Chapter 7: The Unadorned Farewell
The funeral was held on a gray Thursday at the Sterling family mausoleum on the crest of Oak Ridge.
There were no crowds. At Katherine’s written instruction, there were no floral arrangements sent from municipal boards, no speeches from city council members, and no reporters. Only a simple cedar casket sat before the marble vault.
Bennett stood in the cold November drizzle, dressed in an unadorned wool overcoat, his tattooed throat bare to the wind. Beside him stood Clara, wearing a simple black coat Martha had lent her. She held a single white lily in her gloved hands.
The minister read Psalm 23, his voice swallowed by the rustle of bare oak branches.
When the prayers concluded, Clara stepped forward. She placed the lily on the bare cedar wood. She paused, her fingers resting on the grain for several long seconds, before whispering words that the wind carried away.
Bennett walked to her side, offering his arm.
Clara hesitated. She looked at the strong, ink-patterned forearm resting in the gray light, then up into the face of the man who shared her blood and her eyes. With quiet deliberation, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow.
They walked together down the gravel path, leaving the marble monuments of the Sterling dynasty behind them.
"Where will you go now?" Bennett asked as they reached the car.
"Back to the valley," Clara answered, looking out across the smoky hills. "I have my shift at the bakery on Monday. And I have to pay the rent on my apartment."
"Clara, please," Bennett pleaded, turning to face her, his voice raw. "Let me buy the building. Let me buy the entire block. You never have to worry about rent again."
May you like
Clara looked at him with an expression of deep, compassionate sadness. "You’re still thinking like a Sterling, Bennett. You’re trying to build a wall of cash between me and the world. My life isn't broken. It's just hard. I don't need your empire. If you want to know me, you have to meet me where I live."
She opened the passenger door herself and slid inside, leaving Bennett standing alone in the rain, confronting the terrible realization that true fatherhood could not be purchased with an invoice.
