idly sit by and let life pass her by. She went out there and grabbed hold of life and shook it. Yes, that did mean she made some mistakes – and some of them were doozies, that’s for sure – but she lived every single moment she had to its fullest. How someone could just so callously and violently end such a…” Her voice trailed off. It truly was beyond her comprehension.

“No. I’m not going to dwell on that today. I’m not going to think about the bad. Today I want to remember the good in my sister. No matter what mistakes she made, she brought into this world two fine children.” She looked towards Ben and smiled. “And I know they had their differences over the years and I know her children had their own troubles, but they’ve both grown into such fine human beings.” Her voice caught in her throat. “I just wish… I wish that…”

“Aunt Van,” came the familiar voice from the back of the church.

Van looked up and towards the sound of the voice, her hand flying up to her chest in joyous surprise. She had come. Meg’s long estranged daughter Cal was slowly walking down the aisle towards her in the supportive arms of her husband Rick Latimer.