A Hart To Call Home

Chapter Thirty Seven

"I've never seen so many people cry without tears," Carly mumbled.

"To be fair, most of them have so much Botox they can't cry," Luca commented a bit too loud, and one of the aunts heard, Maria, maybe? She turned to glare at Kit as if it was her fault that Luca spoke out.

They were all sitting together at the funeral as Leonardo's relatives took turns giving speeches. Everyone was dressed formally in black and telling stories about Leonardo that felt hollow and more for show than anything. None of them knew him, not the way the four of them did. Kit's stomach had been in knots all day.

The last few weeks leading to the funeral consisted of the four of them spending most of their time together. No one quite understood what Leo meant to all of them. Kit had officially moved in last week, and she was sure Stone and Jase were destroying the house, but she was finally letting stuff like that go.

"Let's ditch this and say goodbye to Dad his way," Luca suggested.

"We can't do that," Andre gasped.

"Why not?" Luca asked. "No one here gives a crap; it's all for appearances. Let them think about what they want. We'll see them at the restaurant later anyway."

They'd decided to have dinner to follow at the new restaurant. It was nearly ready for an official opening; they needed to hire staff and finalize a few more things.

"This is what we do," Carly whispered. "Kit and I will duck out first. Then you two leave like you were checking on us."

"Done," Luca agreed. "We'll follow you to the lake. That's where we say goodbye."

"I can't believe we're doing this," Kit said as she and Carly hastily walked out; luckily, as Luca said, no one seemed to notice. One of the uncles was giving a speech, and everyone was looking at him.

"I can't believe not one of those relatives came to see him when he was sick." Carly pointed out as she unlocked the car and ushered Kit to hurry and follow her.

"I know," Kit agreed. "Screw it; I don't feel bad for leaving."

They climbed in, and Kit glanced back to the backseat. "Oh good, you have poles."

"I had a feeling we'd do this today," Carly confirmed as she pulled out of the church parking lot.

"Can you make a quick stop before we go to the lake?" Kit asked.

****

Luca and Andre found the girls sitting on the dock waiting for them when they arrived. Luca was beyond relieved to leave that funeral. He couldn't believe how many people came out of the woodwork to pretend they gave a shit.

"I have the poles," Carly called out as they drew closer.

"We got bait!" Andre held up the little can of worms they'd stopped to buy.

"Did anyone try and stop you from leaving?" Kit asked as Luca came to sit next to her. Andre sat next to Carly, grabbed his pole, and cast it out.

"No, but we heard someone say, where the hell are they going, as we left," Andre chuckled.

"Who gives a damn about them," Luca dropped his line into the water. "This is where Dad would be. Every day if he could."

"He's here now, I bet," Kit said softly as she cast her line out next. "Waiting to see who catches the biggest fish!"

"That'll be me," Carly smirked as she cast her line out.

"We'll see about that," Andre teased. "I'm still the champion this summer."