Final Goodbyes

It was an hour after the funeral, and Elizabeth couldn't leave, not yet, standing beside her father's plot in a heavy rainstorm. The umbrella was laying under the canopy, untouched. Her tears merged with the raindrops as she stood there. Finally, she fell to her knees.

"Dad ... I hope you've got your mind back," she said slowly, thinking about what to say. "I know ... I know I've made choices you would never have agreed with. I chose to be with men you'd have never had blessed. But ... I think at the end of the day, I honored the legacy you left behind. To equate the Castle name with justice. There have been sacrifices along the way. A husband, lost. My place here, gone. But ... but I hope you're proud, wherever you are." She dissolved into tears, matching the gloom of the day.