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Show Peppermint Monday I had to say something. I met him by the door. His gray eyes narrowed when they saw me, but he nodded politely. I wanted to thank him for taking care of Russ. I wanted to tell him I was sorry I had misjudged him. Instead of saying anything, I burst into tears. I thought I was all cried out, but they managed to fall from somewhere . "Sh," Jake said in his deep voice. "Wipe yer eyes." I felt his large hand squeeze my shoulder awkwardly. "Wipe yer eyes." "He promised you," I blurted out without thinking. "He promised you he wouldn't die. I heard him promise you." I had meant to say something soothing. I was attacking him instead. "Russ broke his promise." Jake lifted my chin and looked me in the eyes. My eyes were puffy and red, but he looked directly at me anyway. "Russ don't break promises. He ain't dead. He just found a better resting place." I thought of that the rest of the day. It was a much more comforting thought than anything else I had heard. Even Grandma Ruby hadn't said anything that even came close to Jake's message, and Grandma really understood me. Later, when I out some flowers on Russ' grave, I remembered what he'd said on one of our walks. "I'm never going to leave here. I'm going to be part of the Ozarks, like Jake is." I had told him he belonged here. He did too. The town cemetery was just below the base of the east hills. Wild flowers grew everywhere and the place was beautiful and restful. I had never spent much time at the cemetery. I had never had a reason to before. This was one of the prettiest places I had seen. Russ deserved to be buried in a place like this. He was part of the Ozarks. |