Epilogue
Six Months Later
Graham was sitting alone at the Comfort Table Café, looking over the architectural plans Eliza proposed for his and Annabelle’s new home while waiting for Annabelle and Rory to finish up dance class. The lunch crowd was gone, leaving the café completely empty as the staff transitioned and prepared for the dinner crowd.
“How’s it going, nephew? Val and I were taking Camille to Movie Night in the square. Can we take our other grandbaby with us?”
Graham smiled as Nate sat down across from him with an eager expression. Val and Nate loved nothing more than spoiling their grandbabies every chance they got. “Let me see what Mama Bear has planned. I can’t imagine her objecting, seeing as how Rory loves spending time with the three of you.”
“I’m definitely her favorite,” Nate declared. “Max may have the farm animals, and Wade the flashy sirens and shiny badge, but I’ve got cookies and hot chocolate with homemade whipped cream for my baby. That’s a winning hand and you know it! Put me down for next Sunday too.”
Life was good. Rory was excited to live in Baymoor, and she’d become fast friends with Kenya’s daughter and they attended preschool together. Everyone vied for ‘Rory time’, and his kid stayed busy with playdates from Chandra and Raymond, his sisters and their families to Forenzo and his steady boyfriend, Leo Tolan, the owner of the Rockin Rooster. The Cashmere Inn was doing very well, and they’d just added horseback riding and canoeing to their list of activities they’d partnered with Cinnamon Farms. Graham had restructured his business, preferring to work from home instead of flitting around the world in a heartbeat’s notice.
“You got it, Unc.” A movement over Nate’s shoulder caught his attention, and his uncle turned to look too. Casually, Graham asked, “How’s she doing? It’s been almost a year since she started.”
Nate was surprised that Graham expressed an interest. While he and his sister would never be as close as they’d once been, they’d found a way to co-exist. She was a hard worker and kept to herself. “Ingrid is doing well. She moved into Sumner’s Boarding House a month ago. All of her drug tests have come back negative, and Val told me that she’s thinking about enrolling in some community college classes this fall.”
“It’s never too late for a fresh start, right? Look at Edith. She bought a loft, is busy overseeing the park project, and volunteers with the Sullivans’ Take A Stand Foundation.” Graham grunted. “I also heard she has an admirer up in Whiskey Row that sends her flowers weekly.”
Graham didn’t bother telling his uncle that he knew all of Ingrid’s business because he was still keeping tabs on her.
The door opened and Eliza waddled in, followed by Camille, Wade, and Max. Graham observed Ingrid covertly watching his niece with longing and pride. Camille gave her an inquisitive look before turning back to her father as they headed Graham’s way. While hugs and greetings were exchanged, Val and Annabelle entered, followed by Samantha, holding Rory, Edith, and Thomas, who was begging for his wife to let him hold her. Annabelle smiled and waved to Ingrid, who shyly returned her open friendly gesture.
That was his woman, moving to her own beat, and it was a beautiful thing to see, Graham thought with pride. Since getting engaged, Annabelle was in therapy with Dr. Klaus. Edith, now going by Edie, a shorter, hipper version of her name, also agreed to therapy as well. Davis’s death and his actions leading up to it, were still a painful subject for her, but she bore Thomas and Samantha no ill-will.
As expected, there were good days when his baby felt like she’d conquered the world, and bad ones where Annabelle confessed to feeling overwhelmed by the entire process and struggled to go to the next appointment. Their eyes met and they shared a not-so-secret smile. She motioned that she’d be right back, and Graham nodded as she blew him a kiss and disappeared down the hallway to the bathroom he assumed, while Val and his future-in-laws joined the crowded table.
“DADDDDY!!!” Rory pushed at Samantha to let her down, and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she ran around the table and into Graham’s arms for her customary hug and kiss. “I got a new joke to tell you about later, okay? Don’t forget so I can tell you.”
“I won’t, babygirl. How was school today? Did you eat all of your lunch?”
Instead of answering him, Rory was distracted by Camille and jumped out of Graham’s arms to go see her cousin.
“Still feel like the first time you ever saw her, nephew?” Nate was only half-teasing as he’d caught the silent exchange between Graham and Annabelle.
