Epilogue
HARMONY
Seven months later
I turn down the street to the bakery, seeing a couple of people already out on their morning walk. I look over and see that it’s just turned 7:00 a.m. The sun is shining in the sky and you can feel the spring air and smell the flowers starting to come up.
Pulling around to the front of the bakery, I park the truck and get out. Very different than it was five months ago when I would go around the back at the ass crack of dawn so no one would know that I was the one making the cakes. But the minute the judgment from the court case started fluttering through town, Ms. Maddie said she wasn’t lying anymore. “Fuck them. I’m tired of you showing up and hiding. You come tomorrow at seven when we open, and that’s it.” So the following day, I came at seven.
It took one person to see me delivering the cakes for more rumors to fly. Which ended up with my ex-mother-in-law storming into the bakery and trying to strong-arm Ms. Maddie into not selling my stuff. But the numbers were there, and she was making a killing from them, so she politely told her to bless her heart and get out of her store unless she was going to buy something.
From the chatter going around, she left or actually stormed out of there and vowed to make her pay. So far, her threats are falling on deaf ears because my cakes have been selling out faster than ever. Now that I’m able to buy more baking items, I’m also baking double the quantities I normally have. Those were also selling out by the end of the day.
It also helped that the bar was buying a bunch of them and putting them on their dessert menu. Something Brady and I discussed him not doing. But in the end, I had to admit he was right. It was a good thing to do. We were even working together to get a dessert pairing going with the newest blends for the day tours, which seem to be booked up for the next six months. It’s the thing to do when you’re in town, apparently.
I tuck the keys to the truck in one back pocket while I put my phone in the other one before walking around to the side of the truck and opening the door, grabbing the first box and walking to the bakery. I get to the door and have to tuck the box to my hip to pull open the door. The bell on top rings, and I wait for Ms. Maddie to come out from the back. I walk over to the counter, placing the box on it and wait for her to come. It takes her a long time, and I look over the counter toward the back when I see someone else come out. “Hi,” I say to the new face.
“Hey,” she replies. Her face is white, and her eyes and nose are red, as if she’s been crying.
“Are you okay?” I ask, and she just stares at me and then the box.
“You must be Harmony, the girl who bakes the cakes,” she says to me, totally ignoring the question I just asked her.
“I am.” I nod at her.
“I’m Everleigh,” she says her name, “Ms. Maddie’s daughter.” My mouth almost goes into a smile until I see the tears well up in her eyes, and my heart sinks. “She had a heart attack last night.” My hand goes to my mouth to stop the gasp. “Luckily, I was on the phone with her when it happened, and I was able to get her help from her neighbor, and then the ambulance got there in time.”
“Oh my.” I feel my own tears now rolling down my face. “Is she okay?”
“She was resting this morning when I left the hospital,” she shares. “Doctor says that she needs to stay off her feet and rest.” She tries not to break down. “But she’s stubborn, so unless I’m going to stay here and watch her…” She shakes her head. “So now here I am for the next little while.”
“If there is anything I can do for you,” I offer, and she nods. “I have another one in the truck,” I tell her, and she nods, taking the cakes from the counter and walking toward the back of the store, not giving me anything else. Taking that as a clue to get the other box, I quickly rush out to the truck and grab the other cakes.
Pulling open the door, I see Everleigh come back out to get the box. “Do you have my number?” I ask, and she looks at me. “If you want to take my number down, you can let me know if you need anything.”
She pulls out her phone. I give her my number, and she sends me a text right away.
561-334-7829: It’s Everleigh.
“That’s my number in case you need to get in touch with me about the deliveries,” she states as I store her number with her name.
“Do you know when they are letting her out of the hospital?” I ask, and she takes a big inhale.
“I might have to get handcuffs and cuff her to the bed,” she mumbles, and she isn’t wrong. Ms. Maddie is one of the hardest-working women I know. She works three hundred and sixty-four days a year, only taking off Christmas. She never takes off any days and, at most, takes off half the day on Sunday, but she hires a couple of people to help out. “From what the doctors say, depending on the results of today’s tests, it could be up to five days.”
I nod. “I’ll let you get back to work,” I tell her when the bell rings over the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She just nods at me as I get out of the way. The door opens, and two more people come in.
