Travis stepped back from the podium, and the boys hugged one another before walking off the stage in a line led by Thomas. The song Diane and I danced to at our wedding played as the boys filled the empty seats next to their wives. Trenton leaned over, his entire body shaking. Camille and Taylor both touched his back. Camille whispered in his ear, and he leaned his head against her chin.
Part of me wanted to stay, to watch over them and guide them, but something too strong to ignore was pulling me back; something I hadn’t been able to ignore over four decades before. A delicate hand touched my shoulder, and I turned, seeing my beloved wife’s face. She sat next to me and took my hands in hers.
My eyes glossed over. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
She watched the pastor speak for a few moments and then turned to me, a peaceful smile on her face and tears in her eyes. “Ditto.”
“I did my best.”
I interlaced my fingers in hers, and she squeezed my hand. “You were perfect. I knew you could do it.”
I lifted her hand to my lips and closed my eyes. A peace came over me that I hadn’t felt since before she’d died. She stood up, pulling me toward the double doors in the back of the auditorium.
“I love you. I love you. I love you,” she said, reaching behind her. She pushed the door, wearing the smile I’d fallen in love with, walking backward. She looked the way she had before she got sick; the happy, tough-as-nails, stunningly beautiful woman I remembered. I couldn’t take my eyes off her, just as I couldn’t then. I’d missed shamelessly staring at her, but I glanced over my shoulder one last time at my sons.
Diane hugged my arm and rested her head against my shoulder. “They’re going to be fine.”
“I know.”
I kissed her temple, and we continued through the doors. Our past was now and now was in the past. Just as she’d promised, we were together again, in a moment of no sickness or pain—only love. And when love was real, so was forever.
THE END.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A Beautiful Funeral is probably the most difficult book I’ve had to write. It was more than just emotional, it was keeping the various family members and timelines straight, along with incorporating all of their careers and personalities. So many people contributed to helping me make this book what it is.
Jessica Landers is the admin for the MacPack, a McGuire fan group on Facebook. Not only does she keep it interesting, positive, and fun for everyone, but she also helped me in research for each character and the timelines, and stepped up when I needed a temporary assistant. Thank you for everything you do, Jess, but most of all for being a trusted friend for more than two years. People have come and gone, but you’ve remained. Ride or die, girlfriend.
Thank you to Michelle Chu for beta reading a very early version of A Beautiful Funeral and asking questions I know all the diehard fans would want answered.
Thank you to Nina Moore for taking time to make incredible teasers and graphics for marketing. You do an incredible job and I am so thankful for you!
The packaging of a book is very important to me, and I knew that the cover had to be exceptionally beautiful to offset the anxiety of the title. Hang Le provided the “quiet beauty” I asked for in the most perfect way. Thank you, Hang, for making an amazing cover that made everyone gasp as much as the title—hard to do.
Thank you to Ben Creech and Fiona Lorne for helping with the firefighting information, and thank you to Georgia Cates for helping with obstetric /preemie info.
A big thanks to Fiona Lorne, Jenny Sims, and Pam Huff for answering my call for help, and for jumping in to edit this novel when I experienced scheduling conflicts. Thank you to Jovana Shirley for editing the description on-the-spot, and for formatting.
Thank you to my agent Kevan Lyon for sticking with me through a particularly rocky first year back to self-publishing. The bright side is that our many conversations provided a quick and dirty introduction, and you are one of the most patient and professional women in the business! Another thanks to my foreign agent Taryn Fagerness for all of her hard work this year as well.
Thank you to my husband and children for always forgiving me when I work too much or too late, and sleep in too long.
Thanks to author Andrea Joan for keeping me sane while writing this novel, for being a loyal, trusted friend, a wise consultant, confident, and comedian. I’m not sure when it happened, but you are one of my very best friends, and I treasure you.
A special thanks to my personal assistant Deanna Pyles and family. Not only was Deanna a cheerleader and beta read this novel numerous times in its many forms, she kept me hydrated and fed while I edited this novel. She also moved her family sixteen hours away from the place they were all born and raised to help my husband and I grow our businesses. That’s love, and I love you for being so brave and trusting.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JAMIE MCGUIRE was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Northern Oklahoma College, the University of Central Oklahoma, and Autry Technology Center where she graduated with a degree in Radiography.
Jamie paved the way for the New Adult genre with the international bestseller Beautiful Disaster. Her follow-up novel, Walking Disaster, debuted at #1 on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Beautiful Oblivion, book one of the Maddox Brothers series, also topped the New York Times bestseller list, debuting at #1. In 2015, books two and three of the Maddox Brothers series, Beautiful Redemption and Beautiful Sacrifice, respectively, also topped the New York Times, as well as a Beautiful series novella, Something Beautiful. Beautiful Burn, book four hit the New York Times in February 2016.
Novels also written by Jamie McGuire include: apocalyptic thriller and 2014 UtopYA Best Dystopian Book of the Year, Red Hill; the Providence series, a young adult paranormal romance trilogy; Apolonia, a dark sci-fi romance; and several novellas, including A Beautiful Wedding, Among Monsters, Happenstance: A Novella Series, and Sins of the Innocent.
Jamie is the first indie author in history to strike a print deal with retail giant Wal-Mart. Her self-published novel, Beautiful Redemption hit Wal-Mart shelves in September, 2015.
Jamie lives in Steamboat Springs, Colorado with her husband, Jeff, and their three children.
Find Jamie at www.jamiemcguire.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Tsu, Snapchat, and Instagram.