Chapter 29
Marcus passed away two years later.
He was eighty-eight years old.
His heart simply gave out.
He went peacefully, in his sleep, holding my hand.
I was devastated.
My rock.
My love.
My partner in everything.
Gone.
The children rallied around me.
They came home.
They took care of me.
They grieved with me.
Daniel was there too.
He held me while I cried.
He said, "I'm so sorry, Kesha. He was a good man. The best of us."
He was right.
Marcus was the best of us.
The funeral was beautiful.
Hundreds of people came.
People whose lives Marcus had touched.
Family.
Friends.
Employees.
People from the foundation.
Everyone had a story about Marcus's kindness.
His strength.
His love.
I spoke at the service.
I talked about the man who'd come into our lives as a driver and become our everything.
The man who'd loved four children who weren't his blood as if they were his own.
The man who'd stood by me through everything.
The man who'd given me Ellie.
The man who'd loved me for forty years.
"Marcus Reynolds was the best man I ever knew," I said, my voice breaking. "He taught me what love really means. What family really means. And I will love him and miss him for the rest of my life."
After the funeral, the children stayed with me for a month.
They didn't want me to be alone.
Ellie moved back home for a while.
She took a leave of absence from the hospital to take care of me.
I was grateful.
But I was also lonely.
The house felt empty without Marcus.
His chair by the fireplace.
His tools in the garage.
His side of the bed.
Everything reminded me of him.
But slowly, very slowly, I started to heal.
I found comfort in the garden.
In the tulips we'd planted together.
In the memories we'd shared.
I found comfort in my children and grandchildren.
In their laughter.
In their love.
I found comfort in the foundation.
In the work we were doing.
In the lives we were changing.
And I found comfort in knowing that Marcus was with Eleanor now.
And Aunt Margaret.
And all the people we'd loved and lost.
They were together.
Watching over us.
And one day, I would be with them again.
But until then, I had a life to live.
A family to love.
A legacy to protect.
And I would live it well.
For Marcus.
May you like
For Eleanor.
For all of us.
