Epilogue

Belle

One Year Later…

“What are your plans for the rest of your week off, dear?” Mom asked.

I smiled and spooned out the Cobb salad she’d made with fresh shrimp onto my plate. The glow had finally returned to her skin and her body was no longer skin and bones. The mix of treatments the new specialist from UCLA had given her was working and the cancer was in remissions. I knew that it didn’t mean it would stay this way forever. After her first chemo round when I was just fresh out of undergrad, she’d gone into remission for six months. Then the hard times came. But she was doing great now, and I was happy for that. After four years of pain and fear and hospital runs, we had a respite, and Mom was on some of the most advanced therapy in the world. We had a real shot, and before Drake had found the right medical team for her and paid for it, that was the last thing on Earth we could have dreamed of.

I nodded and bit into the plump shrimp and avocado bunch on my fork. “Well, tomorrow I think that we’re going back to San Diego. I don’t have classes again for a bit, but there’s a lot to sightsee near campus, and…” I squeezed Drake’s hand next to me at the table. “He gets so little time to enjoy town when he’s there. Running such a huge company doesn’t exactly make him a tourist.”

Drake winked at me and played into the fiction. What that actually meant was that whenever he came to the city, we spent long weekends making love in a five-star hotel suite. That wasn’t anything I was going to bring up with my parents. Talk about far too much information. Also, even though he only visited once every two weeks from L.A., that was my call. I loved him. Hell, my body craved his touch so two weeks at a time was like going through a drought in the desert for me. Naughty Skype sessions and phone calls couldn’t compare. However, my grades the first semester had been lower than I’d liked because marathon sex and BDSM sessions didn’t exactly leave space for a lot of research on the weekends.

I was lucky I had such an understanding boyfriend, someone who supported my passion for conservation and marine biology and wanted me to get my master’s even more than I did.

“Yes, I definitely have something special to surprise her with, but if you had other plans for her, Angelique, I understand that fall break only comes around so often.”

Mom chuckled. “You kids are so sweet to spend time with me and Maurice. I know that’s the last thing on a young person’s mind.”

I snorted and kicked Drake playfully under the table. “I dunno, Mom. In about four years, Drake will be the big 4-0. Maybe I’ll get him his walking cane early.”

“You do that,” he teased. “And you’ll regret it.”

He punctuated his point by leaning down to my ear and whispering a mock threat about exactly how he would use such a gift.

I had to admit my clit throbbed at the thought.

“It’d be nice if Dad could make lunch, though,” I said. “We were hoping to get on the road back to San Diego before the traffic got, well, even more shitty.” It was L.A., after all; it wasn’t like the traffic was ever even close to decent. “He said he’d be here.”

Mom sighed and offered me a tight smile. “He should be here. I know he was looking forward to it. I think he was running late meeting with Carol’s doctors at the hospital.”

Drake’s jaw clenched, and I squeezed his hand tightly. I wanted to anchor him to the here and now. His flashbacks were getting rarer and rarer these days. Still, rarely anything set him off like what had happened with George and Carol. I couldn’t blame him. I’d been in therapy for six months to help deal with all of it, with my own panic attacks. When he’d seen a flash of George at trial on the local news, he’d thrown a remote through the TV.

Sometimes, I didn’t think he understood why I wasn’t mad at my sister.

Yes, I had nightmares. Yes, I’d never fully understand what happened, but my anger was aimed squarely at George. The only way I could explain it to him and to myself was that Carol was always going to be family, and that I remembered her. She’d been the one to teach me how to ride my big girl bike. She’d been the one helping redo my hair and makeup for prom when some trainee at the beauty salon left me looking like Bozo the Clown. I don’t know how that got so messed up, but when I was ready and her doctors thought she was more stable, I’d go see her with my parents beside me and try to be there for her, too.

It was just what family did.

“Is it going well?”

