Morgan made her way to stand with her.
‘Are you okay?’
She nodded. ‘I am now. Christ, that was weird, she never stopped chatting all the way here, bless her. I don’t think it had sunk in until just before the end when she couldn’t take her eyes away from the coffin and began to sob.’
‘God love her, you did great.’
‘Yeah, if he was here, I’d make him buy the first round of drinks for putting us through this shit.’
Morgan smiled. ‘You’d be lucky, he wasn’t always forthcoming with his rounds.’
‘Tight as a crab’s arse was our Des, no doubt about it. Can I grab a lift back with you and Ben? My car’s at Felicity’s house but I don’t want to go back with her to get it.’
‘Of course, you can.’
As if speaking of him had instantly transported him to where they were, Ben walked towards them. He reached out and hugged Amy, who squirmed but hugged him back.
‘How are you?’
She pulled away from him. ‘Better than poor Felicity that’s for sure.’
He nodded. ‘At least that’s over with.’
They turned to walk back to Ben’s car when a voice boomed, ‘Morgan.’
She stopped in her tracks, turning around to face Theo who was striding towards them.
‘How are you all? Thanks for coming.’
Amy bristled, she nodded at him but carried on walking with Ben, leaving Morgan to talk to Theo alone and she was furious that they’d just dumped her.
‘That was a lovely service. It was as if you knew him.’
‘Thank you, I spent quite some time with his mum and aunt, although not at the same time, apparently they don’t get on, but I’m happy to see they seemed to have buried the hatchet for today.’
‘I guess death has a way of making you realise how short life actually is.’
‘True, I was wondering, do you think I should come into the station and have a chat with some of your colleagues? Grief can hit us when we least expect it. I’d like to offer my services of a listening ear if anyone needs it.’
Morgan looked deep into his eyes, there was a genuine warmth there which she hadn’t expected.
‘I’d have to ask the boss and let you know, if that’s okay, it’s not up to me to say really, Theo.’
‘I understand, I wanted to ask how you were specifically, Morgan. You had a terrible time, and I think we got off on the wrong foot. The same applies to you, if you need to have a chat, you’re welcome to come to the vicarage for a coffee anytime.’
‘Thank you, that’s good to know.’
She smiled at him then turned and hurried after Ben, who was leaning on the car waiting for her. They got inside, none of them speaking until the engine was on and he was turning away from Theo’s gaze.
‘What did he want?’
‘Said he was here if anyone needed to chat, might do you some good, Amy.’
‘Absolutely bloody not, I’d rather go stark raving mad than sit and talk to him about how I’m feeling, it’s not happening.’
Ben laughed. ‘He’s kind of hard to figure out, don’t you think? I can’t decide if he means well or is just meddling.’
Morgan glanced in the wing mirror to see him shaking the chief constable’s hand.
