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She continued on her way Placing my hand on the casket, I closed s Grams shared earlier “One with the earth, one with the sea,that’d been inas I could re darkour celebrations, too They stood as a blessing for our loved ones It meant that no matter where you went and no s of the earth and the water would always surround you The natural world was your protector and those blessings would always be with you, during the good and the bad

When I opened my eyes, I jumped a bit out of my skin when I turned to see abeside me He stared down at the casket with such an intense look of disconnect An overwhel sense of familiarity hit me as I looked his way My stomach knotted up, and er

Seeing them both beside one another made it so extremely clear to me

He looked so much like Kevin

Froht down to his eyes My gosh, those eyes His eyes were so blue, like Kevin’s But unlike Kevin’s, whose eyes matched the ocean on the cal the hardest of storobs, who still had a scone cruainst his beard

“You!” I whisper-hissed

He sighed “You have to be kidding me”

I couldn’t even gatherup

“Did no one ever teach you that it’s rude to stare?” he dryly remarked, his voice deep and husky without a lick of kindness

Definitely not Kevin’s voice

Definitely not Kevin’s gentleness

Definitely, definitely Kevin’s eyes

“What are you doing here?!” I barked, annoyed by his existence Annoyed that he re scone

“What do most people normally do at funerals, lady?”

“Stella”

“Again, don’t care”

“Sorry, I… you…” I shook ether

“He’s old,” hedown at Kevin “I didn’t expect that”

“What do you mean by that?”

He shrugged “Shit, I don’t know He’s just… older than I thought”

“You shouldn’t curse in a church”

“Shit, my bad,” he sarcastically remarked

What a jerk But still, it kind of h a little

I narrowed my eyes “How did you know Kevin?”