With Bruce's confession the case was solved, much easier than anyone could have imagined. That was the one great thing about being in a small town, there weren't too many people that could have done the crime. Sadly their job wasn't done yet. Yes the investigation was over, but now came the hard part. The next day was the day of the visitation. It was quiet throughout the entire house most of the day. No one seemed to be in the mood to talk. Kat and Eli still weren't on speaking terms. Ria wasn't sure what to say to either of them so chose to remain silent. Maggie didn't emerge from hibernation until after 2, and Sean stayed in his bedroom in the basement, claiming he had work to do until just before they had to leave. They all went to the funeral parlor together, Ria and Eli choosing a place on one of the couches that they had set up, while the family went up to see the body. Although there was no way that they could possibly cover up the fact that he'd died a horrible way, they still chose to have an open casket. As they all stepped closer they all had completely different reactions. Maggie immediately broke out into tears, turning away into Kat's arms. Sean refused to step too close to the casket, choosing to view it from about five feet away. Kat stepped close with Maggie still clinging to her. She stared at the man for a while, simply examining him. Looking at him she seemed to recognize him, but not recognize him at the same time. He was more pale than she remembered, they'd chosen one of his favorite baseball caps to cover the baldness, and one of his favorite striped shirts was pulled across his massive stomach. Kat stepped back after a few moments of looking at him, still feeling numb. She and Maggie joined Sean who was standing close to the wall next to a large bouquet of flowers that they'd bought for him earlier that day.

Once they'd opened the doors a few people came to show their respects. Their uncle and aunt showed up, Kat didn't say anything to either of them, feigning that she was too emotional at the time to talk. Most of the people that showed up were people from the town, showing their respects more for Maggie and the family than for him. A few hours into the evening Kat could no longer take hearing the usual "I'm so sorry" and "Your family has been through so much" that she kindly excused herself and walked out to get some fresh air.

The sun had already set and the moon was starting to shine in the sky. The temperature was perfect, a light breeze was blowing while the air was still warm, promising the summer to come. Kat took a few steadying breaths, leaning against the railing on the stairs and closing her eyes. The night was almost over so there were very few people still inside. She still did not open her eyes as she heard the door open and shut just a few feet away from her. When she felt arms pull her away from the railing into a warm embrace, she knew exactly who it had been. She opened her eyes as he let her go. Looking into Eli's eyes she knew that she should still be mad at him, but at the moment she just couldn't muster up the energy to argue. He reached up and cupped her cheek rubbing his thumb against her skin, "Kat, I'm sorry. I know this is a hard time for you. I should have been more understanding."

She placed her hand over his, "I should have explained what actually happened. This trip has brought out a side of me that even I didn't know was there."

He smiled at her, "I don't mind the new Kat. She keeps me on my toes."

She smiled back, "I'll remind you of that later." Taking his hand in her's she said, "Come on, I need to get back in there. Only one more hour to go."

"Ok, but we're going to talk later." He took his hand from her's and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I promise."

As they walked back into the room they heard, "Kathryn Ann O'Riley, is that any way to show respect for your father?"

She instantly dropped her arm from around Eli, "I'm sorry Gram."

Eli got the message and took his arm back looking uneasily between the two women. Kat suddenly looked like she'd turned back into a little girl. Her grandmother was a short woman, standing maybe 5 feet tall. Her white hair was cut short, curling unruly at the base of her neck. Behind her glasses, her dark eyes shone like that of a much younger person.

"Is that any way for a young lady to act? Coming into her father's funeral wrapped around a man?" Her grandmother scolded, just above a whisper.

"I said I'm sorry Gram." Kat replied, her tone almost begging forgiveness. She seemed to take the leap of faith and pulled the smaller woman into a hug. Her grandmother's anger seemed to melt instantly.

"Well, what's done is done." She finally said pulling away from her granddaughter. "So do I get to meet this young man?"

"Of course." Kat beamed, "Gram, this is Eli Loker. Eli, this is my grandmother Betty."

Eli took her hand shaking it, noticing that the older woman had a much stronger grip than he'd imagined. "It's nice to meet you. Kat has told me so much about you."

Betty seemed to study him for a moment, looking for anything that could indicate a lie, finally saying, "Is that so? She hasn't told me much about you. How about we go and talk young man."

Kat laughed as she watched a frightened Eli being pulled off in the other direction as she went back to stand next to her sister.

…

As soon as the visitation was over they all retreated back to the house. Maggie and Sean went back to their rooms, claiming that they were tired. Ria went to her and Kat's room to call the office since they hadn't had a chance to let Cal and Gillian know what they'd found out yet. Kat looked at Eli and smiled, "How would you like to go on a walk with me?"

"Sounds great." He smiled back. Kat stopped for a moment to grab her brother's keys, and then followed Eli back out of the house. He looked at her curiously as she stepped over to her brother's SUV. "I thought you said we were going on a walk."

