Epilogue
Memorial Day weekend arrived in East Hampton the same way it had every year before. By Friday afternoon, a long line of cars stretched down Montauk Highway all the way back to New York City, the beaches were crowded with Manhattanites, and the businesses along Main Street were bustling. Still, by eight p.m. the town had settled into its normal pace, and a sense of calm lay over everything.
Well, except for the party currently raging on the field outside the Village Hall.
“I LOVE THIS SONG!” Mrs. Bennet yelled over the guitar solo of the Friday night headliner, the Eazy E Street Band, a Bruce Springsteen and NWA cover group.
To the surprise of everyone, except maybe Hank Donato, the inaugural HamptonFest was a roaring success. Some of the initial plans had to be scaled back, of course—Marv refused to revise the village’s noise ordinances so no acts were allowed to play past nine p.m., and Taylor Swift was unavailable to headline this year. But thanks to a sizable anonymous donation, a few generous sponsors, and partnerships with various local businesses whose tables now lined the periphery of the field, HamptonFest was kicking off with almost the entire town in attendance.
Lizzy stood to the side of the stage, sipping her beer as the band’s guitar solo led to a DJ scratch, then the opening licks of “Born in the U.S.A.” The crowd cheered, with Mrs. Bennet and Donna Donato front and center, screaming at the lead singer. Even Lizzy had to admit that he looked strikingly like Bruce Springsteen himself, except for the thick gold chain and L.A. Dodgers baseball cap. Her mother didn’t seem to notice a difference, though. In fact, the way her hands were flailing behind her back now could only mean one thing…
Beside Lizzy, Jane winced. “Is she going to throw her bra onstage?”
“Let her have this,” Lizzy said, patting Jane’s arm. “She’s earned it.”
Jane smiled.
“Do you think anyone here realizes that this song is actually about the futility of war and a scathing critique of the country’s treatment of veterans and the working class under Reagan?” Mary murmured from where she stood a few feet away. Her hair was a deep shade of green now. It matched her There Is No Planet B T-shirt.
Lizzy’s head tilted to the side, watching as a very drunk Marv tried to balance his ex-wife on his shoulders so she could see the stage.
“Nope,” she replied.
Mary snorted a laugh.
After her arrest last year, and the subsequent fallout, the truth about Tristan’s lack of effort toward securing Gretna Island slowly came out—helped by Tristan’s very public trial for felony insurance fraud and tax evasion. And while he was currently serving five years in prison, Hank begrudgingly gave up his dream of holding HamptonFest on the island.
Oddly enough, that motivated Green Justice to become one of the main sponsors of the revamped festival, securing the space around Village Hall and ensuring that all food waste was composted.
Where exactly Green Justice got the money to support such a festival was one of the worst-kept secrets in East Hampton.
Lizzy wasn’t sure if it was out of boredom, spite, or actual altruism that made Vivienne Pierce write a personal check to Green Justice. Her ex-husband had finally been forced to honor their prenup, and Vivienne was awarded their Midtown penthouse and their French bulldog, Sha-Diamond, in the settlement. Afterward, she promptly sold the apartment and everything in it—except the dog, who never left her side—and donated a portion of the profits to the one organization she knew her oil tycoon ex-husband would hate: Mary’s ecoterrorist organization. Now she was in Zermatt with Rainer, a Swiss-German ski instructor. Apparently, he saved her life after she slipped getting off a chairlift this past winter. They’d been inseparable ever since.
Hank also lifted his restraining order on Mary, after gaining the promise that she wouldn’t get within fifteen feet of him during the festivities.
As if on cue, Mary craned her neck, looking down the edge of the crowd.
“See him?” Jane asked.
“No, but I think Lizzy’s man is coming over. That, or he’s about to do a runner.”
Lizzy followed her gaze to where Will was walking along the periphery of the crowd, beer in hand. His face was grim, watching the scene with a mixture of confusion and aloofness.
She watched him approach, the lights from the stage flashing across his face as he came to a stop at her side.
“It’s rude to stare, you know,” he murmured.
She smiled. “Mary thinks you’re a flight risk.”
His brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Because you look miserable.”
“Of course I’m miserable. Do you know what this song is about?”
Jane laughed as Mary rolled her eyes. “ Thank you.”
He let a crooked smile turn up the corner of his lips, then he raised his arm, the way he always did, inviting Lizzy into his side. She accepted, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around him.
Even after nine months, she couldn’t get enough of his smell. That distinctive mix of sandalwood and leather, which she now knew was his body wash. She turned to press her nose against his shirt and inhaled. Then she looked up, her chin resting on his chest.
“Hello, Mr. Darcy.”
“Hello, Ms. Bennet. Having a good time?”
She nodded, taking a deep sniff of his shirt again.
