Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
“Would y’all like to watch The Little Mermaid?” I asked them.
They both got excited, so I turned on the TV and slid the DVD into the player and started the movie. Both girls became engrossed in the movie, and I rested my head against the couch and closed my eyes. I hadn’t slept much the last couple nights, and I was so glad to have James home healthy. I just wish I didn’t have to pay the price of having Dougie gone.
Dougie was such a good man. He made me laugh without even trying, and it broke my heart that he was no longer here. His little girl would barely even know who he was. I promised myself that I was going to make sure that Kayla grew up knowing who her dad was, and that he was a hero.
SAM
“I am going to move to Kilgore.” Mrs. Nash rushed out. “I need help, and Dougie told me in a call a few days before he passed that you had offered. I am going to take you up on that offer.”
“That would be wonderful, Mrs. Nash.” I said to her. “Do you have any places in mind on where you would like to live?”
“I already have a rental there. I was planning on coming down anyway since he was moving there. I already had nearly all my boxes packed and the movers will be here next week. I have a place rented in the historical district.”
I nodded and said “Okay, that sounds good. Do you need any help getting anything moved? I can hook up a U-Haul to the truck for the trip back.”
“No dear.” She said quietly twisting her hands in her lap. “I wanted to talk to you both about Dougie. I have a feeling that you are both blaming yourselves. I want to make sure that y’all are okay.”
I looked over at James, but he was looking down at his boots. His head hung limply down, with a defeated posture. He looked about how I felt. I had more experience hiding it though. Silence reigned on, and Mrs. Nash stood up from her chair across from us and walked over to us, placing her hands on the sides of both of our cheeks.
She looked from one of us to the other and then said, “He loved that job. He loved you two also. He wouldn’t want you two blaming yourselves for this. Especially you, James. I think he had some sort of feeling that something would happen, because he made sure that Kayla and I had you two. He knew that if something happened to him, that you both would watch over us. Other than his daughter, you two were all he ever talked about. I don’t want you to blame yourselves. Life is too short. Live it and love it.”
After that, we discussed what would happen at the funeral tomorrow and her moving to Kilgore. We spent nearly three hours talking about Dougie, and traded stories about some of the stuff he got up to.
I felt lighter when we left, and with that came resolve. Whoever this guy was that took Dougie away from us would pay, but dying would be too good for him. He deserved something much, much worse. His little girl doesn’t deserve to grow up without her dad.
Chapter 11
The service was beautiful. The funeral procession was awe inspiring. The line of cars was over one hundred vehicles long, and that wasn’t even including the sheer craziness of motorcycles. There had to be at least three hundred of them. I’m sure the people that had to pull over were kind of put out with how long they had to stay on the side of the road waiting for us to pass. There were people pulled over on the side of the road with candles lit, and signs saying RIP and Thank you for your service. There were even fire trucks with their ladders raised and American flags flying on top of the over passes.
I have never been so moved. I was so proud that Dougie was having this kind of sendoff.
I cried throughout the entire service. One part in particular had nearly everyone weeping, or at least shedding a tear or two.
Before the service started, the casket was opened so that our main group could put in what we felt Dougie needed. Kayla was playing in the back of the room with Janie and Blaine, oblivious to what was going on. No one was quite sure that she would even understand, so we decided to just let it be, and what happened, happened.
Kayla was playing, or at least we thought she was, but all of a sudden we hear her call out, “DADDY!”
Sam was able to catch her before she actually threw herself on the casket, but she just didn’t understand that that was no longer her daddy. Sam spoke to her in a quiet voice, explaining what had happened and that her daddy was in heaven. It was almost like she understood after Sam explained to her. She calmed down, but didn’t let go of Sam for the entire service. When Sam tried to put her down so he could speak she clung even tighter. He said his entire speech with her clutched to his neck and her tiny little legs wound around his torso.
Once arriving at the grave side, the bag pipes started wailing, and people stood stoically and watched. The seven gun salute sounded, and then the flag was folded up and handed to Mrs. Nash. Everyone filed out until only the main group was left. The casket was lowered, and then we were asked if we had anything else we wanted to put in before they started covering it up. This was the moment I had been waiting for.
I took the box that I picked up yesterday after the girls were put to sleep, and headed over to the grave. I opened up the box, and poured the five hundred golf balls that the local driving range had donated and poured them down into the side so they wouldn’t hit the casket. They all rolled to the side, and I whispered to him, “We’ll miss you Dougie. Sam’ll take good care of Kayla. Don’t worry. I love you. Watch over us.”