Fallen Woman(89)

Epilogue





It took a lot longer than we’d expected to make our move. Even with Jase leaving Faston, he still had loose ends to tie up and projects to pass on to other people. We wanted to start over, but it had to be the right way.

While he was dealing with the family business, I was tied up in legal issues regarding Holland. That coupled with four kids and a baby on the way kept me exhausted. I was right. Holland didn’t spend any time in jail—when you have the right amount of money, it seems you can buy your way out of just about anything, and that’s precisely what he did. There was an enormous donation made to the city police department, and the next day, Hart informed me the rape charges didn’t stick. He ended up with a hefty fine for the possession—not distribution—of Rohypnol and some piddly number of community service hours. All in all, it was a joke, but it got him off my husband’s back, so in the end, I got what I wanted.

To this day, I’d never seen Holland in person again. The guys all came to stay with us and spent a weekend here and there. Willum and the girl he took to the symphony in my place had struck up quite the affair. I was thrilled for him and made him promise the next time he came to Townville, he’d bring Beth with him so we could get to know her. Max and his husband, Kip, were in the process of adopting a baby and had started spending more time in our tiny town. They’d joked about moving here, but something told me they might’ve really been looking for a place to settle down.

It’s funny. We didn’t move that far. Only about two hours outside of the city, but our lives were so drastically different. Life here was about experience, not wealth, and so were the people. I’d worried a little about the kids starting first grade somewhere new, and Emmy starting kindergarten, but as long as they had each other, they seemed happy as happy as could be.

Jase and I fell in love more every day. We’d settled into a routine that enabled us all to spend time doing what we loved. Every time I saw him playing with one of the kids, or holding baby Pearl while she slept, I was reminded of how far I had to fall to appreciate the rise.



The End