“Yeah,” Graham admitted with a bashful grin. “Does that ever end?”
Nate caught Val around the waist when she reached the table, and she sat down on his lap and looped her arms around his neck. Before he got lost in his wife’s green eyes, per usual, Nate answered Graham, “Son, I’m decades in and can tell you that the feeling only intensifies. Never stop loving each other and all up on each other. Loving your woman right is the best investment you can make in the both of you and vice versa.”
“Preeeach,” Max encouraged from the end of the table as the café went dim and balloons floated out of the back room to the top of the ceiling. There were at least a hundred, and Rory oohed and aahed, clapping as they continued to flow into the room.
“Happy Birthday to youuuu,” Annabelle sang as she appeared, holding a birthday cake with sparklers on top, followed by the staff (Ingrid was noticeably absent), and everyone at the table who joined in to sing to Graham.
Annabelle loved that she’d managed to surprise Graham, who was torn between being embarrassed and excited as a little kid. He did so much for her and Rory that Annabelle sometimes lay awake at night just to stare at him and reassure herself that she wasn’t dreaming. Graham was really just that perfect.
It was Dr. Klaus who urged Annabelle to talk to her parents, but it was Graham who convinced her to actually do it. Thomas and Samantha accepted her grudging invitations gratefully, happy to have a second chance with her and a first chance to know their granddaughter. Annabelle could feel herself thawing slightly toward them.
They had so much going on between renovating Wade’s old house, now their new home, work, Rory, therapy, and Graham adopting Rory that they hadn’t even gotten around to talking about the wedding!
“Just don’t take the ring off, Doc. We’ll get there.”
That was Graham all said when she freaked out about it. Well, today, he was receiving not one but two surprises from her.
Annabelle set the cake in front of him and cooed, “Happy Birthday, Mr. Carlton. Make a wish!”
Graham looked at the cake and was puzzled by the incorrect date. Then realizing what she’d done, he threw his head back and laughed. Graham swung his legs over the bench and rose to his feet, coming around the table to Annabelle, who met him halfway as he lifted her up and kissed her soundlessly, ignoring the whooping and the questions in the background.
“What’s that? That’s not his birthdate!”
“No, silly. Annabelle set a date for the wedding!”
“We have a date! Thank goodness; we can start planning!”
“Uncle Graham, you forgot to blow out the sparklers!”
“Nephew, are you trying to burn this place down?!”
It was the tug at his jeans that broke them apart. They both looked down at Rory, who was pouting. “Daddy, why come you didn’t blow the candles?”
Graham bent down and picked her up, and Annabelle held her as well to complete their circle.
“Because I don’t need to wish for anything else. All I ever wanted is right here in my arms, babygirl.”
***
Ingrid left work in a great mood. Normally, it was just good, but after today, just seeing how happy everyone was, was enough to make her happy. It was a nice night. Maybe she’d head home, fix a snack, and go to Movie Night. Being out in public wasn’t so bad anymore. People seemed to be getting used to her being there, or rather, they’d accepted that she wasn’t going straight to hell despite their faithful daily prayers for it.
She took her knapsack off and placed it in her flowered bike basket at the employee bike rack in the alleyway. The hairs on her neck stirred and adrenaline pumping, Ingrid spun around to find Graham standing there. “Jesus, are you trying to give me a heart attack? What are you doing here?”
Slowly, he showed her his hands. “Relax; I’m not here to do anything. I just wanted to see how you were feeling.”
“You mean if I’m still craving a fix? Yes, but the urges aren’t as bad.” Ingrid wanted to be as upfront as possible.
An awkward silence ensued, so she bent down to unlock her bike. It was an old-fashion Schwinn that was orange and rusty, found at a community garage sale two months ago. It was the only transportation Ingrid had ever owned, and she was proud of it. This weekend, she planned to buy some spray paint and revamp it.
Ingrid removed the bike from the rack and positioned it between them. She was unsure of what he wanted by seeking her out, but she fervently hoped it wasn’t to tell her to ignore Annabelle and Rory when they said hello to her. “Was there anything else you needed?”