Mom bit into a tomato. “She’s not speaking much right now. Dad and I go to see her every day, but she’s not usually in the mood to even talk with us. It’s hard on him. He blames himself, but the doctors are working hard with her and that’s the best place she can be. Maybe one day she’ll be rehabilitated, but…” Mom trailed off.

I wasn’t sure any of us believed that Carol would ever be a fully free member of society again, but so many impossible things had happened this last year, who knew what five or ten more would bring.

Of course, it would take that long to get Drake used to the idea.

“Still, I miss Daddy,” I said.

Firm arms wrapped around my shoulders and I giggled a little when Dad’s mustache tickled my cheek. “Then, sweetie, do I have a surprise for you.”

“Dad!” I squealed, twisting to throw my arms around his neck. No trip home for fall break could have possibly been complete without him.

He grinned at me as he stroked my back. “Sweetie, how are you doing? Getting all As like always?”

I snorted. The first semester had been a close call and I’d gotten a B-. I hadn’t mentioned this to my parents though. Hence the limited sexcapades after that with Drake. “I’m doing well. How’s Carol?”

Dad pulled away from me and hugged Mom and then offered a hand to Drake. “She’s doing as well as we can hope for. She’s quiet, but the doctors say she’s participating in the treatments, so that’s something.

I nodded. “I think so.”

“Hey, honey, can I have a minute with you in the study?” Dad said. “I know it’s my fault I’m running late, well, that and my three million closest friends on the freeway, but I wanted to catch you for a minute before you went back to San Diego to solve all the ocean’s problems.”

I laughed and slid off my chair. “I wish I were that smart.”

Drake chuckled. “Don’t let her fool you; she is.”

“Oh, I know,” Mom said, grinning. “Where do you think she gets it from?”

Drake laughed heartily at that as I followed Dad into his study down the hall. He shut the door behind him, which muffled whatever conversation Drake and Mom were having. I frowned back at him.

“What’s with all the cloak and dagger? If you have anything to say in front of me then you can say it in front of Drake, too.”

“I don’t think I can.”

I bit my lip and started picking at my cuticles. “Is Carol getting released early? Is something going wrong with George’s trial?”

“No, and definitely not. That rat’s going to rot forever in prison if I have anything to say about it, and the lawyers of L.A. County agree with me.”

“Then?”

He walked over to his desk and leaned against it. “I wanted to congratulate you.”

“Really, my grades won’t be in for another eight weeks. I’m pretty early into the semester.”

“No, honey, I wanted to congratulate you for being brave.”

I blinked. “I don’t understand how. I study some fish and ocean currents and, well, a lot of global warming. It’s not like I have a cape and a superhero title.”

“It’s not because of that, not completely, but I am glad you’re actually doing something you love. I knew PR was never your thing.” I blushed and started to spin about how I’d always cared about it. How it mattered to him so it mattered to me, and that was true enough. Dad shook his head and held up his hand. “No, honey, you did it for me. You did something important and kind for me and for your mom. I appreciate that.”

“Daddy, of course I’d help.”

“And you did so much in the Bahamas. The deal you worked out, the way you and Drake found a solution that was best for both companies. It was like a miracle.”

I blushed, hoping Dad didn’t press harder on negotiating details because you’d have to rake me repeatedly over hot coals before I revealed any of that.

“I wanted to help.”

“But now you’re seizing the day. You’re doing what you want, and I’m so glad you took a chance on Drake. I’ve never seen you this happy, even before your mom got sick. It’s like a brand new Belle, and I really like her.”

My cheeks flushed. “I think that’s all Drake. He’s wonderful.”

“Good,” he said standing back up and sweeping me into a hug. “I love you, honey, and I’m sorry we ever held you back.”

I squeezed him back and buried my head in his jacket, sniffing the hint of cigar smoke that would always be so my dad. “There’s nothing you could do that would even come close to that. Love you, Daddy.”

“Love you, too, sweetie.”