"Black is a piercing wordsmith and erotic conjurer." - Janalee Ruschhaupt, Love Romances

Thankfully and unsurprisingly, Amy Hunter’s funeral was heavily attended. The Hunters were still the most affluent and politically connected family in Cuyahoga Falls—possibly in all of Ohio. The death of their only daughter drew a large crowd; some of them no doubt there for the right reasons, others just to stay in the Hunters’ good graces.

Trina wasn’t going to complain about the swarm of funeral attendees. It afforded her the ability to pay her last respects to Amy without unduly upsetting the family by her presence.

Dressed in head-to-toe black, Trina slunk into the back of the funeral parlor and took a seat near the far wall just as the pastor began delivering his sermon. Taking a quick glance around, she espied the Hunter family up in the first row.

Mr. Hunter was still strong and strapping, his dark hair graying at the temples. Mrs. Hunter looked as formidable as ever, her spine straight and proud. She didn’t look much different than what Trina remembered. Perhaps the only noticeable difference was the long, golden hair she’d once shared in common with Amy was now white-blonde, obviously dyed, and cropped fashionably short.

“And now,” the pastor said, snagging Trina’s attention, “Amy’s brother, Daniel, would like to say a few words about his sister.”

Trina’s teeth sank into her lower lip as she watched Daniel Hunter rise from the seat adjacent to his father. Her heartbeat picked up upon seeing him, immediately noting that the years had been more than kind to him. Back in high school, she hadn’t thought it possible for Daniel to be any more handsome than what he already was. She had been wrong.

The dark, brooding eyes hadn’t changed, nor had the grimness of his expression. His face, on the other hand, had matured into that of a powerful, masculine, thirty-four-year-old man. His body musculature, evident even beneath the designer Italian suit he wore, looked impossibly more massive and honed than it had back in the glory of his high school football days.

She had heard through the grapevine that he was now a prominent, powerful lawyer. No surprise there.

“Good morning,” Daniel said in the commanding, larger-than-life tone he had always possessed. “I’d like to thank each and every one of you for coming here today to show your respects to my sister.”

Trina closed her eyes briefly. She willed her heart to stop pounding. She hadn’t thought that seeing Daniel again after all of these years would affect her as ruthlessly as it was. Again, she had been wrong.

You are here for Amy—just Amy. Let the old ghosts rest, Trina. What happened between you and Daniel was over and done with sixteen years ago.

“Amy was only with us for thirty-two short years, but…”

Trina heard Daniel’s voice from somewhere in the back of her conscious mind, but her thoughts were elsewhere, plagued by bittersweet memories. Amy laughing and screaming as they rode the roller coasters at the carnival that made its way into town once per year. Amy trying to tease Trina’s curly hair into the “in” feathered look of the eighties—Trina had ended up with a head that resembled a cotton swab. Amy’s dimpled smile. Amy in the hospital after she’d accidentally shot up with too much insulin.

Amy had been…human. Good and bad, dark and light, yin and yang. A normal sixteen-year-old girl when last they’d been together. She had her faults, but she’d had just as many attributes. It was easy to forgive her for the bad times, for she’d given Trina many, many more good times.

Oh, sweetheart, I wish I’d been there to hold your hand. If only I’d known how ill you were…

It had been eighteen years since Trina had publicly cried, but she felt the tears welling up. Her head came up slowly, a single tear tracking down her cheek. She looked back up at Daniel. Their gazes clashed.

Trina’s heart threatened to beat out of her chest when she realized he recognized her. He paused for a moment in his speech, their eyes locked on each other. Quickly looking away, he resumed the deliverance of Amy’s eulogy…

“Seeds of Yesterday”

In the anthology Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails IV