Free Just Down the Road by Jodi Thomas Page B

job’s done and I make it home. Will you be all right till I get back?”
    She opened the car door and noticed Jeremiah’s old dog waiting for her on the porch. “I’ll be fine. I’ve got lots to keep me busy.” She leaned back in the cab and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for the drive.” She guessed he knew she was thanking him for a whole lot more than just a drive.
    “You’re welcome.” He smiled that big goofy smile of his. “Only, thanks isn’t enough, Rea. Not from you. I expect a whole pie when I get back. One of your chocolates would be nice, but I’ll take whatever you make.”
    “You got a deal.” She closed the door and walked to the porch. Then she waved good-bye with one hand while she patted the old dog on the head with the other.

Chapter 12
     

     
    W RIGHT F UNERAL H OME
     
    T YLER W RIGHT SAT DOWN AT HIS DESK WHEN HE RETURNED to his office after the graveside service and began to write the facts of an obituary, even though there was so much more he wanted to say.
    After an hour, he shoved his efforts aside and took up other chores.
    He spent the rest of the day working on never-ending paperwork, and now that the sun was almost setting he had one more duty before he could climb the stairs to his rooms above the funeral home. Tyler thought he might sit out on the tiny balcony off his living area and watch the sunset, like he’d seen Old Man Truman do, when he finished this last task.
    He picked up his pen and thought about what to write.
Jeremiah Truman slipped into a coma on the first cold dayof fall and, after the sun set, he departed this life, leaving a town to mourn his passing.
    That sounded good
, Tyler thought, wishing he could add that when Truman’s niece came to live with him, everyone began to see him through her eyes, and she loved him with a depth that surprised the entire town. Except the Wednesday paper took only the facts. They never allowed Tyler much room to add more.
    Jeremiah Truman was a veteran of the Second World War, a man who never married and a farmer who loved his apple orchard. His only surviving relative is Reagan Truman.
    “How are you coming on the obit?” Kate asked as she brought Tyler hot cocoa into the room she called “his mess” and not his office.
    Tyler smiled at her. Another month and she’d be officially retired from the army and moving to Harmony permanently. Long weekends were never enough time with his Kate. “You know, Katherine, according to gossip, we’re living in sin.”
    She laughed as she moved a few papers so she could sit close to him. “I know, and since I’m over forty, I can allow myself to say that I’ve quite enjoyed it. I doubt at our age anyone cares, but for your good name I feel like I should marry you. Mr. Wright, you’re not a man to be gossiped about.”
    He kissed her hand. Neither had ever married, and he suspected that, like him, Kate thought she never would. Somehow they’d found one another, and with or without a piece of paper he knew they’d be together until death. “When, my Kate, will you do me the honor of becoming my bride?”
    “When I settle in,” she said. “Let me get used to not traveling. Living here will be a big change from my life in the army. I’ve had twenty-five years of drifting; settling may take some adjusting.”
    “When, Kate?” he asked gently again, knowing there would be little pushing the major if she didn’t want to move.
    She tried to look thoughtful. They’d played this game before. She always wanted to just run off and do it onenight, no planning, no details to bother with. Just slip on the rings, say
I do
, and get on with their lives. But Tyler liked everything planned out. He wanted a wedding. “You know, Ty, it’s usually the bride who wants all the trimmings and the groom who wants to run off. Somehow we’ve got it backward.”
    “I know,” he shrugged. “You’ve got five people on your list and I have to invite the entire town or make someone mad.