Jun 192012
Arthor: Anna Jeffrey
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As the obligatory graveside ritual ground to an end, she made a silent prayer of thanks. She had shaken enough hands, said “thank you for coming,” enough times, been the dutiful spouse.
Through it all, she hadn’t shed a tear, and was proud of herself.
Because she hadn’t screamed either.
The service had been short and un-crowded. Kenneth Jarrett’s family was small. He’d had few friends. Some of her friends from work had come, but most only sent flowers. Poinsettias. A touch of the bizarre. Fitting, Dahlia thought.
She moved toward a waiting black limousine, flanked by her father and her lifelong friend, Pegine Murphy. If someone asked her to define her feelings, she could not. How could she find words a mere five days after learning her husband, the man who had vowed to forsake all but her, had died in a violent car collision at four o’clock in the morning with another woman in the passenger seat of his car.