Making my way to the truck, I get home to see Brady has already gotten back from dropping off Wyatt. I get a kiss from him before I leave, a routine that now is Brady drops him off at school and I am the one who picks him up.
I run up the steps to the front door, walk in and spot the baseball bat at the side of the door with Wyatt’s bag under it. He has baseball practice tonight, so he’s going to need it. I also know Brady will put it in the truck as soon as he leaves this morning to go to work. One thing that started after court was Brady gave up the night shifts at the bar. He does two nights a week and that is it. Monday and Tuesday, the rest he’s home with us. Also, he fired me. That night he asked me to move in with him, he told me I was fired. I wanted to argue with him, but now that I have money coming in from Winston, I could afford to give up that job. However, I did miss it, especially since we worked side by side. But it’s so much better cooking dinner side by side with him, and then when Wyatt goes to bed, it’s just the two of us. Sitting on the couch, we share our day with each other, sharing little stories that we each have. He knows literally every single secret I have. He knows me inside and out, and I’ve never been happier to share my life with someone like I am with Brady. It’s the little kisses in the morning he softly gives me when he comes down, right before he starts making breakfast for me and Wyatt. To the little touches he does when I walk into the bar to discuss things with him. To the smile he gives me every time I catch him staring at me, or he catches me staring at him. He consumes me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. “Hello?” I call out when the door closes behind me, and I listen to hear where Brady is.
“In the bedroom!” he hollers back, and I jog up the steps, looking at all the frames we’ve hung on our walls in just five months. The family photos, one after another, show not only me but also Wyatt what family really is. I step into our bedroom, only to find him walking out of the closet with his shirt already off. My eyes sweep down his body as I bite my lower lip. “Hey,” he says, coming to me and bending his head to kiss my neck, “everything go okay?”
“No,” I reply. I shake my head as his head goes back, and his shoulders go square. The alarm is all over his face. It’s been five months of being almost drama-free. One thing is, after that day in court, Winston never showed up at our door. That is not to say he hasn’t shown his face in our lives, but it’s been a handful of times, and all of them were when he walked down Main Street with his latest obsession. Word going around is she’s carrying his child, and it’s the second coming of Christ, according to his parents. Also, he’s missed every single court-appointed visitation that was scheduled with Wyatt. We would show up and wait for an hour past the time, and even though Wyatt said he didn’t care, you saw on his face that it bothered him. It got to the point where he would retreat and not be himself for a couple of days. It went on twice more until Ryleigh scheduled a hearing to have Winston’s custody rights revoked, and the order was granted. If Winston wants to see Wyatt, he has to contact us and schedule supervised visits. Ryleigh sent a copy of the order to Mr. Belfast, and we have yet to receive a response from him or Winston. To be honest, Wyatt is better off without Winston in his life. Brady has not only spent more time with my son but he’s also been a much better father than Winston had ever been. “Ms. Maddie had a heart attack,” I fill him in, and his eyes go wide.
“Oh no.” His hand moves from his side to my hip. “Is she?—”
“She’s okay, apparently,” I tell him. “She’s in the hospital.”
“That’s good news.” He lets out a huge sigh of relief.
“Yeah.” I nod as he turns to walk back to the closet, undoing the button of his pants.
“How did you find out?” he asks over his shoulder.
“Her daughter, Everleigh, told me.” I stop talking when I see his eyes almost come out of his sockets.
“Everleigh is back?” he asks, and now it’s my turn to stare at him confused. “Well, things are about to become even more interesting in Montgavin,” he predicts, shaking his head.
“What do you mean?”
“Brock, baby,” he says, “that’s his Achilles’ heel.” He looks down. “He just hasn’t admitted it yet.”
* * *
Everleigh
One night changed my whole life.
After the truth about that night came out, I knew I had to leave.
Taking my broken heart with me.
I had no choice but to go back.
I knew it would slice me back open again.
But sometimes the root of the flower you planted starts to grow again, no matter how many times you’ve cut them down.
He was my everything, and then he was my nothing.
Brock
My parents taught me honor and integrity.
And in one split second, I ruined it all.
I lost everything I ever wanted.
But I had no choice.
I tried to go on with my life.
And the only good thing I had was my daughter.
Never expected to see the one woman who I’d loved and lost here again.
They say time heals old wounds.
They were wrong.
It just splits you open, making you bleed out.
I just have to survive again.