The story I have been planning to tell has come to the end. This epilogue will reveal some mysteries, wrap up some loose ends, show the future of the three families, and conclude with surprise ending.
This has no erotic content nor any particular romantic content. This story does contain an emotional best friend’s moment. But otherwise, this story is meant to wrap things up.
Thanks to everyone who have followed the story this far. Some of you have loved the story, and I have enjoyed writing this. This has been my first attempt posting any of my writings, so any comments or feedback is welcome.
I do have more comments at the end of the story, after you have read the surprise ending.]
Epilogue
Mr. Powell made his way along the path and down the stairs to Lara’s small cottage. He could feel his age as he was going down the stairs and hoped he didn’t have to make this trip too many more times.
Upon knocking on the door, Lara immediately answered, “Art! Please do come in.”
“Call me, Mr. Powell, in public,” he said under his breath.
“We aren’t in public, and they would not be listening anyway.”
He looked at her with an unconvinced look.
“Art, I just closed the door, and your secret is safe enough here.”
He still wasn’t convinced, but said nothing more.
Lara said, “It is good to see you, though. I wish I could see you more often.”
“Seems like I am seeing too much of you.”
“You don’t like this. It is my latest bikini,” Lara said, twirling around.
Mr. Powell was unfazed and scoldingly said, “Go put a robe on, or something.”
Lara promptly went to her bedroom and came back wearing a robe that barely covered her legs. Mr. Powell shook his head in minor annoyance and didn’t say anything more about it.
“How is he doing?” he asked, as soon as Lara was in the room.
“He certainly has his hands full, a new wife, a friend and her husband, and the ditzy girl. All in all, he is handling it well.”
Mr. Powell nodded approvingly, “He takes after his mother. She could take anything life threw at her and survived with a smile.”
“I have heard she had to keep moving to keep Jake away from his father.”
“His father– He severely mistreated them. He never deserved her. She had to change her and her son’s name, but then he still kept trying to find them, that bastard!” Mr. Powell said with disdain.
“Why was he so hellbent to find them?”
“The board of my company wouldn’t give him a seat in the company if he could not raise his own family. He has no idea how to take care of a family.”
“Jake’s mother changed their names to escape him. That made it that much more difficult for them.”
“Is that where the girl came into the picture?”
“My son would never have figured that connection out. Although, I am not sure–Especially with what happened to Grace.”
“I heard she was in a car accident. She lost control of her car and ran off the road into a lake. Drowned when she couldn’t get out of the car.”
Art gave a humph to the side turned his eyes away.
Lara pressed, “What happened?”
“It had been months after, that I found out. The police had already closed the case and wouldn’t pursue anything.”
“Anything? Like what? Was there something more?”
“One of the nurses attending the ER mentioned that the doctors suspect that she didn’t drown. She was already dead when she hit the water.”
Lara gasped, “Do you mean?”
“The police wouldn’t look into it. Case closed.”
“And Jake.”
“He was staying at his friend’s house; perhaps they figured he was at college. So, I offered him the education trust to get him out of there.”
“Educational ‘trust,'” Lara gave an amused snort. “More like an educational ‘allowance.’ He never suspected. ”
“I wanted to hide him here and give him a chance to make something of his life. I only gave him enough to get through school.”
“And the girl?”
“I had to get her to safety, too.”
“And you wanted to play matchmaker.”
Art blushed a bit.
Lara said, “Who left her an ‘inheritance.’ Was it her great-aunt Mildred? Or was it great-great-aunt? And what kind of name is Mildred?”
“Mildred was a popular name back, but the girl saw right through it. She is a smart one. But those two are quite a match. He would give anything for her.”
“He offered to share his room with her and pay extra rent.”
“And he wanted to give his education trust to pay for the girl’s tuition.”
“Good thing The Daughters of the American Revolution stepped in and helped. That is your best one yet.” Lara started laughing at that point.
“Rebecca, who contributed some money, is a member of that respected institution. I didn’t want Jake to use his money for her, although he had noble intent. I just didn’t want him to know.”
“And the girl?”
“She saw through it right away. I think I can trust her to keep the secret until I am gone.”
“What that you are really his–”
“Don’t say it! Someone might be listening.”
“You are quite generous, especially when you provided therapy for her friend.”
“Karen would have done it for free, but I insisted that they help to pay part of it. Her husband’s payments will go to the Abused Women Enclave, which will give the money to women’s shelters.”
