EPILOGUE
I don’t realize how drained I am emotionally until I collapse into Sean’s arms and immediately burst into tears. He wraps me up and holds me close, saying nothing until my shoulders stop shaking, and I end my weeping with a deep, cleansing breath. Then he says, “All right now, love?”
“Well enough,” I say.
“Good. Because I have completely forgotten to make dinner and had to order takeout Chinese instead.”
I laugh and kiss his cheek. “I love takeout Chinese.”
"A fact for which I am eternally grateful. Come on. It's all set in the living room. I have four movies queued, and not one of them was released after 1970."
He walks away, holding my hand. I squeeze his hand and remain where I am. He turns around and lifts an eyebrow. “Yes, Miss Wilcox?”
I blush and glance toward the stairs. His eyebrow lifts higher. “Ah. Well, if you insist.”
Two hours later, we start the first movie and enjoy our lukewarm takeout Chinese. I am wearing a thick, plush robe and I am finally relaxed and completely content. Sean wears a matching robe, and judging by the expression on his face, he looks just as content as I am.
So, of course, I have to ruin it. My smile fades, and I say, "Sean… I need to tell you something."
“I knew it,” he says immediately. “You’re leaving me. That was the wonderful goodbye sex all the lads warned me about.”
When I don’t laugh, his expression grows sober. “Uh oh. This is something serious.”
“Yes.”
“About Annie?”
I nod.
He reaches for the remote and pauses the movie. “Ah. You’d better tell me then.”
I tell him about my conversation with Josephine. He listens without interrupting—another truly wonderful quality of his—and when I finish, he says, “I’m sorry. That must have been hard to hear.”
“It was,” I reply. “It… I have this image of Annie, you know. She was this beautiful, funny, kind, good person. I mean, she had her faults, but they never seemed grievous to me. I’ve always believed that she was a good woman who left because she was smothered by bad people. But the more I learn about her, the harder it is to justify her actions. I just don’t know how to reconcile the girl I knew with the woman she seems to have become. She’s almost like…”
I stop myself before I can say, like my mother. One day, I’ll have to tell Sean about her, but that’s a can of worms that will take more energy to get through than I have to spare right now.
“She was flawed,” Sean finishes for me. “And some of her flaws were serious.”
I nod slowly. “Yes. Very serious.”
“But she had good qualities. And some of those qualities were wonderful.”
I nod a little less slowly. “Yes. Very wonderful.”
“That means she was human, love. Not all of us tend to those extremes, but some do. And we love them anyway, don’t we?”
I nod once more, not at all slowly. “Yes. We do.”
He kisses my forehead and says, “Don’t judge her too harshly. Not all of us have your willpower. Besides, there’s twenty-eight years of history we still need to discover. Odds are she learned her lesson eventually.”
I laugh. “Yes. I suppose you’re right. Perhaps one day we’ll know for sure.”
“You will. You’re Mary Wilcox. No mystery can evade you forever.”
I smile at him. “You’re damned right.”
I settle in next to him and enjoy lukewarm chow mein and orange chicken while I watch Jimmy Stewart learn to appreciate his modest life. I can hardly call my life modest, but as I snuggle next to the man I love and indulge in the simple pleasure of comfort food and comfort films, I can say honestly that I appreciate my life.
Sometimes that’s all one needs.