“You’re not going to steal this one, too, are you?”
“Maybe.”
He chuckled.
Mary groaned. “You two are gross.”
Jane sighed, her eyes returning to the crowd. She had been looking for Charlie for the better part of an hour, and so far, no luck. Once the pair reunited last year, and Charlie decided the trip out to East Hampton from New York was much more pleasant in a car, he spent the weekends at his new beach house with Jane. Tonight marked their one-year anniversary of meeting, and she wanted to spend every second with him.
“Have you asked Freddie if he’s seen Charlie?” Will suggested, pointing to the left side of the stage where Freddie Wentworth stood next to Birdie, casually sporting a look of restrained amusement on his face. Ever since he had decided to move back to the East Coast permanently, Birdie Carrington had been relentless in her pursuit to find Freddie the perfect turnkey apartment in the city. Unfortunately for Freddie, now a signed client, it seemed he would also receive the hard sell when it came to her quest to try to unload Marv’s Lament as a summer rental yet again.
“He looks busy,” Jane replied diplomatically.
“Do you think he’s trying to see how long Birdie can go without taking a breath?” Lizzy mused.
“He might be there awhile,” Will replied with a side glance.
Onstage, the DJ started looping the song, mixing “Born in the U.S.A.” with “Straight Outta Compton,” and the crowd began to oscillate between dancing and jumping, trying to find the overriding beat. Lizzy didn’t move, though, just relaxed against Will until Jane pointedly cleared her throat.
“Mary, eleven o’clock,” she said in such a loud stage whisper that a few people nearby turned around.
Mary’s head snapped in that direction, just in time to see Hank heading toward them, his face red and movements frantic. To anyone else, it would look like he was close to a heart attack, but Lizzy knew that the man had never been so stressed—and so happy—in his entire life.
“Right, I’m out,” Mary said. “Text me when he’s gone. I’ll be over at Kitty’s table.”
Lizzy could see Kitty’s table across the field. There was still a line in front of it, and the fact that people were willing to forgo tonight’s headlining band to wait for their very own Kitty Cake was a testament to her sister’s new business. After their father had approached her about taking a more active role at the bakery, Kitty had waited a whole twenty-four hours before presenting him with a detailed plan on not only how to modernize but grow. Within a month, they had a website capable of taking online orders, a new sign out front, and an automated voicemail system.
Then came the bigger surprise, the business plan Kitty had been working on for months: Kitty Cakes, a mail-order cake business that would send custom cakes anywhere in the country. It had been a harder sell to their father, but Kitty had anticipated as much. That’s why she had first pitched the idea to Annabelle Pierce during Charlie’s Fourth of July party. She became Kitty’s first investor, and was the one to present Kitty Cakes in their meeting with other potential investors after their father finally agreed to secure the first round of funding. Now they were valued at over four million dollars, and were HamptonFest’s number one sponsor.
“Grab me a piece of sour cherry cake,” Will called out as Mary started away toward the Kitty Cakes table.
Mary gave a noncommittal wave. As much as she hated to admit it, she and Will had developed a unique friendship that seemed to revolve exclusively around a mutual love of land preservation and baked goods.
“Are you going to share?” Lizzy asked.
He sighed, heavy and dramatic. “We’ll have to see. I’m very hungry.”
She laughed and he smiled, and that wonderful warmth in her center glowed bright again.
Lizzy was surprised by how much she had been looking forward to HamptonFest. Her first semester at Columbia had kept her so busy that she felt she barely had a moment to breathe, let alone spend time with Will. Not that he made an issue out of it. The two of them split their time between Will’s apartment in the city and the Montauk house.
As Hank got closer, Will leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Ready?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
Jane looked over at both of them, eyebrows knitted together. “Did I miss something?”
Lizzy was about to reply, but then Hank finally arrived.
“Lizzy! Jane! Oh, I’m so glad I found you both!” Then he gave a cursory nod to Will. “Hello, hello, hope you’re enjoying yourself.”
Will just nodded.
Lizzy still didn’t know how he had managed to keep his HamptonFest donation a secret so even the organizer didn’t know when he was talking to his benefactor, but she also knew it was exactly the way Will wanted it to be.
“Okay, it’s time!” Hank said, already hurrying toward the stage. “Lizzy, give the signal!”
Why Lizzy had to be the one to cue Piper, she had no idea. But she still went up on her tiptoes, looking for her friend up in the wings offstage. The band was just finishing up their set when she caught sight of her standing next to her now-fiancée, Sasha, and a group of six-year-olds, waiting for her cue.
“What’s going on?” Jane asked.
Lizzy ignored her and pulled out her phone, texting Piper:
LIZZY
GO TIME
Her friend saw the message a moment later. She looked up to find Lizzy in the crowd and gave her a thumbs-up. Then she leaned forward, whispering something to the band, who nodded in reply. For some reason, Sasha began to cheer, too, as if they had worked together to avert a global crisis.
