“Are you okay?” Duke asked.
She glanced at her friend to find him watching her with an intrigued expression. “What? I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He shrugged. “Funerals can have weird effects on people. This one reminded me of when Rosemary died. The church-smells and the music bring it all back.”
Duke had been close to his next-door neighbor, who’d been more like a mother to him than anyone else had ever been. McKenzie was her granddaughter, and he liked to think Rosemary had fixed them up from the great beyond.
“I hope it brought back the good memories, too.”
“It did, but it was a reminder of the loss,” Duke said.
“It reminded me of losing my mom and grandparents, but I wanted to be there for Morgan. I really feel for him losing the last of his original family. That’s got to be brutal.”
“For sure, but at least he had them to begin with. He’ll carry them with him for the rest of his life.”
“True, but he’d rather walk beside them.”
“Yeah, for sure.”
While Duke chatted with Jace, Sierra kept her eye on Morgan as he worked his way through a room full of people offering condolences. Even from a distance, she could see that he was graciously accepting the outpouring, but his tension was equally apparent.
Sierra hoped he took her up on the free-massage coupon soon. If anyone had ever needed what she had to offer, it was him.
Chapter 3
They were killing him with kindness, Morgan thought as he shook hands and received hugs from a few people he remembered from back in the day and others he recognized but didn’t really know. They’d known Billy, though, and had nothing but nice—and funny—things to say about him.
His brother had been making people laugh all their lives with his quick wit and sardonic take on just about everything.
“I always looked forward to his greeting at the gym,” Oliver Watson said as he stood with his wife, Dara, her sister, Monique, and Linc Mercer, the Coast Guard officer who’d led the search for Billy and Jim. “You never knew what he’d have to say, but it was always entertaining.”
“That was Billy. He was very proud of being the class clown in high school.”
“I can picture that,” Oliver said, smiling.
“Our parents weren’t as thrilled by it as he was.”
Dara laughed. “I love that.”
“Billy told them it would always be his proudest accomplishment, and they said they feared for his future.”
“He did just fine despite that,” Oliver said. “I loved the atmosphere at his gym. Everyone did. And it came directly from him.”
“That’s nice to hear. He had a special way with people. He always found some way to connect with them.”
“He was great at that,” Oliver said. “We won’t keep you, but please know we’re here if there’s anything we can do for you, man.”
“Thank you. Everyone is so very kind.”
“That’s Gansett for you,” Dara said. “We’ve found the community of our dreams here. We were supposed to come for a year and then move on, but we’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m glad to hear you’ve found a home here.”
“Do you think you’ll hang out here for a while longer?” Linc asked.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ve got to figure out what to do about the gym and clean out Billy’s house and stuff. I’m not making any big decisions yet, but I do have a job and a life of my own to get back to at some point. My company has been supportive of me taking an extended leave.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Monique said. “You should take all the time you need before you make any decisions.”
