Epilogue
One week later
The party started at five that evening. Maryse had worked her magic with the historical society, one of the recipient’s of Helena’s massive estate, and they all gathered in Helena Henry’s mansion, now a historical landmark. Maryse, Sabine, Mildred, and Raissa had done all the prepping and planning, baking, collecting premade trays from a caterer in New Orleans, and stocking the refrigerator with enough booze for New Year’s Eve at a fraternity house. Helena, of course, was there to sample everything before it was deemed worthy of the festivities.
They joked and laughed and swapped tasks, helping each other that entire afternoon. Helena spent a lot of time just watching. It was beautiful, those girls and Mildred. Like a mother and her daughters. They’d endured so much to be here today. More than any thousand people would likely endure in a lifetime, and they’d persevered through it all. There was so much strength, so much love, that Helena got misty just thinking about it.
The men started arriving around five. Luc, with his big smile and enormous charm. Beau, with his big heart and quiet strength. Zach, with his brashness and fierce loyalty. So very different, but all so perfectly suited for the women they’d chosen to make a life with.
When the doorbell rang thirty minutes later, Helena peeked around the kitchen wall to see whom Raissa was letting in. She almost dropped her plate of nachos when she saw Hank walk through the door, holding the hand of that lovely girl Lila she’d seen at the hospital. She watched as Maryse crossed the room and gave the girl a hug. Then she said something to Hank, kissed him on the cheek, and gave him a hug.
Maryse pulled Hank and the girl into the huge, open living area and started introducing them to the people they hadn’t met. Hank looked shy at first, but finally relaxed with the warm greetings he received from everyone. Lila watched him every second, her smile radiant.
Luc handed Hank a beer and Lila a glass of wine and waved his hand at the buffet along the wall. They filled plates and joined the others laughing and chatting…like a family. Helena rubbed away a tear and smiled. Finally, she took her plate and her drink and went up the back staircase to the second floor. The big spiral staircase in the main living area had a huge landing with a great view of the room. She took a seat above the action and enjoyed the interplay.
After an hour or so of festivities, Maryse directed the others to help her light candles that she’d placed all around the room. Maryse walked over to Hank, took his hand, and spoke to him. Hank nodded, his expression anxious and hopeful. Helena wondered what was up, but before she could sneak down and ask, Maryse looked up at her and waved her down.
“Get the lights,” Maryse said, and Mildred turned off the lights to the room, leaving it doused in candlelight.
Helena rose from her seat and started down the spiral stairway. When she stepped into an area lit up by the candles, she heard a gasp. She looked over in the living room, and realized Hank was staring directly at her, as was Lila. “Oh, my God,” Hank said. “I can see her. Mother?”
Hank took a step toward the stairway, and Helena hurried down. She stood just inches in front of Hank, his amazement clear. “I can’t believe it,” he said. “I mean, I knew Maryse wouldn’t lie, but I never thought…Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” Helena said. “I can hear and see everyone. It just doesn’t always work the other way. Can you hear me?”
Hank nodded, his eyes filling with tears. “I am so sorry, Mom, about everything—being a lousy son, running off and leaving you to be murdered. I want you to know that it wasn’t your fault. You gave me the advantages I needed to be successful. I threw them all away.”
Tears formed in Helena’s eyes as she looked at the man that wasn’t her son, according to biology, but had been in every other way. “I wasn’t a great mother. I know that. I didn’t trust myself to show my love completely, not even with you. But I always loved you.”
“And I always loved you,” Hank said. He reached up with one hand to touch her face, and Helena was amazed when she could actually feel his fingertips gently brush her cheek.
“I feel your skin,” Hank said, his eyes wide. “I didn’t think…”
“I wondered,” Maryse said, and stepped forward. “When you were in the hospital, Lila saw a woman in your room, singing. I thought she’d seen Helena, but I didn’t understand why, as Lila wasn’t in any danger.” Maryse looked over at Luc and Zach, who nodded.
“Everyone can see you, Helena,” Maryse said. “Something’s changing, and I thought maybe tonight would be the height of whatever was happening.”
“Why tonight?” Helena asked.
Maryse laughed. “Do you mean to tell me you’ve been so distracted that you forgot your birthday? Why do you think we bought six cheesecakes?”
Helena stared. “My birthday. My God. I had forgotten.”
Helena walked with Maryse and Hank to the center of the living room. Helena stared down at her feet and hands. “It’s almost like I feel the floor beneath my feet.” She reached out with a hand to touch Hank’s shoulder and gasped. “I can feel him. Without concentrating, I mean. Just like when I was…alive.”
Helena looked around the room, all of them looking at her with love on their faces and tears in their eyes, and she felt her heart swell. No woman deserved this, especially her. “My family,” she said, and began to cry.
She hugged them all, one at a time, taking care to whisper to them her thoughts, her hopes for their futures. Something big was about to happen. She could feel it coursing through her body like an electrical charge. Finally, when she’d given her last hug, whispered her last thoughts, she stood in the center of the room and clutched Hank’s hand with one of her hands and Maryse’s with the other.
“Seems only fitting,” she said, and smiled at the two of them. “Since this is how it all started.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, a light began to form above them. It was small at first, like a candle on the ceiling of the room, but then it began to grow wider, and it dipped down, lower, lower, until it was past the second-floor landing and entering the first floor. Helena stared at the light, amazed by its beauty, by the warmth inside, and she squeezed Maryse’s and Hank’s hands as it began to pour over her body.
“I love you all. Be happy and well,” she said, then slowly faded away.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to my critique partners Cari Manderscheid, Cindy Taylor, and Colleen Gleason for your sound advice and for just listening to me complain. Thanks to my daily chat buddy, Leslie Langtry, who can make even the worst things funny. Thanks to Jimmie, Donna, and Katianne Morris, for your continued support and for pushing my books. Thanks to my unofficial assistant, Tracey Stanley, for making sure I eat breakfast and get to work on time and for talking about my books to anyone who will listen. Thanks to RWA and DARA for the education you provide and always looking out for a writer’s best interest. Thanks to the cover artist—this cover blows me away! Thanks to my editor, Leah Hultenschmidt, for always making my books better and working to get the perfect cover. And special thanks to my agent, Kristin Nelson, for always pushing me to extend myself and believing that I can.