As often as not, when Victoria was not present for meals, Emily would assume her seat at the head of the table, opposite Nick. At this meal, however, she hesitated.
"Perhaps Heath would like to sit there?" she offered.
"No, Em, " Heath said, understanding the significance of the moment, "that's your chair now."
Emily looked to Nick and so did every child in the room.
Nick looked at her and gave her a firm nod, his voice both sad and proud, "Heath is absolutely right," he said. Heath helped seat her at the head of the table.
The atmosphere was glum, even the normal chatter from Daniel and Julia at the children's table seemed subdued. Nick shared that the coffin he ordered would be finished and delivered tomorrow. He said Jarrod and his family would be arriving on the 6:30 train and he had not yet heard from Audra.
Emily and Sarah discussed plans to ready the guesthouse that afternoon for Jarrod and his family. It was a small but nicely appointed house just outside and to the right of the main gate. It was added to the property in 1880 to accommodate the growing number of Barkleys who came to visit.
The gloom at the table was abruptly interrupted by an ear-piercing screech from Julia who was expressing her displeasure at her nine-year-old brother who was touching her leg under the table with his.
Emily looked over to see if the momentary crisis would resolve on its own. Nick stood up suddenly and frowned at the kids, which stopped the issue immediately. Heath, however, got up from his chair and walked quietly over to the children's table and lifted Julia from her chair, carried her back to his, and sat her on his lap as he picked at the food on his plate and enticed her to partake of the same.
"Brothers sure can be a nuisance sometimes, huh, Julia?" he said quietly. The small girl nodded her head, her honey blond curls in two braids down her back with white ribbon bows marking their ends at her waist.
"Do you know what's happened, Julia?" Heath asked.
"Grandma died," she replied in a voice that was barely audible.
"Carrie and I explained it to her and Daniel," said Will.
"Julia, do you know what that means?" Nick asked softly. Julia didn't answer.
"It means that Grandma went to sleep and she isn't going to wake up," Emily said.
"And we're going to miss her a lot," Sarah said.
"Because she was such a good lady and we loved her so much," Emily added.
"Here, here!" Nick remarked, and raised his glass in honor of his mother. Everyone joined the toast and raised their wine, water, and milk glasses. Smiles appeared on some of the faces.
"During thunderstorms," Carrie announced quietly, "Grandma would come to bed with me and hold me till I fell asleep." Nick and Emily exchanged a smiling glance; this was a story they did not know.
Leah talked about the times Grandma came to the house and helped her bake cookies, just the two of them. She also remembered Grandma helping her learn to read.
"I remember her teaching me to ride," Grace said. What Grace didn't share but always treasured was that Grandma never ignored her leg like everyone else did. Grandma said Grace's leg was a gift, "Just you wait and see," she told her.
"I remember Grandma showing me how to aim my toy gun," said Tom, and this made the grown ups laugh.
"I'm pretty certain that Grandma arranged for me and your mother to be alone together when we first met, because I wasn't very interested at first, "Nick said. Nick and Emily had often reviewed their first few encounters alone and believed Victoria had secretly put them together. Emily never asked Victoria to confirm the suspicion but Nick had. Victoria denied it.
"Boy howdy, what a sly fox!" Heath said, shaking his head. He'd heard the story before and he believed it to be true. "One time," he said, "she and some escaped convict dug me out of a mud pit when I was pinned there under a carriage." This elicited oohs and aahs from the boys.
"Heath, remember that time she helped those robbers try and blow up that bank safe with dynamite?" Nick asked, laughing.
"She did what?!" Was the general, laughing, response from that table.
And so it went: Sons and daughters-in-law and their children sharing stories about a remarkable woman who had loved and helped them all.
The conversation at lunch lifted everyone's spirits a little bit and afterwards Emily and Julia took a short nap together in Nick and Emily's bed. Sarah sat with her mother-in-law while Leah and Carrie looked after Daniel. This basically meant they bossed him around while he fumed with silent contempt. Grace went out to the stable to help Tom and Will work on saddles, while Nick and Heath stood nearby, trying to find comforting words to say to each other.
No one was prepared when the new and self-important Pastor Nelson came to the door.
Sarah welcomed him into the parlor and Bertie served coffee. Daniel was relieved by the request to fetch his father and Uncle Heath, for this freed him from the clutches of those bossy girls.
Nick turned to Heath as they walked towards the house. "What the devil do you think he wants?" Nick asked.
"I expect he heard about Mother and came to discuss funeral arrangements," Heath answered, matter-of-factly.
Nick stopped in his tracks. "Oh crap!"
Heath stopped, too. He looked at Nick and said, "I don't suppose you thought to plan a funeral service."
"Musta slipped my mind," Nick grumbled as he made his way to the house.
"Boy howdy, Nick!" Heath said, deadpan, "Between running the ranch, riding herd on all those kids, Mother dying unexpected, buying a coffin, and sending telegrams, I am shocked and disappointed by your oversight."
Emily had joined Sarah in the parlor, now dressed in black, and was chatting with the minister. "Nick," she said, "Sarah and I were thinking the funeral could be in two days, on Friday. That should give people enough notice to attend."
"Sounds good," Nick said.
"You know, Reverend," Emily said, "since Victoria was so involved with the orphanage, I really think we should invite the Padre to the service." A judge's daughter and graduate of Corbett's Young Women's Seminary in Cincinnati, Emily was adept at presenting herself prim and proper.
Sarah, pouring the coffee, added with equal poise, "I think that is a lovely gesture, Emily! Perhaps we could ask him to say a prayer."
"Oh, Sarah, what a beautiful idea! I think Victoria would be honored by such a prayer, " said Emily.
If Pastor Nelson had misgivings about inviting a Roman Catholic priest to assist at the funeral he was going to conduct for the great lady of Stockton, he found himself helpless to protest against these women, her protégées and successors.
Between them, Emily and Sarah planned the details of the service, the Scripture readings, the hymns, even a rough guest list, while Nick and Heath sat nearby, entertained as they watched their now demure wives ride roughshod over the ambitious preacher.
Once the minister was gone, Nick quickly apologized for not thinking of organizing a service.
"To tell you the truth," said Emily, "it hadn't crossed my mind, either."
"Nor mine," said Sarah.
"Nor mine," said Heath. But he was lying.