Epilogue
Emile
"I'm not good at this." I laughed, stumbling over my feet. Relenting, I let Daisy take the lead, and we danced across the intimate dance floor, our bare feet colliding constantly.
"Who cares? You're still both the most gorgeous couple I've ever seen in my life." Neal rolled their eyes and flapped their newspaper loudly from the beach chair they were lounging in.
"Have you seen this?" They lifted the newspaper. We stopped dancing, and I came over. I took it from them and sat down in the chair beside them, reading the article aloud.
"Gatsby—deceased. Mysterious billionaire, Gatsby, was declared deceased after a party at his million-dollar mansion last month. Police are not disclosing any information, but a service was held in his honor. The only people in attendance was his staff, despite rumors of having been in a romantic affair with (deceased) millionaire, Max Stanton’s fiancée, Daisy Lovelace. Neither estate has been listed for sale at this time."
I offered the newspaper back to them .
"Sounds familiar, no?" They grinned.
Tuth had made Neal read The Great Gatsby the first week we arrived in France. They enjoyed being in on the references now and used them whenever they could.
"I'm just glad it's all over." Daisy sauntered over and daintily say on my lap. She rested her head on my chest.
"Me too." Neal grinned. "Especially since Nona's estate manager called. Since you broke the agreement, all of her money was sent to her other grandchild."
After we’d arrived in France with Lydia in tow, Daisy had confessed everything to her dear cousin, the person she split her grandmother’s wealth with. Having no need for her inheritance now, she let Neal have it all.
"Worth it," Daisy said. "I shouldn't have agreed to Max's ruse in the first place."
Once everything had calmed, we discussed what had been revealed the night of Max and Clarke's deaths. While the abortion didn't bother me, her fear of telling me did.
I wanted to know everything about her. Not just the good stuff. And the same for me. I laid out my past all on the table for her to ask questions. I'd lived with the fear for too long that she wouldn't believe me. That she'd think I was just some sex pervert; but she listened, and then as I cried, she cried. And when we made love that night, I'd never felt closer to any one human.
"You're still here? I thought you were going to check on the shop?" Tuth came around the corner, dressed in their swimsuit, holding little Lydia's hand. Lydia had leaped at the change in parenthood. She was so starved for parental affection, she latched on to Tuth and quickly to Neal. While they didn't assign gender roles, they had made an unwritten deal to take on the role of parents for little Lydia.
Daisy and I took on aunt and uncle roles, and Daisy seemed to blossom under it. She'd explained that she'd never felt the maternal connection to Lydia, but something clicked when she no longer was forced into caring for her. She was happy to watch her now, as long as she was able to give her back to her parents afterward.
I stood, taking Daisy with me.
"Yeah, we're working on it. I think my sign is coming today. And your audition is tomorrow, isn't it?" I asked Daisy.
"It is. I'm feeling confident, although I'll have to work my way up again to Prima Ballerina." She let go of my hand and did a leap and pirouette across the dance floor. She returned to my side and grabbed my hand. "Let's head out."
Returning to our house on the beach, which we all shared, Daisy and I retrieved our shoes and started down the road, where after half an hour, we reached our destination.
"Beautiful, ain't it?" I asked her as we stood in front of my tattoo shop. The new sign had been installed above the large window, flashing my business name proudly.
Beautiful Little Freaks
"Absolutely. I can't wait to be your official first paying client," she teased as we went inside. All month, I'd been decorating and getting my equipment ready to open shop. It was just me for now, but as I didn't need the money, I wasn't looking for anything but a place to do what I'd always wanted to do—tattoo.
I pulled Daisy in for a hug.
"It's all coming together," I said. "You're going to be back on stage soon, and I'll open shop in a week. It's perfect."
The door chimed, and we turned toward the entrance.
"Perfect? Uh, I think you're missing two important elements in your dream life."
I hurried across the room to throw my arms around two people I thought I'd never see again .
"Dewayne!" I exclaimed. "Jules! What are you doing here?" I asked them, stepping back to examine my friends.
They exchanged looks and chuckled. Jules stepped forward, offering his hand for me to shake. "You talked about it so much, we decided we need some of that, too.”
"Of what?"
"The green light," Dewayne said. "You asked once, do we believe in it? We do."
“We do.” I muttered, as I shook my head in disbelief. Truly, this was the perfect ending to our story. Gatsby finally got the happy ending he deserved.
That I deserved.
Jules clapped his hands, pulling me from my slightly melancholy thoughts, and grinned.
"I've been traveling all day. I am starving. What shall we have for dinner?"