When dusk came, it was time to take Lorelle to her final resting place and say one last goodbye. Jordan, Lela, Tiana and I followed our guys and a few others as they carried Lorelle’s casket toward the cemetery in Arvata. A spot had already been dug and a beautiful, white marble headstone was in place.
Tears flowed freely down my face as I watched the guys lower Lorelle into the ground. Jordan and Tiana were on either side of me and Lela stood next to Tiana. We held hands and stood there silently until it was time to say goodbye for the final time.
The others who helped carry Lorelle there said their goodbyes first, and the rest of us waited until they were gone before saying ours. I separated from the girls and we each went to our Merakis. Lucas had his own tears in his eyes and I wrapped my arms around him to offer what little support I could.
“That was harder than I thought it would be,” he mumbled against my neck.
“I know, love.” I pulled back and leaned up to give him a kiss as I wiped his tears away as he had done so many times for me.
All eight of us gathered around the grave and took turns throwing a handful of dirt onto the casket. I had wanted to say something, but I couldn’t find my voice through my tears.
Lorelle had voluntarily given her life to save my family’s lives. There were no proper words that could be said to express how grateful I was for that. I just hoped that she would be able to look down on us in the future and be proud of the things we were able to accomplish. I would make sure her sacrifice was worth it.
I would be the change Lorelle said I could be.
Kali’s journey will continue this winter in Embracing The Falls. Follow me on Amazon to be notified when the pre-order is available.
Thank you for reading From The Falls. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I did writing it. Please consider leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads as they are extremely important to indie authors like me!
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Acknowledgements
First, I’d like to thank the entire book community who came together when tragedy struck our family and we lost our house to a fire this past 4th of July. I had been ready to throw in the towel and cancel my pre-order for this book, but the overwhelming support my family received encouraged me to continue on. Thank you for showing me the good in this world!
To my husband and daughter for also continuing to support me while I work full time and spend my nights writing and editing. I love you both forever and infinity.
To Jaymin Eve, words cannot express how much I love and appreciate you! You are the jelly to my peanut butter and I can’t wait to give you the biggest hug in the world when we officially meet.
To Jennifer, my fabulous assistant who picked up the slack and kept things running smoothly while I was either editing/writing or dealing with life.
To Jamie Holmes, you are an amazing editor and friend! I am so glad I found you even though you give me nightmares about commas, I love you anyway!
Lastly, to my readers and reviewers! You are one of the biggest reasons I continued Kali’s story. Thank you for the reviews and encouraging me to keep going. Much love to you all, until next time!
From The Falls (The Falls Trilogy Book 2) Page 18