"We are," she answered, opening the driver's door. After they'd both sat down she finished, "We're going to my favorite place."

Eli nodded, but still looked slightly confused. They stayed quiet as she drove out of town, bumping along on the gravel roads. They were headed in the opposite direction of her dad's place. He looked around, still seeing nothing but fields in every direction as they drove on. Five minutes later they came up on a small lake. Kat slowed the car as they went down a steep hill, stopping in front of the lake. He looked over at her, when he saw her get out of the car he followed suit. "So this is your favorite place?" He asked joining her in front of the water.

She nodded, "I have more memories in this spot than I can possibly explain. My best friends and I spent so much time out here through the years. I had my first kiss here. And this is where I came just after my mom passed." She explained as a tear trailed down her cheek.

Eli wrapped an arm around her, "What happened to her?"

She wrapped her arm around his waist, pulling herself closer to him, keeping her gaze on the water. She stared at the reflection of the now full moon as she started, "My mom was the strongest person I ever knew. She was a single mom; she worked a full-time job and went to school full-time. And yet somehow she still had time for us. When I was about 14 she graduated from college, we were all so happy for her.

"That summer we moved to Virginia Beach because she got a teaching job there. Sean had already graduated, but he went with us anyway. I had never seen mom so happy. She was in her element, teaching and living in a big city. The next spring we got a call from Gram telling us that Gramps had been in an accident. He was driving home on some of the back roads and hit a patch of gravel. No matter how many years you drive on these roads, sometimes they can still get to you. He drove off the road and slammed into a tree. When she heard that we were in the car in a matter of minutes. Sean and Maggie went back with mom after the funeral, but I stayed back with Gram to finish out the school year. I just couldn't let her be alone.

"The year I graduated, I was set on moving away to go to college. I already had a scholarship, actually in the same school that Sean is teaching at now. I didn't know that anything was wrong. I was gone for about a year when I got a call from mom. She didn't sound like herself, she was extremely tired, that wasn't her. All she would tell me that night was that she needed me there. I didn't even have to think twice, I was in the car before she hung up. It took me about two hours to get home. I wasn't sure what I was going to find when I got there. When I walked into the living room I saw her in her chair, she was so pale, I knew it couldn't be good. I asked her what was wrong and she just told me to sit down. I did as she told me and waited. She told me the worst news I'd ever gotten in my life." Kat stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she started her voice cracked, "She had cancer. She said that she just got the call from the doctor that day. They told her that she had a form of breast cancer, but she'd waited too long to get it checked out. It had already spread to other areas. She only had three months to live.

"I didn't know what to do. I sat there stunned. I couldn't move, I couldn't even breathe. I wanted to cry, I wanted to simply sit there and sob, but I knew it wouldn't help anything. There was nothing that either one of us could say." Kat's gaze flicked to the sky. The stars had come out in full force, the milky way could easily be seen from where they stood. "She swore me to secrecy, she didn't want Maggie or Sean worrying about her. It was Maggie's senior year and she didn't want her to remember it for her. Sean was in college, taking master's classes. She didn't want to distract him from what he was doing. So I promised to keep quiet about her, as long as I could move home to take care of her. She accepted. The next day I quit school, and the job that I was at. I spent the next three months taking care of her day and night. Her condition deteriorated much faster than I could ever have imagined possible. Within a month she couldn't eat anything and have it stay down. The doctors were wrong though. She only lasted 2 months.

"That night I came back out here after calling Maggie and Sean. I didn't cry, I didn't scream, I didn't do anything. I simply sat on the ground, right here, in this very spot. I felt hollow, like someone had scooped me out and left just a shell. My mom was everything to me. She was more than a mom, she was my best friend. I told her everything, and she did the same. I didn't know how I was ever going to live without her." She paused, looking back at Eli, who remained silent. He knew that she wasn't finished.

"After the funeral Maggie moved in with Gram, Sean went back to the cities, and I didn't really know what to do with myself. I had just spent the two worst months of my life taking care of someone. I put my life on hold, to be with her. Now I didn't have anything to go back to. Finally I decided that I needed a change. I decided to move about as far away as I could. I moved to Florida. I didn't know anyone there, I figured that I could start over. I stayed there for four years. That's where I met Alex, the guy that, um, did, uh, that with me." She said sheepishly. "After that I couldn't stay there either. I couldn't go back to work and look at him again, especially after losing the baby. That's when I moved to DC.

"As soon as I got there I decided to go back to school. I had heard about Cal and Gillian almost as soon as I got there. I had known for a long time that I wanted to go into psychology, but they helped to push me even further in that direction. I had been in school about six months when I got the assignment that sent me to them, and to you." She smiled up at him.

He smiled back, "Thank you for telling me. It means a lot that you can share that with me."

"Thank you for listening." She leaned up and kissed his cheek; as she pulled away she took his hand and started to walk.

…