Graham reached into his pocket and held the small plastic bag up to the light hanging above the café’s back door. “I thought you’d like this back. It took me a minute to figure out where I’d seen it, but the hair was the same color as Eliza’s and Camille. You killed Fowler. What I can’t figure out is the how and the why? The Gaineses are willing to cover it up, but I studied that body. Samantha and Thomas were too tall to make that cut from that angle, but not you.
He lowered the bag and tossed it at Ingrid, but she made no attempt to catch it, letting it bounce off her chest and fall to the alley floor. “What were you doing at Thomas and Samantha’s house? Be honest. I’ve had six months to turn you in but haven’t. You can trust me on this. All I want is the truth.”
I got the necklace from my counselor in rehab. It was a gift, not just for being clean, but for trying my hardest to stay that way. Anyone can go to rehab, but to try to stay clean and utilize what they teach you is a lot fucking harder! I was so arrogant when I got here and assumed that everyone would pat me on the head and we could move on because I’d lived in purgatory, and suffered enough in my own opinion. That’s what detoxing is, you know.
Anyways, I removed my necklace and had it in my hand, reciting my sponsor’s code while waiting nervously. The door opened, and I recognized Samantha from school, and she recognized me too but wasn’t trying to hear me.”
***
“Will you please just listen to me? Your daughter is wonderful, and I just don’t want you to screw up like I did with my kids!”
“I’ve got nothing to say to a trashy druggie like you! Go away!” Samantha tried to slam the door in Ingrid’s face.
Fuck it; I’ve been called worse, Ingrid thought and kicked the door back.
She entered the partial opening and advanced on Samantha. “We’re not done here, Samantha! If you choose not to make up with your daughter then you’ll never get to know your granddaughter. I’ve seen her, Samantha, and she’s an angel! I’m begging you to do the right thing and go see your daughter. Don’t wake up, surrounded by family yet all alone, like me.”
Two things registered at once. Samantha’s look of tormented horror and the door. The force that she’d disrespectfully kicked the door with should have sent it crashing against the wall, but there wasn’t a sound. Ingrid turned around and saw a deranged-looking man closing the door. His hair was a wild, tangled mess that hadn’t been combed in God knew how long, and his jaw was also covered in a gnarly mess of hair.
“That slut has a baby?” he whispered eerily. “Is that true, Samantha?”
“No! Don’t listen to her! She’s a drug addict and can’t be trusted!” Samantha cried. “Tell him the truth, Ingrid!”
It stung to be defined by those words but wisely Ingrid kept her mouth shut.
“Yes, Ingrid, tell me the truuuuth,” Davis sang, waving the knife unpredictably. “Tell ME about how good and decent that slut is! Try to convince me that she’s not a filthy, lying bitch! That she didn’t say she loved me, all the while plotting to leave me!” He pounded his chest with his other hand. “ME! I was the best thing to happen to her!”
“It wasn’t like that, and you know it! You were the worst thing to happen to her!” Samantha lashed out venomously. “My daughter did nothing to deserve your behavior! She was too good for you—”
Davis cut her off. “Annabelle humiliated me! She made me the laughing stock of this town! It’s time I show her once and for all who I am!” He pointed the knife at Ingrid. “You get her here. NOW. Tell her that if she doesn’t come in the next thirty minutes, I will carve her mother up in pieces! Do you understand me, Ingrid?! Do what you have to do to get that slut and her little brat over here! GO!”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Ingrid spoke with a calm she was far from feeling. She couldn’t leave Samantha alone with this madman. Recalling the conversation Chandra and Val had, Ingrid now knew that he was the reason Samantha hadn’t seen her daughter since her return. If Ingrid left now, who knew what he’d do to her now that he knew about Annabelle’s daughter? And that Samantha had deliberately kept the information from him?
“You. Can’t. Do. That?” the man laughed a nasty, jeering sound, walking toward Ingrid. She retreated as he advanced. “Then I guess you’re no use to anyone here.”
Her heart was in her throat as she clocked the knife in his right hand. His eyes were full of madness as he raised it. He expected Ingrid to run from him; she was sure of it. She chose to surprise him at the last minute by running toward him, and instead of wrestling the knife from him like he anticipated, Ingrid pushed his arm higher and stabbed him in the neck with her necklace while forcefully kneeing him in his balls.
