Xander considered it an honor to lead the procession to Joan's final resting place. The line of cars snaked down the mountain, filling multiple switchbacks. The cemetery was an older one, high up on the ridge where you could look out over the Great Smoky Mountains. She'd loved those mountains all her life, and he thought it fitting that she be laid to rest with such a view. He hoped that when her daughters came to visit the graveside—if they came to visit after today—they'd find some comfort in that.
Stepping out of his cruiser, Xander looked toward the car parked behind the hearse. The doors opened and the sisters slid out, all in unrelieved black. Pru, Maggie, and Athena he'd seen, already offered his condolences. Kennedy was the last one out. He wanted to be cool and unaffected, wanted
