One Call Away

Chapter Fourteen: The Funeral

Staring at a picture of Richard, Caitlyn still couldn't believe that he was gone and she'd come back to New York for his funeral; she felt so out of place surrounded by his friends and his family.

This was the first time that she had seen most of them since it had been revealed that he wasn't her father; she had noticed that people seemed to be keeping their distance from her.

It stung that no one had really spoken to her and she got a few dirty looks from people when she arrived; she wished that things could have gone back to how they had been for Christmas.

"Here," Jay said handing Caitlyn a drink, he had come with her so that she wouldn't have to do this alone; it also meant he could keep an eye on her.

Jay had been a little surprised when Alvin had approached him and asked him to keep a close eye on Caitlyn while she was back in New York; they were still trying to find out who had murdered Richard.

The investigation had all but come to a complete stop and there seemed to be no evidence on what had happened to Richard; they had searched the area that he had been found and nothing had turned up.

Whoever had done this had clearly planned this out since there seemed to be nothing to link them to what had happened to Richard.

"Thanks," Caitlyn murmured taking the drink, she looked around the room again seeing people that had known her father for years; none of them could believe that this was how his life ended.

Caitlyn couldn't imagine what the last moments of his life might have been like, she prayed that whatever had happened to Richard that he hadn't suffered too much.

"How dare you show up here," shouted a voice making everyone at the funeral turn around and look towards Richard's sister; she had her back to Caitlyn and was pointing her finger at Laura.

Whispers filled the room and Caitlyn felt her stomach turn at the sight of her mother, she hadn't expected to see her since she had disappeared and hadn't returned any of her calls.

"You ruined his life. If it wasn't for you and your bastard, he'd still be alive," the woman ranted as she stumbled towards Laura, she couldn't believe that the woman had the nerve to show up at Richard's funeral.

Her husband approached her to try and stop her, this wasn't the time or place for this not when Richard was barely in the ground; there would be time later for them to fight.

"I hope you're happy with yourself. You ruined his life," the woman screamed as her husband dragged her away, tears running down her face as she cried for the brother that she had lost.

Caitlyn stood frozen as she watched the scene before her, she felt like everyone was staring at her; she wondered if this was how they all felt.

She had come here to pay her respects to the man that had raised her, the only father that she had ever known; she hadn't considered that she might not be welcome here.

"You okay?" Jay asked touching Caitlyn's arm and snapping her out of her thoughts, that couldn't have been easy to watch and he feared just what she might think after seeing that.

Glancing back at her mother, Caitlyn swallowed and nodded her head; she could see the look on Laura's face and didn't feel ready to speak to her considering what had happened.

"I need some air," Caitlyn said looking at him, the room suddenly felt rather stuffy and she didn't want to run into someone that might say something like that to her.

Jay nodded his head and lead Caitlyn from the room, he was sure she needed a break and he was hopeful that stepping outside would be for the best; he doubted that running into a drunk aunt would help her.

Stepping out of the building, Jay shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders since the black dress that she was wearing would do little to keep her warm against the chill in the air.

The two of them walked to a small wall just a few feet away from the entrance to the hall where people had gathered for Richard's wake; neither said anything as they sat down.

It had been a long day and Jay was honestly not surprised that people might start snapping at one another; especially after what Caitlyn had told him had happened.

There were bound to be some hard feelings about how the truth about Caitlyn's parentage had come out; it hadn't been the best and he was surprised that someone hadn't confronted Laura sooner.

The stunt that she had pulled had hurt a lot of people, Caitlyn and Richard being the main people that had been hurt and there would be no way that anyone could have predicted that it would end like this.

"How you holding up?" Jay asked looking to Caitlyn, she had been quiet and he was sure that she was in shock about what had happened; the last ten days hadn't been easy, he had been by her side for most of that.

There had even been a moment that Caitlyn had almost decided not to attend the funeral, she had been certain that no one would want her to be there.

"I remember when my mum died," Jay started, he didn't look towards her as he spoke knowing that he had never really talked about his mother before; he had no words to describe how he had felt when he had lost her.

Things had always been difficult between him and his father but he had been closest to his mother; her loss had shaken the entire family.

"I was just about to start high school," Jay continued recalling how things had been, he glanced at Caitlyn who was now watching him; he offered her a small smile.

It was strange thinking about how things had been, how life had changed so much because of that one day and how his life had shaped out; he wondered if his mother would be proud of who he had become.

"She'd taken me shopping for school supplies. We didn't have a lot of money but she said I had to look special," Jay whispered, he could see them in the car smiling and laughing as they drove.

He could still hear the music that played on the radio and his mother singing along as they went; a smile on her face as she glanced back at him in the mirror.

"It happened so fast. One minute we were driving down the street. The next the car had been flipped and we were upside down," Jay said closing his eyes for a moment, he attempted not to think about what came next and the images in his mind that haunted him.

Caitlyn took his hand, she gave it a squeeze and she moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder; neither said anything for a moment as tears fell down Jay's face.

"A drunk driver had run the lights ahead of us and lost control. Struck my mum's side of the car, she died instantly," Jay whispered not able to look at Caitlyn, the image of his mother in the front of the car before him lingered in his mind.

Her blue eyes unseeing in the mirror as they stared back at him, there was no sound even if he was sure that he had screamed out for her; blood down his face as he tried to free himself to get to her.

"I think she'd be proud of him. I know that she'd love me no matter what. Richard raised you, I have no doubts that he loved you," Jay said looking to Caitlyn as he spoke.

He gave her hand a squeeze knowing that no matter what might have happened, Richard had loved Caitlyn as his daughter; there was no doubt in Jay's mind that was why he had come to Chicago.

Lingering by the door, Laura watched the two as she watched them; she had wanted to speak with Caitlyn, to tell her the truth but now didn't seem like a good time.