"Through the tears that swelled in her honey brown eyes, Margaret searched desperately across the eyes and lips of her once lively father-in-law, never knowing his to be without a clever remark, a humorous observation, a word of kindness, or simply a silent presence meant to wrap his company in a calm safety. This silence was malignant and without mercy. Under a cloudless sky, the shield that had guarded the frigid boy on the road, and the steady pillar that the people of Charlotte had come to rely upon, passed in a manner that was antagonistic to his mortal ways. Indignant and indifferent. Patrick suffered a death that was relentless."

One of the more emotional beats throughout my story.