Chapter 81 Laid Claim

***Hazel***

The car ride away from the furneral home feels heavier than the one there.

No one is joking now.

Max stares out the windshield. Jocelyn keeps glancing back at me like she’s gauging whether I’m about to break. Preston is quiet in the front seat beside the driver, fingers laced together, thinking.

Gideon sits next to me in the back.

Close.

Not touching.

But close enough that I feel him.