Love's Tangled Web by Donna Taylor

Chapter 273

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Before Ellie’s eyes, a sea of mourners dressed in black surrounded her. Some were weeping, some were lamenting, and some were offering comfort.

“Ellie, your dad’s ashes are here. You need to greet him,” urged a distant relative. But she felt as if her feet were stuck to the ground, unable to move or cry.

With her eyes stinging and swollen, she looked into the distance, seeing the relatives crying around her dad’s urn. Their cries cut through the air, bringing shared sorrow even to the ones who weren’t related.

Aaron came near, holding Harold’s urn, and said, “Dad, we’re home.” Each step he took toward Ellie made her heart shudder and her breath catch.

Lacey and Diana stood beside Ellie, quietly supporting her. In just two days, grief had deeply etched itself into Aaron’s face, making him look almost unrecognizable. He stopped in front of Ellie.

your dad inside,” the officiant urged.

“Aaron, can I hold him for a moment?”

don’t hold up the ceremony; we have a lot

eyes locked on Aaron. “Aaron,

arm and gently wrapped it around his sister, who clung

imagined him standing in the wheat field,

farmer lifted his young daughter onto his shoulders, filling the air with their happy

no one had lifted her like that

followed, each time she visited, Harold would lean on his crutch by the door, looking for her. On the day she left, he would walk her to the station, saying over

crutch, would stand there, his eyes showing he didn’t want to let go. From now on,

body shaking like a leaf in the wind, and declared, “Maybe this is a kind of freedom for

two relatives to gently pull Ellie away, but she held on tightly to Harold’s ashes, her head buried

desperation, the officiant asked for Joanna

way off, looking older than her years to the events of the past few days. Ellie

due