Lucy

It was the day of the funeral and Lucy had a black dress on with a veil over her hair. She stood in front of her mirror, but looked at two files she had on her counter. The files were of Ivy and Domingo that she compiled with the help of Molly. Next to the cause of death for Domingo was a question mark. The file said his cause of death was an accidental overdose, but Lucy had her doubts.

Lucy closed the files and put them in a drawer. She used the veil on her hair to cover her face and left the room. Lucy entered the kitchen and was surprised not to find her daughter there. "Doramis," she called out. She could hear her daughter rushing to the kitchen. Doramis entered the kitchen wearing a similar black dress. "Were you in my study room?"

"Yes," answered Doramis. "I was looking for a notepad I could borrow," she said, showing the item to her mother. "Lost my old one."

"How are you, sweetie?" asked Lucy.

"I'm fine."

"It's okay not to be. It's the first funeral you're attending."

"I'm fine, mom," repeated Doramis. "It's not like I haven't had enough time to process what happened."

"Good for you," said Lucy as she went to her cabinet and pulled a bottle of whisky and a shot glass. "I'm not fine, and I think I will have one shot before the funeral."

"Mom," said Doramis as she stood up. "Should you be drinking? You are driving us there."

Lucy turned around and tossed her car keys to Doramis. "You drive." Lucy poured herself the shot and down it instantly. She poured another shot, but waited a couple of seconds before drinking it as well. She walked over to her daughter and gave her a hug.

Doramis hugged her back. "Really, mom, two shots?"

"We're burying two people today," said Lucy as she pulled away. "A shot for Ivy, and a shot for Domingo."

"I can't believe two people died in such a short amount of time."

Lucy rubbed Doramis' cheek. "You know, it's alright not to be okay. Especially today."

"I've had plenty of time to cope with what happened. Plus, I wasn't close to Ivy like you were, and I didn't really know Domingo."

Lucy pulled her hand away. "Let's get going then."

Doramis drove to the funeral home and parked behind Sheriff Lawrence's vehicle. He noticed them pull up and went to the passenger's window as it lowered.

"Hey Sheriff," said Lucy as she laid her head back on her seat.

"Hey," said Sheriff Lawrence, suspiciously. "Are you alright?"

"She might be a little drunk," answered Doramis.

"No I'm not," said Lucy, quickly.

Sheriff Lawrence stared at Lucy then looked at Doramis. "That explains why you're driving." Doramis gave him a nod. Sheriff Lawrence put a hand on the roof of their vehicle. "It's understandable. I would stay in the vehicle for now. We're about to head to the cemetery soon."

"Who's here?" asked Lucy.

"It seems the whole town is here," answered Sheriff Lawrence. "Even that girl who's from out of town is here."

"The one that was staying at Ivy's place?"

"Yup. She seems to be here with the farm boy. I don't know if those two are dating."

"Noah would be quite the catch," said Lucy. "I always thought Noah should have dated Ivy. Those two would have made a cute couple."

"Mom," exclaimed Doramis. "Don't say those things."

Lucy pulled her veil up to reveal her face to Sheriff Lawrence and smiled. "I'm at the stage where my daughter is embarrassed by me."

"Only when you say things like that," said Doramis as she rolled her eyes.

They saw as everyone came out of the funeral home. "Seems like it's time to go," said Sheriff Lawrence. "I'll see you at the cemetery. Just hang in there." He gave a tap to the roof of the vehicle before walking off to his.

They watched as Liam, Mattias, Jack, Noah, Paloma and Anita carried a casket out to the hearse. Lucy pulled down her veil as she and her daughter watched on in silence. The hearse drove off and everyone followed in their own vehicles one by one. Everyone met at the cemetery. Lucy and Doramis got out of their vehicle as everyone circled around the place where Ivy was going to be buried.

Lucy and Doramis went to stand with Molly and Mr. Souza. They greeted each other in silent nods as they looked on at Ivy's casket. Isabella was next to the casket while her shadow, Ashner, was right at her backside.

Isabella gave a nice speech, but Lucy was too concentrated on the people around her. Lucy took note of where everyone stood. Sheriff Lawrence stood with Deputy Tirado and his son.

Anita, Paloma, Allenby and Ken were together and towards the back. Allenby was clearly distraught as Paloma comforted her. Lucy found herself getting emotional as she watched them. She shook the emotions away as she looked towards the other groups.

Noah was with Jordana, who for once was wearing an appropriate black long dress. They looked like a couple.

Liam and Jack stood together and far from the group. She noticed as they passed a flask back and forth.

Mattias stood by himself with his guitar strapped to his back. He also seemed like he was struggling to keep himself together as he gripped his hands together.

Isabella was done with her speech and everyone said Amen. Lucy repeated the word even though she missed everything Isabella had said. Ashner walked around and gave everyone a rose.

Lucy was reminded how much Ivy liked plants as she took her rose from Ashner. Everyone went up to the casket and dropped the rose on top of it. Lucy kissed her hand then touched the top of the casket. "Rest in peace, sweetie," she said as she pictured Ivy smiling at her. "You'll be deeply missed." Lucy walked away from the casket as a couple of tears escaped her eyes. She was grateful to be wearing her veil so no one would notice.

"Mom," said Doramis as she grabbed her hand. "Are you okay?"

Lucy gave her a hug. "I'm fine." She kissed the top of her head.

"Is it alright if I go with my friends?"

Lucy looked over to where Ken stood with his mothers and Allenby. "Go ahead."

Doramis ran off and joined Ken. Soon enough Robbie was with them as well. Lucy noticed Ken asked his mother, Paloma, if he could leave with his friends and she agreed.

