A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [130]
“Good-bye, Mom.” She walked out the door, only glancing up when she’d closed it behind her. Griffin was waiting and together they walked toward the car that pulled up at that moment.
April got out of the car and ran into her husband’s arms, while Erica went to Brian. It didn’t seem to bother him that he’d left his mother and her father together in Vegas. The two weren’t quite ready to leave Sin City and no one had to wonder why.
“Ready to go?” Brian asked, taking her hand in his.
“Yes, with you always.” She glanced back at the huge house that had always been her home, a house she’d loved. But she was ready to move on. She had been ready.
On their wedding night Brian had told her about his surprise, the money his father had placed in trust for him. He’d known with her it had never been about money, but he had talked his godmother into selling them the house in Myrtle Beach. Lori had said she couldn’t think of a couple who deserved it more.
Moments later as they drove down Wellington Road she knew in her heart that despite all the emotional drama, everything had ended well for her and April.
Epilogue
Six months later
Erica looked up from the book she was reading when she heard her name called. She smiled as she glanced out at the pier and waved. Seeing Brian sitting out there with a fishing rod in his hand reminded her of the day they first met.
She glanced down at her ring and smiled. She was truly happy. When Brian called her name again she looked up and saw him coming toward her. That morning she had awakened to a red rose and a white rose tied together with a silken thread on her nightstand. It had been a reminder of the love they had almost lost. And he had sat on the edge of the bed and whispered to her the same words he had spoken that day he had surprised her with dinner on this very same pier.
“Together, these roses represent unity and love, and the silken thread holding them together represents the strong bond between us that can never be broken.”
The last six months had been special, even with her mother’s refusal to acknowledge her marriage to Brian. Karen lived in the big house alone, shut away from family and friends. Her parents’ divorce had become final last month, and she knew that her father and Rita were now an item, a very hot one. He was thinking about selling his company and moving to Dallas. But then she heard he and Rita might decide to move to Florida. They weren’t making any final decisions about anything. Erica knew the older couple was enjoying their time together and she could truly say she was happy for them.
“Is that book any good?” Brian asked when he’d finally reached her.
“I wouldn’t be reading it if it wasn’t,” she said, and grinned when he pulled her hair. “I talked to April today. She’s happy being back in Hattersville and kicking off Griffin’s mayoral campaign.”
Of course some of the snobbish citizens were taken aback by Griffin’s surprise marriage to April, but surprisingly there were others who were genuinely happy for them.
She kept in close contact with her aunt and flew to Cleveland to see her at least three times a month. She enjoyed reading the nursery rhymes to Blair, and on a few occasions April had gone with her.
It was during one of those times she had run into her mother while she was there. When Karen had seen her and April, she’d acted like she didn’t know them. It was Erica’s hope that one day her mother would come to realize all the wrongs she had done and all the people her actions had hurt.
“Whoa!” Before she’d realized what he was doing Brian had swept her off her feet, making the book fall from her hand.
“What do you think you’re doing, Brian Lawson?”
He smiled down at her. “Taking you inside the house. I need a shower.”
“So, what does that have to do with me?”
“You get to take one, too.”
She smiled, thinking she had no complaints. She loved taking showers with him. She loved doing everything with