Epilogue
Nally was in the rehearsal studio at the back of the first-floor corridor, tickling the ivories and working on his latest composition when he heard the news.
The news was not actually the first thing he heard. He’d been working on that particular composition for weeks, ever since Rafe and Jake’s beautiful engagement. He’d had an idea for a song that he thought embodied the emotion of the proposal, and then he’d got the idea into his head that he could write something for their wedding, whenever they decided to have it. From there, all it needed was a third movement and voila, it was an entire piano concerto in the key of romance.
The adagio had been giving him a hard time for the last few days, so he’d gone up to the remote rehearsal studio to play around with a few motifs to see if he could make anything of them. He’d nearly cracked it when a thump from the ceiling above him shook him out of his groove.
It wasn’t the first time there had been a thump upstairs. He pounded on the keys in frustration and sent a dirty look to the cracked ceiling above him.
“I know you’re up there,” he called out to the ghost who lived in the attic. “I’m going to find you out one of these days,” he added.
He wasn’t completely certain the sounds that kept interrupting him while he was trying to compose were ghosts, but with a house as old as Hawthorne House, and with the storied history of his family, it was more likely than not that one of his ancestors was trying to tell him how to write his music.
He was about to dive back into the adagio when his phone, which he’d placed on top of the piano, started to buzz. Usually he would have ignored it, but something told him to see what it was all about.
He was expecting a text message, but instead, a notification he’d set for any mention of Hélène Rénard showed up on his screen.
Holding his breath, Nally tapped to open the news story. All he really needed to see was the headline and first paragraph.
“ Glass World Great Shattered. After whispers of intellectual property theft and stealing work and ideas from younger, less well-known artists, Hélène Rénard has finally been proven guilty of poaching off of her vulnerable peers. Glass artist Todd Renfield has come forward with unassailable proof of Rénard’s duplicity, shocking the art world to its core .”
Nally shouted in triumph and stood so fast he nearly knocked the piano bench over. He wondered if Rafe and Jake had heard the news yet.
“See you later, ghost,” he called out, rushing for the door.
At the other end of the corridor, he spotted Robbie and Toby, leaning against the wall, making out. There was no telling why Robbie had Toby’s back pressed against the wall as the two of them engaged in a round of tongue-wrestling. They’d been together for about a year now, and it was ridiculous the way the two of them still carried on.
At least, that’s what Nally told himself. In reality, he was so jealous of them he could have screamed.
“Did you hear the news?” he asked, pausing as he reached them.
Robbie growled low in his throat, then turned to stare at Nally as if he’d interrupted something important. “What news?” he asked.
“Hélène Rénard has been called out for her intellectual property theft,” Nally said.
Toby stood up straight. “It’s about time,” he said. “I couldn’t believe Rafe and Jake were going to let her get away with all that scot-free.”
“She’s in trouble now,” Nally said, waving his phone before leaving the two of them to their hallway snogging and heading downstairs.
He headed straight for the office to see who else he could tell. Rebecca was there on the phone with someone, so he’d have to wait to tell her. He headed into the back office, where Ryan, who was visiting from Milan, was chatting with Rhys and Early, who was sitting on Rhys’s lap in their office chair.
“—going to try to keep it a secret for at least a little while longer,” Rhys was saying as he snuggled Early and kissed their neck.
“Keep what a secret?” Nally asked, his gut tightening at the adorable sight of the two lovebirds cuddling.
“See?” Ryan laughed. “You can’t keep anything a secret in this family.”
“Rafe and Jake won’t be the only ones having a wedding next year,” Rhys said, beaming at Early.
“Really?” Nally asked, overjoyed for a moment before another wave of jealous longing swept through him. “That’s amazing! That’s fantastic, really. I’ll pretend I don’t know if you want to make a big announcement to the whole family later.”
“Thanks,” Early said, brushing their hand over Rhys’s face. “We haven’t decided anything yet.”
“Well, while you’re deciding, did you hear that Hélène Rénard got her just deserts just now?” Nally asked.
They all glanced to him. “Really?” Rhys asked, sitting straighter, his arms still wrapped around Early. “That’s great.”
