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Several minutes passed and then he nodded "Okay"

"Okay," I whispered

He opened the car door and a blast of cold air rushed in I did the sarabbed the poinsettias we’d picked up at the nearby grocery store on the way to the ceht snow as I joined hilanced down at me The uncertainty and vulnerability in his expression tore at my heart With his free hand, unprotected froave hiht of our joined hands seeth to move forward

We were silent as we passed the stones, and I tried not to think of Debbie’s funeral and how Erik had blamed me for her death in front of the entire procession, but it was hard She was buried here too, but on the other side of the main road

Cemeteries were supposed to be peaceful, but the stillness--­the utter lack of life--­always gave ot near the great oak, I wasn’t thinking of the Night of the Living Dead or the fact there were a whole bunch of bodies under our feet

I was only thinking about Jase and how hard this was for hirave Following his gaze, I drew in a shallow breath

The gravestone was rayhad been engraved in the stone, and below the kneeling figure was the name Kari Ann Tinsmen, and the birth and death dates were unfairly close

This was her No face No body Her whole life was su sister, daughter, and els

Mother

A knot formed in my throat Kari never really had a chance to be a mother Hell, she really hadn’t the chance to be any of those things

Jase shook his head slowly as he stared at the gravesite I couldn’t even begin to i Probably a little of every­thing as he stood there, going through their short life together

A lot of things Jase had said in the past s could conancy had given hiht direction

The sa the ability to dance I hoped that through teaching, I could actually make a difference in the world and wasn’t that why ­people beca was deeper than that, more substantial Teachers molded the future Dancers entertained And it wasn’t like I would never be a part of that world again I hadAvery back in the studio and could help out with the really young dancers if I wanted to

And I wanted to

That’s the thing about death thatto live--­to live in the present and to look forward to the future

"She was a reallygood girl," he said finally, breaking the silence

My smile felt watery "I’m sure she was"

He stared at the tombstone for a stretch In his hand, the red poinsettias petals trembled I doubted it was from the bitter cold "She loved winter and the snow" He paused, throat working as he looked up Flakes of the white stuff fell in heavier patches His words were thick as he spoke again "This is kind of fitting, I think"

I watched a rather large snowflake come to rest on the curve of thebreath "I think Jack gets that from her You know, the love of winter It’s his favorite season Might be because of Christmas, but I like to think it’s because of her"

I squeezed his hand "Winter isn’t a bad season"

One side of his lips ers free fro down, he placed the pretty red flowers at the base of her headstone

Silent, I watched hian and bow his head and I didn’t know if he was praying or if he was talking to Kari Either way, I felt like I was eavesdropping; it was such an intiaze on the tree and sed hard Snow coated the bare branches, causing the thin tips to turn down at the edges

When Jase returned to an back on and the tip of his nose looked as red as mine felt "Do youand you can wait--­"

"I’ht beside hi as you want"

"Thank you" His spine lost some of its stiffness as he draped his arainst the shelter of his body, he rested his cheek against the top ofhere with me"

The Winstead farm was decked out

It looked like Santa threw up holiday cheer all over the grounds, but in a good way Multicolored lights covered the split-­rail fence lining the driveway Red, green, and blue twinkled off the barn, and the entire front of the house gliiant, square disco ball

Jase chuckled as my eyes widened, which hed since we’d left the ce Christmas, especially because of Jack"