Epilogue
Statler was a little sad that he wouldn’t be around for the next several months to see how Petula and Julian’s lives continued meshing from here on out, but he wasn’t worried. The two of them were totally smitten with each other, and had just gotten engaged.
He expected to hear a wedding date announcement sooner, rather than later, and when that happened, he’d make sure—if he and his crew were still up north, working—that they all took a few days off and came back for the nuptials.
He was ecstatic for his little sister.
She deserved all the joy she’d missed out on as a youngster, and when they’d said goodbye to each other the previous night, Petula had expressed the same to him.
“Stat, I know there’s a wonderful woman out there for you. Just don’t close off your heart because of things that happened in the past,” she’d told him. “Promise me you’ll keep an open mind.”
“I promise,” he’d said, because it was easy, and also a no-brainer. The chances of him finding a woman who would deal with his need to control…well, everything, was slim to none.
He was more broken than even his sister knew.