Lark entered the funeral home and felt her footsteps faltering.
Coming deep from somewhere within the rooms beyond her, there were muffled sounds of talking, crying and even laughter. Her parents and sister were already here. The place was packed to the brim with people, and she was going to have to plot a course to get to the room where her grandmother was laid out.
Her mother appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her, hissing quietly, “where the hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for you for nearly an hour.”
“Sorry.” She wasn’t really as her mother dragged her though the crowd not even aware of how the people were nearly hopping out of Everly’s path.
“Get it together, Lark. Your dad needs you.”
“I know,” she swallowed a bitter taste on her tongue. “I needed a minute to myself.”
“