“There’s an article about it that just came over the wire now,” Nally said. “I’m going to go find Rafe and Jake and tell them.”
“I’m sure they’d love to hear,” Ryan said.
Nally sped out of the office again, past Rebecca, who was still on the phone, and out into the front hall. He was happy for Rhys and Early, really, he was, their engagement just made him feel?—
“Hey! Nally, can you hold the door?” Bax asked struggling with Macy in one arm and her buggy in the other as Nally approached them.
“I’ve got it,” Nally said, hurrying to help.
Bax and Nick must have taken the kids out for a walk in the autumn sunshine. They were struggling to get the buggies and kids back into the house now, but Nally holding the door helped. Once everything was taken care of, Nick and Bax sent each other adoring smiles, then stole a kiss.
“There,” Nick said. “All’s well that ends well.”
Nally wanted to sigh. Everyone in the family was in love and happy except for him.
“I’m on my way out to the hot shop,” he told the two of them, pretending that he didn’t feel so profoundly alone, “but the news just came through that Hélène Rénard has been found out for all her stealing and lying.”
“That’s wonderful,” Bax said, then immediately had to deal with Macy squirming to get down from his hold. “I want to hear all the details. Later.”
Nally laughed. “Understood. I’m just going to tell Rafe and Jake now.”
He left the house and hurried along the path to the hot shop. Hawthorne House really did look beautiful in the autumn. The leaves were putting on an amazing show above him and the fall flowers that lined the borders and gardens were in full bloom. It felt like the perfect accent to the good news of the day.
When he reached the hot shop, it was clear immediately that Rafe and Jake had already heard the good news. The two of them looked like they were on cloud nine as they checked through their phones.
Those phones were forgotten just as Nally stepped into the workshop and Rafe and Jake threw their arms wide, then came together in a big, messy, victory kiss. Nally had to stand there and watch them suck each other’s faces until they ran out of breath.
“This is amazing,” Rafe said, kissed Jake again, then repeated, “Absolutely amazing.”
“So you heard?” Nally said, taking the risk of interrupting by walking forward.
Jake and Rafe broke apart, but they kept one arm around the other.
“Hélène has been brought to justice,” Jake said.
“And Jake just got notification that he’s been approved for the second round of the Global Talent visa,” Rafe added.
“That’s excellent,” Nally said, genuinely happy for him. “What’s next?”
Jake huffed a laugh. “More paperwork and another administration fee. But it looks like I’ll probably get the visa.”
“And if that fails, we’ll apply for a spousal visa,” Rafe said, beaming at him. “I’d like to see the Home Office deny you that now.”
They fell into each other’s arms again, and Nally had to stand there and watch their love on display. It wasn’t a bad thing, really. It was just that everyone in the entire family was so deeply in love, and there he was, single and not necessarily happy about it. He could hook up with someone anytime he wanted, but even though he was still young, hook-ups were losing their excitement. He wanted the real deal.
“Does everyone else know?” Rafe asked, breaking away from Jake and asking Nally.
“Most everyone,” Nally said.
“Then this calls for a celebration,” Jake said. “Maybe Bax can even come up with some sort of Pagan ceremony of gratitude for all of us.”
Rafe laughed. “I’m sure he could. I couldn’t imagine things ending on a better note than this.”
“Neither could I,” Jake said.
Nally wanted to add something, but all he could do was stand there and feel happy for his family but sad for himself. Something was missing from his life, and he wasn’t sure how to go about finding it. Maybe he’d have to ask Hawthorne House’s ghosts.
I hope you’ve enjoyed Rafe and Jake’s story! There are a lot of things in this one that come from my personal experience. Like everything I’ve learned about UK immigration laws in my deep longing to move to the UK over the last ten years. Trust me, I know all about the difficulties of a self-employed artist moving there!
But also, that story about Jake getting up in front of his third-grade class and lying to them about spending the summer in England? That’s a true story! But it was my dad and not me who made everything up so convincingly that his teacher was convinced he’d actually taken the trip. My grandma loved to tell the story of how surprised she was when his teacher asked her about the family trip at a parent/teacher conference. So I guess the desire to move to England is in my DNA.
There’s more coming in The Art of Love series, so keep your eyes peeled!