Epilogue
The music was loud and carried through the trailer park as well as across the street to Riley’s and Maia’s house.
The front gates of the trailer park — usually wide open — were closed to prevent anyone from driving through the middle of the park since that’s where all the partying was taking place.
Three eight foot long folding tables were set up across the driveway and newspaper was spread out across each one.
The remains of the first round of boiled crawfish, potatoes, corn, sausage and garlic were lying along half of one of the tables, and boiled shrimp was on the other half.
The other two tables held a variety of barbecue, fried seafood, desserts and breads.
Several more tables were scattered around with chairs nearby, and there were ice chests filled with a variety of drinks, everything from sodas, to waters, to juices, beer, hard lemonades and teas, and everything in between, including Remi’s favorite apple sodas.
Kids squealed as they ran by, and laughter, good friends, and family were the focus of the day.
Avaleigh, Maia, Valerie, Talie, Yvette, Libby and Mrs. Constance were visiting and enjoying the day, while Roman, Remi, Daniel and Riley played horseshoes while Havoc kept score.
Lucas, manning the boiling pot, whistled sharply. “Yo! Are they ready?” he asked as he used a wooden boat paddle to press the crawfish back into the hot, highly-seasoned water they were floating to the top of.
“Let me come see,” Havoc answered, hurrying over to where Lucas was babysitting the crawfish pot.
“Yep. They’re ready!” Havoc announced. “Anybody wants fresh crawfish, come get them!” He and Lucas lifted the interior pot and strained it for a few seconds into the outer pot below it, then carried it over and poured it out onto the table covered with new papers.
“Hot dogs are ready!” Lazarus yelled out for the kids that were running around.
Immediately Dillon, Easton, Evan, and Harley all swarmed him, clamoring for hot dogs.
Scotty, who’d been talking with Lazarus while they grilled hot dogs and sausages, reached out and flicked his oldest son’s ear. “Hey! Let’s not knock anybody over!”
“I didn’t!” Dillon said.
“Alright, alright! Let’s get some buns and I’ll put them on there for you,” Lazarus said.
“I want two!” Maverik yelled, pushing his way to the middle of the kids with two large bags of hot dog buns.
“You should be ashamed of yourself,” Lazarus teased him, “eating these kids’ hot dogs when we got all that other stuff over there you can eat.”
“Yeah, I should be, huh? But I’m not. I love me a good hot dog,” Maverik said. “Besides, I eat boiled seafood all the time.”
“Did you have any of the fried shrimp?” Valerie asked.
“Not yet, but I’m on my way over there next,” Maverik said, going back to sit down beside Travis. He handed him one of his hot dogs. “Told you I’d get us some before the kids ate ‘em all.”
“Didn’t doubt you for a second,” Travis said, taking a bite of his hot dog.
Cristie sat laughing and talking with Darcie, Analise, Harper, Candy, and Summer.
Tia and Amanda were laughing over something on their phones, and everyone was having a great time. Except Keegan, who sat quietly with Anahla, not really talking much to anyone.
Remi finished his game and walked over to where Cristie sat laughing with Analise, Harper and Summer. He leaned over the back of her chair and kissed her lips when she looked up at him.
“I just love that,” Analise said.
Cristie grinned at Analise. “I’m pretty excited about it myself.”
“You need anything?” Remi asked.
“Did I see Sheryl frying some more shrimp? I’d love some of those fried shrimp. And I think she fried some mushrooms, too,” Cristie said.
“I think you’re right. Want some?”
“Yes, please,” Cristie said.
Remi kissed her again, then walked off to get Cristie some fried shrimp and mushrooms.
“Baby! Baby you want something to eat?!” Havoc yelled across to Analise when he noticed Remi making a plate for Cristie.
Analise laughed. “I’m good,” she answered, then looked over at Cristie. “You see what he’s doing, don’t you? He doesn’t want to be outdone by you and Remi.”
Cristie laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody more competitive than Havoc.”
“Emmalyn. Emmalyn is more competitive than anybody I know. Even Havoc,” Analise said.
“Ohhh, you’re right!” Cristie said.
“I guess that’s why she’s so good at what she does,” Analise said.
“What does she do?” Darcie asked.
“She’s a field agent for the FBI,” Analise said.
Summer’s head angled a bit as she thought about what she’d just been told.
Harper noticed. “No! Nope, not a good idea, Summer.”
“Why not? I could be a good FBI agent. Nobody ever suspects me of anything. They think I’m all about the hair and nails and fancy clothes,” Summer said.
“You are,” Harper said.