The murmur of the crowd was silenced as the band’s drummer started a drumroll. All eyes went to the center of the stage as Hank waltzed forward, smiling benevolently at the crowd.
“Hello, hello, hello! If I can have everyone’s attention!” he announced. The crowd hushed. “Thank you all so much for being here for our first inaugural HamptonFest!” He paused for a splattering of claps and shouts. “I hope you’re enjoying the music, courtesy of our sponsors, Donato Lodge, Green Justice, and Kitty Cakes!”
A lone WAHOO rang out from the front of the stage.
“Thank you, Lydia,” Hank said, his smile looking strained. “Well, I know you think we’re wrapping up for the first night of our three-day festival, but if you don’t mind sticking around for another minute, there’s one last surprise. So now, without further ado, straight from East Hampton Elementary, I would like to introduce Ms. Bennet’s first-grade class!”
The crowd erupted in applause as a neat row of six-year-olds filed onstage, led by Piper and Sasha.
“What is going on?” Jane whispered, eyes wide.
Will’s arms tightened around Lizzy’s waist as she smiled.
Piper walked forward, bowing slightly to the crowd, then turned to the class and raised her arms. With a flick of her wrists, they began singing the opening verse of “God Only Knows,” their small voices cracking and wobbling and creating such a perfect sound that Lizzy thought her heart would burst.
Next to her, it looked like Jane’s had. Tears welled in her eyes as she watched her students struggle with the lyrics, trying desperately to hit the high notes and stay focused.
Then, just as they began the second verse, Charlie emerged onstage and walked to the microphone.
“Is Jane Bennet out there?” he asked, shielding his eyes from the lights shining on the stage.
Almost everyone in the crowd turned to where Jane stood beside Lizzy and Will.
Charlie smiled. “Jane, would you come up here for a minute?”
Applause broke out again as Jane walked forward, navigating the crowd in her light blue sundress. When she reached the steps up to the stage, Charlie leaned down and took her hand, helping her ascend until she stood in front of him.
“Jane, I have loved you since the first moment I set eyes on your TARDIS earrings. You are the best person I have ever known, and you make me happier than I could ever deserve. So, that’s why I’m here. With a question.”
The class was still humming the music as Charlie got down on one knee. Somewhere near the front of the stage there was a strangled cry, like Mrs. Bennet had just passed out.
“Jane Bennet, will you marry me?”
He barely had the words out before Jane was nodding, tears streaming down her face. And just like that, Charlie was up, taking her in his arms and spinning her around as the crowd lost their minds.
The band stepped forward again, and together with the class, began to play “God Only Knows” from the beginning. Jane and Charlie began to dance, laughing and spinning as the crowd began to pair off and do the same. Lizzy watched them, a look of such unabashed joy on her sister’s face that her heart hurt.
Then Will’s deep voice filled her ear. “Dance with me.”
She turned to him, eyes narrowed. “You know how to dance?”
“No.”
She laughed and took his hand, letting him lead her to the center of the crowd. He wrapped his arm firmly around her waist, pulling her close.
The field filled up with other couples then. Hank and Donna, Piper and Sasha, Mr. Bennet with his sobbing wife. Even Lydia and Kitty joined in, their exaggerated waltz cutting a line right through the space.
Lydia snorted, her drink sloshing over the rim of her cup as she twisted around Kitty, losing a grip on her hand so she almost landed on the Kitty Cakes table.
Kitty bent over, cackling. “So graceful!”
“I’m an angel!” Lydia cried, spinning back into her sister’s arms.
Everyone was packed in tight, but Lizzy stayed tucked in Will’s arms, leaning her forehead against his chest as the song slowly built.
Once it reached its crescendo, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head.
She looked up. His expression was exactly as it had always been, that hard line of his brow, the sharp line of his jaw. She wondered sometimes how she had gone so long only seeing that, never noticing the softness in his eyes, the earnestness there that revealed so much more than he could ever say.
She smiled, snuggling into him. It was funny—she had been running from this place for so long that she hadn’t realized it was responsible for taking her where she needed to be. These people who had been with her since she was born, this town that had welcomed the two men who would change everything. No, it wasn’t what she’d expected, but she knew now that she couldn’t control it, either, and maybe it was okay to let go.
She closed her eyes, breathing in Will’s scent again, and silently prayed to whoever might be listening: Thank you for him. For this love that is so perfect I almost feel like I don’t deserve it.
Then she opened her eyes and looked up at Will again. “I love you, you know.”
He grinned, that same unpracticed grin she had fallen for so many months before, then leaned down to whisper in her ear, “Yes, but I loved you first.”