Bella shrank in her seat as Mr. Weathers, who’d kept his head through this entire ordeal, held up the artwork so the wedding attendees could see that it was unblemished.
Onlookers mumbled from their seats, astounded. This ceremony was certainly more than they’d bargained for.
“We also know about the other six pieces that have gone missing from the Collective,” Mr. Weathers added.
“And three that were stolen from my shop,” Aunt DeeDee called out from the other side of the ballroom.
The entire roomed was stunned.
Charlie began leading Charlotte down the aisle, a wedding in reverse. “We’ll talk more at the station,” he said. As he walked, he read Charlotte the Miranda rights: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you do or say can be held against you in…” The words continued, but I’d heard them so often, I barely noticed the singsong phrases.
Jill then began to put Will Hurt in handcuffs, giving me a curt nod asif to say I’d done well once again.
With Will’s hands behind his back, he called to his wife as he was led away. “I’m sorry, Val. It was a fling. It meant?—”
Valerie cut him off. “That’s enough. I trusted you. I gave you my life. I gave you a son. I won’t make that mistake again.” Valerie turned to Jill. “Take him away.”
Charlie had officers on the way, ready to round up the entire Swanson clan for questioning about their business endeavors in the art world. It would take him all day and into the night to get the information he needed—unless they called in a lawyer. Either way, he would be planted at The Rose for the foreseeable future.
Savilla and Aunt DeeDee were hugging and comforting Valerie and Baby Ollie, and I went to join them. I hated that a family would have to suffer because Will had been caught, but based on Valerie’s reaction to all of this, I was hopeful that she herself would be able to tough it out.
Now, Savilla pulled the baby close and patted Valerie on the back. “I’ve got a hugenormous house, and you two are welcome for as long as you want to stay.”
Aunt DeeDee tilted her head and looked at me, her face mirroring my own surprise. Savilla was full of hospitality, but I had no idea she would want people to live here with her.
I shook my head in wonder at her big heart, thinking that I wouldn’t be surprised if I showed up to visit this summer and Savilla had taken in half the town. Maybe instead of a hotel, she would turn the house into a school of some sort, allow children to run up and down the halls all day long. Who knew what things Savilla Finch might decide to do?
As I watched Charlie organize the Swansons into rows at the front of the Primrose Ballroom, I was reminded that I still had something big to decide as well, namely whether or not I was planning to come back home to Aubergine and open my own practice after I finished school in May—or take the fellowship that would keep me away for the next four years and potentially send my career in a totally different direction.
Charlie was a big part of that decision.
“What are you thinking about, doll?” Aunt DeeDee asked, approaching me with an arm extended to pull me into a hug. Before I could answer she gently led me outside the ballroom and toward the back of the house, where we could see the Blue Ridge Mountains through the windows, the sun hovering just over the top of the ridges.
“Oh, you know,” I finally said. “Just thinking about the next murder I’m going to solve.”
“Let’s pray that The Rose stays murder-free from here on out.” Aunt DeeDee laughed, shaking her head.
I leaned against my aunt’s shoulder and let out a deep sigh.
She seemed to sense I wasn’t saying something. “What else is on your mind, baby girl?”
“Nothing, really. Just thinking about the future, about what comes next for me.”
“You remember what your momma used to say whenever she had to decide between two options?” Aunt DeeDee asked.
I did remember, and I quoted the saying now: “‘Chances are both paths end at the same mile marker at some point.’”
“That wisdom served her well.” Aunt DeeDee inhaled as if she wasn’t sure if she should say what was actually on her mind but then decided to proceed anyway. “You know that as soon as you were born, I was thrilled to be an auntie, but when your momma first told me she was pregnant, I thought she was crazy for all of it: for raising a baby as a single woman, for not telling anyone who the father was, for not making him be involved.” She looked from me into the distance of the towering peaks that made us feel small in the best way. “I’m glad your momma was crazy in her own way, and I think as we saw tonight, she passed on a little bit of that delightful madness to you.”
“Are you saying I should take the crazy-looking path?” I asked, with a soft smile.
“It’ll probably be the most fun,” Aunt DeeDee said simply, as we both stared into the mountains that were home to us.
EPILOGUE
FIVE MONTHS LATER
I unpacked a box with my bedding inside, tugging at the sheets until they stretched over the edge of the mattress. Next, I pulled out a blanket and pillow shams. Momma had always said that if the kitchen and bedroom were livable, a new place would look much brighter.