***
“He tried to grab the necklace and had me by the hair as he finally pulled it out. The next thing I know, Samantha was stabbing him repeatedly. It was as if she was in a trance and couldn’t stop, even after he was dead. She kept chanting, ‘May you burn in hell for all you’ve done.’.”
Ingrid rubbed her face vigorously as if trying to shake the memory. “There was so much blood! She called Thomas; he came home, and we cleaned up. Then they told me to leave and that they’d take care of the body. I didn’t remember the necklace until much later, but Samantha said I had nothing to worry about. I didn’t know the full backstory, but Thomas clued me in. Now that I know it, I can’t say that I’m sorry that man is dead.”
Ingrid gripped the bike handles. “I’d better get going. Thanks for giving the necklace back. I was really bummed about losing it. FYI, I’m a regular at their house on Sunday nights for spades. Feel free to avoid that timeframe.”
That was a hell of a story, and grudgingly, Graham felt a glimmer of respect. “You’re welcome, and like I said, you don’t have to worry about anything further with that mess. I won’t keep you any longer. Enjoy your night.”
Graham opened the door and just before he disappeared, Ingrid whispered, “Happy Birthday.”
It was the first time Graham remembered her saying it in over thirty-five years.
It was the first time Ingrid remembered it in over thirty-five years.
Progress or something like it had been made tonight.
***
Town Square was packed, but Ingrid managed to find an empty spot under a tree away from the crowds. She pulled out her flowered blanket and spread it out before dropping down on it and shaking her knapsack out to retrieve the snacks she’d brought: sparkling water, apple slices, prosciutto, and white cheddar cheese slices.
“What’s this?” Ingrid held up the aluminum-wrapped package and then unwrapped it.
Birthday cake.
Someone had slipped a piece into her knapsack. But who? She doubted it was Graham, but was unsure because he happened to be in the alley. Was it Annabelle, who practically begged her to join in on the singing, but Ingrid refused to put a damper on the moment? Or was it Nate? Val? Chandra? She highly doubted it was Raymond.
It didn’t matter. Someone had made a conscious decision about her.
Ingrid dug into the fruit passion cake with her fingers and ate with gusto.
“That must be some damn good cake,” a man with a Boston Red Sox baseball cap on remarked, as he set up a chair next to her blanket. When he smiled, all his teeth showed, and Ingrid could see they were white, sparkling, pretty, and real, unlike her dentures that were needed because of her drug use, a fact that made her self-conscious of smiling.
“It’s alright,” Ingrid muttered and put the cake down, her joy of the pastry suddenly dissipating. She focused on the blank screen, determined to ignore him.
But the stranger refused to let Ingrid be. He removed his cap to reveal shaggy thick silver hair. The locks were a stark contrast to his unlined, tanned friendly face. He held out his hand to Ingrid. “I’m Tim Nowitzsky, your neighbor tonight or insurance agent extraordinaire if you’re in the market for any. So, what are we watching, beautiful?”
THE END
As I previously stated in my author’s note, this is not the end for Baymoor. All information on upcoming projects will be revealed on the link below.
Author’s Acknowledgements
Readers – Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, for trusting my process and believing in my work! Please know there are so many more adventures ahead of us and I look forward to sharing them all with you!
Karen Kunz – Thank you for understanding my vision and always succeeding in bringing it to fruition. Your talent knows no bounds.
Ideality Consulting – Thank you for your invaluable input, talent, understanding my vision, and your comments, which crack me up.
Patrice Harrison – I’d be lost without you. Thank you for choosing to take this journey with me and putting up with the nuttiness. For talking me down from the crazy ledge instead of pushing me off. You’re priceless and I’m clinging to you like a spider monkey, lol. Thank you for your talent, understanding my vision, invaluable feedback, and sharing the belief that depicting women of color in a strong light is necessary.
My family and friends – Thank you for your endless support and unconditional love. I love you beyond the moon and back. Dear Husband – I pray every woman is blessed with someone like you in their lifetime. Love you forever and ever.