Epilogue
Capitol Steps
Little Rock, Arkansas
Harvey Cox stood off to the side, behind the news crews and the reporters from all the local and surrounding areas.
From his vantage point, he could plainly see the smiling faces of the Carrington clan as he had come to think of them.
It was Bennett’s inauguration day for Governor.
He was joined on the Capitol steps by his family, Poppy, Ben, Ella, baby John, Lizzy, and Lola, along with Taylor, Greer, and Rosie.
They all stood next to him as he took the oath of office.
At the end of the day, it was a marketing piece, and it did its job. Harvey would be the first to admit that he whitewashed their stories. He had purposely left out some of the more shocking parts, choosing to focus more on them as people and the depth of their love for each other.
He had no guilt about what he had written.
It was all true. They were all lovely people, and he wished only good things for them.
After all, they had been through, they deserved it.
They had found a way forward out of a situation that had threatened to destroy them all.
They weathered the storm of their making and came out the other side a strong, loving family.
And the rest of it, well, he supposed, those pieces could remain forever, their buried dirty little secrets.
January 1, 2025
Dear Reader,
Now that you have read the book, I wonder if you have figured out that there actually aren’t any secrets in Searcy.
Even when you believe you have buried it, someone knows.
Usually, that someone is me. I am The Secrets Keeper.
The key to surviving the dirtiest of secrets in our small town is managing control of them.
They are their own sort of currency here, and the juicer they are, the more power and value they hold.
I learned the hard way, many years ago, how to be a master player in this game.
After years of holding many of the secrets shared in this book, I think it is only fitting that I let you in on the biggest secret of all.
In case you have not put it all together yet, it was me who orchestrated these two love affairs.
As you know, Greer is my great-nephew. What you might not know is that his mother was my favorite niece, Rachelle.
When she died, I promised to be there for him.
I never thought his first wife was a good fit.
She was a lovely girl, but she was so needy.
Plus, I could plainly see that Greer was more in love with medicine than with her.
That marriage was doomed. Once it ended, I began looking for just the right woman for him.
I found her in Taylor. The only problem was Taylor was already married to Bennett.
A more sad, boring marriage than the world has ever seen.
It was a shame, really. Both young people were from such nice families.
They should have been perfect for each other.
But, one needed to only spend a few minutes with them to sense how miserable they both were.
In the South, being miserable is not a good enough reason to divorce.
No, we need a little more. A long-lost love child was the game changer.
I will never forget the first time I saw Poppy Thompson’s Growing Up New York collection at the Emerson.
I was shocked. For once, a secret had gotten past me.
I had known back in the day that Bennett had been messing around with the maid’s granddaughter.
I, like everyone else, thought that it had run its course.
You could have knocked me over with a feather the first time I saw the pictures of the boy.
I knew immediately it was Bennett’s son.
I also knew very well that Poppy and Taylor were half-sisters.
We all did back in the day. Even Janice, Taylor’s mom, had known.
Wives always know. She just had too much going on fighting for her life to make it easy on John, her husband, by bowing out.
He never demanded a divorce, so she pretended it never happened.
Who knows what would have happened if Poppy’s mom had lived?
Janice never had to face that issue. Seeing those pictures reminded me of that affair.
Knowing how miserable both Bennett and Taylor were, I brought Poppy back to Searcy.
I am not going to lie. I had an agenda. I hoped that by driving Bennett back into Poppy’s arms, I might drive Taylor into Greer’s.
It took a lot of work to get those two couples together.
I was able to help all of them find their forever person without any of them being the wiser.
Taylor came pretty close to telling me to butt out of her life a time or two.
But that was mostly just because she, like her momma before her, still held me responsible for the whole homecoming/prom business.
Look, I am not saying that I did not have a hand in all of that.
Regardless, there must be a statute of limitations on resentment held for events that happen in high school.
Certainly, we must have passed that by now.
I did always feel bad for Janice though.
Eventually, I tried to make it up to her posthumously by helping her daughter.
Speaking of how I helped those young people, I can’t tell you how exhausting playing fairy godmother to four grown individuals who are determined to do things their own way is.
Adults can be a lot like toddlers, especially the men.
They like to think everything is their idea.
So, I played along. I made sure processes and events occurred to keep the four of them moving ever closer to each other.
I did not see Taylor getting pregnant while still married, but I couldn’t be expected to account for everything.
In the end, everything worked out just as I had hoped.
And I ended up with the most precious great-great niece ever.
Greer’s mom, Rachelle, would be so proud.
So now, dear reader, you know all of the dirty little secrets of Searcy. Or at least all that I am ready to tell. You never know when more juicy tidbits are going to find their way into another book about our sweet little town’s secret affairs.
If you get the chance, you should come for a visit. We’d love to share our town with you.
Sincerely,
Edna Stone