Epilogue
Mitch waited nine days.
On that ninth afternoon, he gave her enough time to get home from work, then presented himself at her front door and tapped the brass knocker.
When she opened the door and found him there, she reacted with her customary composure. But he detected a warmth and approachability in her eyes that hadn’t been there the day they’d met. He took those cracks in the bell jar as a positive sign.
“Hello, Mitch.”
“Hi. Sorry I didn’t call ahead.”
“You never call ahead.”
“Too true. And just so everything is out in the open, I asked Ellie to alert me when you left the office today.”
“And she complied?” Then she rolled her eyes. “Of course she did. I suppose you turned on the charm.”
“Well, I’m here.” He grinned, but she didn’t say anything or invite him in, so he kept talking. “Beth told me you went to see the new little Bowie.”
“I did. He’s adorable.”
“Yeah, he’s definitely a keeper. Beth is a natural. Calm, competent, perfectly lovely. The best I can say about John is that he’s obnoxious.”
She gave a light laugh. “A bit.”
With that, their small talk died. Apparently it was up to him to keep this going. “How have you been?”
“All right. What about you?”
“Rocking along. Busy.”
“Concerning Busby’s arrest and all that entails?”
“It entails a lot. Up to this point, I’m done with my part. More to come.” He paused. “I’ve also been busy on personal stuff.”
“Oh?”
“I’m looking for a new place to live. Something like this,” he said, giving her street a quick survey.
“Not a lot of upkeep, but with a patch of yard in back. Andrew’s got a hankering for a dog.
” He could tell that sparked her curiosity, so he hurried to continue.
“I went to see Mary and Hank last week.”
“Is he recovering well?”
“Says he feels like a teenager.”
“That’s good.”
“Um-huh. Anyway, I was supposed to be returning Andrew to them, but the three of us sat down for a heart-to-heart, and I told them I’m moving Andrew here permanently.”
She inhaled deeply but didn’t say anything.
“My son belongs to me and with me,” he said, repeating what he’d told his in-laws.
“I’ve enrolled him in a preschool that provides extracurricular activities in the afternoons.
After nap time. He’s already picked out his sleep mat and lunch box.
I’m also looking for a reliable nanny type to stay with him when work demands. ”
She smiled. Either it was his hopeful imagination or it was a little tremulous. “You have been busy, Mitch.”
“I never touched Angela’s life insurance. It’s earned some decent interest, so I can use it to afford this. It’ll be an adjustment, and I know going in that it won’t always be easy. I’ll take it one day at a time and do my best.”
“I’m sure Andrew’s excited.”
“He can’t wait. I’m gonna teach him to fish.”
She smiled. “Where is he now?”
“Molly came down from New York to meet her baby brother. She invited him to stay over with her tonight. He still thinks she hung the moon.”
“His first crush.”
“I guess.” During the following lull, he shifted his stance. “By the way, you look great.”
“Thank you.”
“And, Dylan, John and I put on that dog and pony show to catch the bad guys. It worked. We got them. You played a minor role in the grand scheme.”
“Minor role?” She looked down at the ground for a time before looking back up at him. “It wasn’t minor to me, Mitch. I heard every word you two said in that self-congratulatory conversation. You came to me only to manipulate and use me.”
“At first, yes. I’ve admitted it. But you can’t think that what happened between us was part of the act.”
“Did Beth know?”
“About the hoax? No. John wouldn’t tell even her. In order for it to be convincing, nobody could know except him and me.”
She appeared somewhat mollified to learn that even Beth had been unaware.
He said, “You know that over the course of that week, things changed. I changed. When I met you, I’d been sober for six months, but I was still obsessed with getting revenge. You made me see how dominating and destructive that obsession was.”
She was about to speak, but he held up a hand.
“Let me finish, please. The other night at John’s house, I hated that you left, but you were right to.
I did need that time to reflect, and what I eventually arrived at is this: I’ll never let go of the memories of Angela, but I have let go of blaming myself for what happened to her.
“I came to the realization that nobody faulted me, except me. She wouldn’t want me to be bound by that guilt.
It would break her heart. So, I came here to say thank you for helping me to see that.
My resolve now is to put all that behind me, not drag it into the future.
Andrew’s and mine. And I guess our dog’s. ”
To keep from smiling, she rolled her lips inward and held them that way for a moment. “I’m very glad you got closure on that. I appreciate your telling me.” She hesitated, then said, “I’ve been doing some self-analysis.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. A bell jar is see-through. But most people didn’t. See through it, that is. But you did, and you made me realize how confining it had become.”
He swallowed hard. “Is that your way of saying I’m forgiven for tricking you?”
“Forgiven? Hmm,” she said a tad coyly, as though pondering it. “I’m still thinking that over.”
“Fair enough, but there’s more, and you charge by the quarter hour, so I need to get this out fast. In spite of my recent enlightenment, I may backslide now and then and need a refresher course from a reputable psychologist.”
She arched an eyebrow.
Hastily, he continued. “Not to be a patient. Per se. Because being a bona fide patient comes with strings attached that, frankly, stink. I’d just like to have, you know, someone I could be with, and… and look at… while we talk.”
Then they stood and stared at each other, until he said, “For god’s sake, Dylan, you’re killing me here.”
And she said, “Are you crying?”
“Yeah, I do that,” he said, blotting his eyes. “I told you.”
“So did John.”
“John told you I cried? That asshole!”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“It’s not studly, either. I’m a badass cop, is what.” By now, she was laughing. He assumed a militant stance. “And, ma’am, I’m here to execute a search warrant.”
She stopped laughing, but there was mirth in her eyes. “For what?”
“Your body.”
“My body isn’t missing.”
He laughed. “Damn. That was a good comeback, and it completely threw off my timing. I had a good joke.”
“There’s nothing wrong with your timing.” She reached across the threshold for his hand and pulled him inside, then closed the door.
He didn’t wait another instant before enwrapping her and clamping his mouth to hers. Her response was as fervent. She pushed her fingers into his hair and held his head as they kissed with pent-up passion, now freed.
When they took a breath, she said, “The bedroom is upstairs.”
“Much too far.” He started undoing the buttons of her blouse. “Ma’am, every part of you is going to be thoroughly searched.” He peeled her blouse off, then pulled her to him and murmured into her ear, “Then frisked.”
Between kisses, they shed their clothes as they made their way to the living room sofa, which, of course, had too damn many pillows on it. Together they sent them sailing.
The room looked like a tornado had swept through it.
Their lovemaking was even stormier. Each of them selfish, each of them giving.
It was graceless but intensely gratifying.
At the height of it, before he even had to ask her to fulfill a fantasy that he’d been entertaining ever since the first time he saw her, she wrapped her gorgeous legs around him.
After, they lay unmoving to savor the coupling that neither wanted to separate.
Eventually, Mitch raised his head and looked into her face. “I loved a woman. I loved her with all my heart. But I’ve fallen in love with another. Something I didn’t believe would ever be possible. Congratulations.”
“Congratulations?”
“You’re her. The lucky winner.”
She gave a soft laugh. “Don’t joke.”
He placed the tenderest of kisses on her lips. “Wasn’t joking.”