“AWE. That is kind of them to give the money to an actual charity.”
Art shifted in his seat, like suddenly he became uncomfortable.
Lara asked, “Why go to the trouble of dummy funds and organizations? Why not give him the whole inheritance?”
“That will spoil him. He needs to work and take care of his family. He received help just when he needed it, but he still has to work to benefit from those gifts. That brings me to why I am here. They need a house.”
“Now, you are bringing me into this like what? A realtor? Which organization do I represent? CRIB?”
Mr. Powell said, “CRIB? Maybe, I don’t want to know.”
“Cougar Realtors In Bikinis,” Lara said, proudly.
Mr. Powell looked down, shook his head, and groaned.
He said, “They have five people in a three-bedroom house. That is two families, both with a child on the way. That house will get crowded fast. I was wondering if you could–”
“Oh no, I like this little cottage. I am not giving it up.”
“No, no, you should keep this. I am thinking of that duplex on Pierce. It would be perfect for them, both families.”
“You want me to give them that? That house needs some work.”
Mr. Powell nodded.
Lara said, “So, they will have to spend time making it their home.”
“Yes, and you will get money out of the deal. But I want him to work for it. We will use the rest of his trust, and I will secretly give a healthy down payment and let Jake and the other fellow work to pay the mortgage.”
“Okay, but I hope you know what you are doing.”
“That other fellow has a good work ethic. Old Bob has taken a liking to him and highly recommends him.”
“Old Bob, the professor?”
“He is retiring next year, but that other fellow is planning to look after him.”
“Did you know that other fellow and the girl are pretending to be brother and sister?”
“No, I didn’t know, but it seems to fit his character. He had lost a sister a couple of years ago. He has a strong sense of family. Old Bob admires him for that, though Old Bob never had a family. Although–”
Art paused for a moment and looked off in thought.
Lara asked, “What are you thinking of now?”
“Nothing important. I will just talk with Old Bob.”
“Whatever, I just hope this duplex deal will work out.”
“I will put my guarantee on that deal.”
================================================
The house was abuzz with the excitement of two little ones on the way. Jessica could not stop talking about it. She would talk with Rachel endlessly and make all kinds of plans. Jessica planned out how to arrange the rooms for the kids. She talked about baby clothes and baby toys. She was totally excited at first.
Then some of the pregnancy hormones kicked in. With all the recent trauma, some days were especially hard for Jessica. She would just sit in bed and do nothing all day. Wayne began to learn how deep some of Jessica’s depression really was, and how much trauma she still had to overcome. He may not have been ready for it, but he was not discouraged.
However, endlessly sitting and holding her hand was difficult for him. He was a doer, and he did not know what he needed to do. I knew, and Rachel knew. We would take turns being with her; mostly, it was Rachel. Jessica and Rachel built a strong relationship during this time. That friendship would carry them through childbirth, raising children, and beyond.
Wayne, like me, became concerned about caring for our two families, and we both knew we would have to work some part-time jobs to get by. Wayne could line us up some contracting jobs to fix houses. We had to juggle that work and school. Rachel had found some contract work as a graphic designer to bring in some more income. We were determined to make this work.
One day, Mr. Powell came back with a realtor tagging along. He found the ideal place for us, all of us. An investor had a duplex for sale, and Mr. Powell worked out a deal for us. The deal meant that I would have to give up the remainder of the education trust as a down payment. Wayne and I would have to fix up the place, but ultimately, we would end up spending less on mortgage payments than the rent was.
We decided to make it all work. Each family would have their own house, but we would live next door and share a big backyard. That house had the room we all needed. Somehow though, everyone spent most of the time at our home.
As soon as we moved in, Jessica gave birth to a cute baby girl named Grace, after my mother. Grace had brown hair and several of the facial features of her father. Despite that, she was still cute as she was growing up.
A month later, Rachel gave birth to a cute baby girl who had a mop of black hair just like her mother. We decided to name her Miriam, after my mother’s former name. These children were a joy to have around. Jessica especially loved her little daughter. She poured all the love and attention she could give to Grace.
Jessica didn’t start working again, and Wayne did not press her. She still had some trauma inside, and she developed some anxiety about working. Jessica had loved it at the real estate office because the broker gave her the chance to work despite her lack of education. She was afraid now to work for fear of rejection.