Epilogue
Quinn
B ram holds the door for me as we exit The Screaming Peach Café. His hand immediately finds mine, and he interlaces our fingers, giving me a squeeze. I smile up at my husband, my heart overflowing with love all over again.
The last few weeks have been filled with a lot of hard talks accompanied by tears, but there has also been a lot of love and forgiveness.
After Bram came clean about his feelings for Lois, he’d told me everything. My heart couldn’t help but hurt for him, though I’m not complaining about how things turned out.
Lois and I have been talking more, too. After our chat, I pulled back and allowed her to take over helping Mom, and she was right. I was being controlling. It’s been a hard pill to swallow, but now that I can see that about myself, I’m trying to let others help me. And I’m giving Lois the space she craves, too. It’s been good for everyone. Even Chad isn’t as bad as I first thought. He’s just extremely shy. I would have noticed sooner if I hadn’t been so bitter and angry with Lois.
I’ve let go of that, too. And of the guilt I carried about Dad’s death. It’s helped talking with Pastor Woodhouse. Bram insisted we meet with him again to make sure we were truly on the path to healing and forgiveness. Pastor Woodhouse encouraged us that if we are going to be completely candid, we should open up to our mothers about the beginning of our marriage. It only made sense since everyone else knows the truth anyway.
Mom had been pretty upset and shocked at first. GiGi, not so much. But they both see how much Bram and I have grown to love one another. It feels good for everyone we love to be on the same page.
I finally got my insulin pump. It was a bit intimidating at first, but I’m already seeing the benefits and feeling so much more confident in how I’m managing my blood sugar. It’s been a game-changer for me. And Bram has been the sweetest. He even went to my appointment with me so he could learn everything about how the pump works and what to do if my sugar drops or becomes too high.
“Excuse me, Miss Jones,” a man’s voice comes from behind me. There is something about it that sounds vaguely familiar.
Turning around, my eyes pop. “Mr. Blue. What are you doing here?” Covering my mouth, I say, “I’m sorry. That’s so rude. Is everything okay? How’s Jovie?” My heart aches to see my girl again or at least get some news from someone other than the social worker.
Mr. Blue smiles wide, and I notice that he looks really good. He appears healthy and is dressed in casual, but clean clothes. “She’s doing great. She talks about you all the time.”
Tears build in the corners of my eyes. “Jovie’s a wonderful girl.”
“I believe I owe that to you, Miss Jones.”
“Baxter,” I correct. “It’s Mrs. Baxter now.” I smile up at Bram, and he smiles back, winking at me.
“Oh, that’s right! Jovie mentioned you had gotten married. Congratulations.” He shakes Bram’s hand. Pointing a finger at Bram, he says, “You must be one of the brothers Jovie keeps talking about.”
Bram grins. “Yeah. Bram Baxter. Jovie’s something special.”
Mr. Blue blinks rapidly and glances away. “I can’t thank you enough for being there for my little girl when . . . when I couldn’t be. The way she talks about you all” —he pauses, shaking his head. “Well, I’m just blessed and thank God every day for you guys.”
A tear trails down my face. “We were the ones blessed to have her in our lives. Even for a moment.”
His gaze catches mine. “That’s why I’m here actually. I wanted to talk to you about something.”
I wipe the tear away. “Oh?”
“You see . . . well, I got a new job. A really nice job. In Virginia. It’ll be good for us. Sort of a fresh start. We’ve already set up everything there. We have a house.”
My heart cracks again. It had been a long shot for me to see Jovie out and about anyway, since they live in the bordering town, but with them moving to Virginia . . . well, I’ll never see her again.
Putting on a brave face, I smile. “That sounds wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Would you be willing to see Jovie before we left? I know she’d love it.”
My breath sticks in my throat, and I blink. And blink. I can’t speak.
“We would love that,” Bram answers for me since I’ve apparently lost the ability to speak.
Mr. Blue grins. “Good. She’s going to be so excited. And she’d love it—we’d love it—if you sent letters to her once we move.”
“I’d love that,” I reply, tears streaming down my face by this point.
Mr. Blue sniffs and averts his gaze for a moment. “Good.” We exchange phone numbers and say our goodbyes.
I glance up at Bram—whose eyes are suspiciously watery. “Did that just happen?” I ask quietly.
“Yes, sunshine. It did.”
I throw my arms around his neck, and he wraps me up in his strong embrace, drawing me flush against him. “I can’t believe it,” I whisper.
He chuckles and brushes a kiss against my neck before finding my lips. “At least we won’t have to pretend when Jovie demands that we smoochy kiss again.”
I throw my head back and laugh. “No, we definitely won’t.”
Bram ducks his head and captures my lips once more. “I love you, wife ,” he whispers in a low rumble against my ear.
“I love you too, husband .”
The End