“Doesn’t mean I couldn’t do it,” Summer said.
Darcie leaned closer to Summer. “If you want to aim for something in law enforcement, I think you should do it.”
Summer looked at Darcie. “Really?”
“Why not? You have no one to be responsible for except yourself. This is the point in your life that you should be experimenting with anything you think you might have an interest in. And if this is one of those things, don’t let anything anyone else says to you deter you,” Darcie said.
“You know, what? You’re right!”
Darcie smiled at her and high-fived her.”Go get ‘em girl!”
“Here, baby! I got you all kinds of shit,” Havoc said, plopping an overfilled plate down in Analise’s lap. “And I got it to you before Remi got one to Cristie. Got more on yours, too,” he said proudly.
“Hey! We playing next or not?” Sebastian yelled.
“I’m coming!” Havoc answered. “Love you, gotta go,” he said, grinning at Analise.
“Clay! Cruz! Are y’all coming?!” Sebastian yelled.
“Yes!” Cruz answered, wiping barbecue sauce off his fingers from the ribs he just ate.
“I’m coming,” Clay said, getting a bottle of water out of the cooler and walking over to where the horseshoe game was set up.
“Me, too!” Trey added as he got up and threw his plate away. “Baby? I’m going to play horseshoes with the guys.”
“Have fun. I’m about to sit my butt down right over there and relax,” Sheryl said, as she turned off the heat to the grease she’d been cooking with and made sure it was secured so it wouldn’t spill over.
“Cristie, do you want to go ahead and cut the cake?” Maia called out when she realized that everyone was winding down on eating and the cooking was coming to an end.
Cristie sat up and looked around, everyone had pretty much finished the first round of food, not that there wouldn’t be a third and fourth round before it ended. This was an all day celebration, and some of Remi’s family had even come to celebrate with them. “Is anybody ready for cake?” she asked.
“We are always ready for cake!” Sebastian answered as he tossed his first horseshoe.
“Cut that cake, baby-girl,” Maverik said as he popped the top on a beer and took a sip.
“Then, I guess we’re cutting cake,” Cristie said, as she stood up and looked around for Remi. She found him talking to their mothers and the ladies they were sitting with. “Remi? You ready to cut the cake?” she asked.
“Definitely,” he said, looking up at his mate.
He took her by the hand and they walked over to the dessert table where the cake sat in the middle of it, surrounded by banana pudding, chocolate pie, and cookies.
But their cake was definitely the center piece.
It was an elegant wedding cake, but done in pale oranges and yellows, since those were Cristie’s favorite colors.
The flowers on it were made of sugar, but looked like wild daisies, again, one of Cristie's favorites.
They posed behind their cake, both of them holding the knife as they smiled at the camera.
“You know, that’s a wedding cake, and y’all didn’t get married,” Sebastian said.
“Yes, I know. I will get married when I want to get married, and I will have cake when I want to have cake, and the two do not need to coincide. I’m celebrating my mating, not a wedding,” Cristie snapped.
“Fine! Jesus! You heard that, huh, Remi? I tried to warn you,” Sebastian said.
Remi leveled a calm, yet somehow threatening look Sebastian’s way.
Sebastian saw the orange glow of Remi’s Dragon as it stared at him through Remi’s eyes. Sebastian quieted down right away. “I’m just going to be over here throwing horseshoes,” he announced. “Great mating celebration!” he added as an afterthought.
“Oh, horses! Damn! I forgot, I’m supposed to check on one of my horses,” Harper said.
“You don’t have a horse,” Libby said.
“I may not own a horse, but I work with them, Mom. They depend on me. We have a new horse boarding at the arena and I promised to go check on her.”
“Because nobody else can do that,” Travis said.
Harper sighed, tired of the constant digs about her preferring to spend her time at the equine arena rather than work full time on the Christmas tree farm.
“She knows me. She relaxes with me. I soothe her,” she said to her mother.
She looked over at Summer. “Wanna take a ride? I’m going to run out and check on the new horse. ”
“No, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll just stay here. I’m enjoying this,” she said, swirling her hand around to indicate everything around them.
“Okay, save me a piece of cake, yeah?”
“Will do,” Summer said.
Clay watched over his shoulder as Harper got up and dug her keys out of her pocket, walking toward the cars parked in front of the trailer park, and on the shoulder in front of Riley’s house. “Hey, guys, replace me,” he said, walking away from the horseshoes game.
“What? Where are you going?” Sebastian asked.
“I gotta take care of something. I’ll be back,” Clay said.
“We need another for horseshoes!” Sebastian said.