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The shine in her eyes told him that his comment hit a nerve that was particularly sensitive but he wasn’t sure why. Before he had the chance to ask, she looked away, her gaze wandering over the assembled crowd. “I had no idea she had so many friends.” Her voice caught and she cleared her throat a moment later. She tried again. “I didn’t get home very often. My schedule—” She stopped, as if an internal alarm had warned that she was in danger of sharing too much, and the smile that followed was short-lived. “Well, as I said before…my schedule didn’t allow for much visiting,” she finished, her stare dropping to the frozen ground.
Feeling useless in the face of such heartache, yet knowing that there was little he could do to ease her suffering, Colin merely stood by her side as she received the long line of mourners offering their condolences. He caught a few questioning glances but Caroline’s friends had the good grace to leave it be for the time being. He didn’t blame their curiosity, he hardly knew her; that much was true. But it didn’t seem right to leave her alone.
He watched as she received a warm handshake from an elderly gentleman and weighed the measure of her apparent grief against the magnitude of a past transgression. Whatever Charlie did, it must have been a doozy to keep her away from her Aunt Caroline. The love she’d had for her aunt was almost palpable; as was her anguish for not being able to say goodbye.
He considered his major screwup with Danni and inwardly flinched. For all he knew, he was catching a firsthand glimpse of what his own future held with his daughter.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, once she had a free moment, jerking him out of his troubled thoughts. “I know we just met but it feels good to see someone I recognize.”
Her comment startled him. “I thought you grew up here.”
“I did. I used to think I knew everyone there was to know in this town. I figured I would recognize at least a few people,” she admitted almost to herself as tears welled in her eyes despite her attempt to blink them back. “But, just when I think I know who they are I can’t seem to remember their names and I feel like I’m losing my mind.”
The last part came out sounding like a confession and the force of her statement hit him like a punch to the gut.
There was little he could do to stop the grief but he could help in one small way. He turned to survey the crowd, looking for people he knew. He nudged her gently.
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