Afterward, people line up to take pictures with Tenley. Her husband is the dutiful photographer, a road it looks like he travels often.
Daisy throws herself in my arms, kissing me square on the mouth in front of everybody. Not that it matters. We've been engaging in some heavy public displays of affection all week.
"You were great," she says animatedly. "But don't quit your day job." Her head tips sideways, thinking. "Which is...what?"
"For now, it's remodeling my old house."
She pumps an enthusiastic fist in the air. "Yay remodeling."
"Not your kind of remodeling," I remind her, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Thoughtful. Planned."
She grins. "I'll handle the landscaping."
I brush a kiss across her lips. "Have at it, Sunshine."
Chapter 60
Olive Township
With bated breath,I waited for Penn Bellamy and Daisy St. James to be free of the mess of their own creation.
Penn's return brought trouble, but the necessary kind. Like an earthquake revealing ancient artifacts. A little more digging through the rubble, and they will make discoveries that will shake their world.
I can't guess when this will happen. Some individuals need to look closer, some need to relinquish control. Others need to shed the cloak of the past, to go back so they can go forward.
One, in particular.
Chapter 61
Epilogue
Penn
Brenda passes awaysix months later, with her true loves by her side. Daisy holds one of her mother's hands, head bent as she cries softly. I do my best to console her, resting my head on her upper back so she can feel me there, saving my tears for later, so I can be strong for my wife.
Daisy and I married three months after the fiasco at Summerhill. We talked about waiting, about not rushing into anything, but when the man who built the arch came to deliver it, and Daisy realized it was his wife who wrote her favorite book, she insisted that we be the first to use the arch, and soon. I was more than happy to oblige. I would've married her three months prior. I would've married her standing on my head wearing scuba gear. All that mattered to me was having Daisy as my wife.
Brenda surprised us by making a request. She asked that, instead of Daisy wearing her wedding dress, she cut a piece off and pin it below a dress of her choosing. The ceremony was simple, but beautiful. Daisy was radiant, a vision I could not look away from. I never expected this much happiness in my life. Never thought I would be the recipient of Daisy's love. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I don't spend time questioning it.I revel in it, thank God every day for broken roads and crooked paths.
Duke is well. His father was furious, threatening to have me charged with battery since his son refused. In the end, local law-enforcement declined to charge me themselves, and without evidence, and Duke's refusal, Glenn Hampton went home empty-handed. I see Duke once a month for guy's night. It was awkward at first, and we earned plenty of stares from people around the room of whatever establishment we chose to meet up, but it has worked itself out. At one point, Duke apologized for how he treated me when we were kids. I accepted the apology, and once he explained that he genuinely cared for my mom, I felt an odd kinship with him.
"How is Daisy?" Hugo asks, the week after Brenda's heavily-attended funeral.
"Struggling," I reply, swinging my leg under the open tailgate of my truck. Hugo had some free time in his schedule, and when he called me and heard I was waiting at my old house for a contractor to arrive, he stopped by. "I don't know if you can ever really prepare for a loved one's passing."
"Expected or not," Hugo says.
It takes me by surprise. He rarely brings up his father's murder.
I wait to see if he'll say more, and he does. "That podcaster emailed me again."
"Tell him to fuck off."
"Her."
"The true crime podcaster is a woman?"
He nods. "Yep."