Lucy was about to go to them when she noticed Allenby and Liam talking. Liam tried to grab her hand, but she pulled away and stormed off. Paloma seemed to apologize to Liam before following Allenby.

"How are you holding up?" asked Sheriff Lawrence as he approached Lucy from behind.

Lucy turned around to look at Sheriff Lawrence. "Better than others it seems, but I guess I came prepared."

"Everyone mourns in their own ways."

"Any idea what's going on between Allenby and Liam?"

"What do you mean?" he asked as he searched for them.

"They seemed to be arguing earlier."

"That's weird. I didn't know those two really talked to each other." Lucy punched Sheriff Lawrence on his arm. "Ouch," he said as he rubbed his arm. "What was that for?"

"You didn't know Liam talked to Allenby?"

"I didn't. Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes, you know Allenby is an attractive single girl in our little town. All the young men talk to her." Lucy noticed Jordana walk by as Noah tried to follow. "But I guess she's the new target as of now."

"I have noticed the attention the new girl has been getting, and to be fair, I understand why."

"Why is that?" asked Lucy as she stared at Sheriff Lawrence.

"Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Just wondering if you've been checking out the new girl."

"I wouldn't call it checking out, but she's hard not to notice."

"So there you have it," said Lucy. "The new girl has even captured the attention of our pristine Sheriff. And here I thought he was above girls in micro mini skirts. I'm so disappointed."

"Oh shut up," said Sheriff Lawrence. "I'm just not blind. And I'm also not pursuing her."

"Because the competition is too much?"

"Because she isn't my type."

"You have a type," said Lucy, feigning shock.

"Stop teasing me."

"But it's so easy." Lucy and Sheriff Lawrence shared a laugh. Their laugh ended when they saw Anita whispering a prayer over Ivy's tomb. "When are they going to bury Domingo?"

"They already did," said Sheriff Lawrence.

"What? When?"

"This morning."

"Did he not have a ceremony?"

"He didn't have a family. And no real friends that I knew about."

"That's not true," said Lucy. "He had us."

"Did he?" said Sheriff Lawrence, his voice deadly serious. "Were we really his friend? Because I never helped him get out of the street, or with his addiction. I was friendly to the man, but I never actually helped him. I bet you didn't either."

Lucy tried to come up with something to say, but her heart just felt broken.

"The only person who actually looked after him, we just finished burying." They stared at Ivy's grave.

Lucy's heart sank, but she kept her composure. "Where was he buried?"

"Follow me." Sheriff Lawrence walked a couple of rows to the back of the cemetery where they found Jordana standing over an unmarked grave. "What is she doing here?" he said to no one in particular.

"Is this Domingo's grave?" asked Lucy and Sheriff Lawrence gave her a nod. Lucy walked over and stood next to Jordana, who barely acknowledged her. She noticed there were flowers on Domingo's grave. "Was that you?" she asked Jordana.

"Yes."

"How did you even know this was his grave?" asked Sheriff Lawrence, who stood a couple a feet away from the women.

"Deputy douchebag told me this was where Domingo was buried," said Jordana. "Shame on you guys for not giving him a ceremony."

"How did you know Domingo?" asked Lucy.

"He was the first person I met when I arrived in town. He tried to help me."

Lucy leaned down and put a hand over his grave. "That was very kind of him. This town failed him. I wish I did better." Lucy could feel Jordana staring into her back. Lucy stood up and looked at Sheriff Lawrence. "He should have had a funeral."

"And who would have paid for that?" asked Sheriff Lawrence. "This is going to be hard to hear, but dying isn't cheap. Someone has to pay for the funeral, the casket and the plot of land they're going to be buried in. He's lucky he got this."

"Who paid for this?" asked Jordana.

"I did," he answered. "It was the least I could do." Sheriff Lawrence looked back to the area where Ivy was buried. "I tried to bury him close to Ivy since she was the only one who looked after him while he was living." Sheriff Lawrence had his back turned to the women. "I also thought he deserved better, but this was all I could do." He walked off without saying another word.

"I think I judged him a little too harshly," Jordana said to Lucy.

"I did too," said Lucy. "And I should have known better." Lucy looked into Jordana's eyes. "Thank you for leaving flowers on his grave. You're a kind person." Lucy gave her a nod then went after Sheriff Lawrence.

"Wait a second," Jordana called, and Lucy stopped. "Can we hang out later?"

"The mayor is opening Ivy's tavern tonight to have one last remembrance party for her. We can have a drink there."

"Sounds good to me."

"I'll see you then." Lucy ran off and caught up to Sheriff Lawrence. She grabbed his arm and stopped him. She embraced him in a hug and he returned the gesture. "Can I ask you a question?" she whispered into his chest.

"What is it?"

"Do you think someone killed Domingo?"

"What the hell makes you think that?" said Sheriff Lawrence as he released Lucy.

"Just a question," said Lucy as she looked down at the ground. "I heard what he said about Ivy's death. He said she wasn't killed by a bear. Maybe -"

"Lucy," said Sheriff Lawrence, cutting her off. "Domingo was a drunk and there were multiple witnesses of him drinking that very same night. He didn't even remember what he saw."

"You questioned him?"

"Part of the job. You know I always do my job."

"You don't find it strange they both died suddenly, and the way they did?"

"Ivy was killed by a wild animal. There's no doubt about that. But Domingo..." Sheriff Lawrence hesitated to say his next words. "I'm afraid he might have committed suicide." Lucy was surprised to see tears slip out Sheriff Lawrence's eyes. "And I have no intention of trying to confirm that because we all don't need another reason to feel worse than we already do."