by Sofie Kelly
“Miranda made a mistake,” I said, choosing my words with care. “And she was trying to fix it when she died.”
Emme nodded.
“Hey, you see the best in people,” Derrick said. “That’s not bad. You saw the best in me.” He smiled.
“And that worked out pretty well,” I said, smiling at him. I liked Derrick. He was a good man and it was clear he loved Emme very much. In time I hoped everything would work out for them.
* * *
I went to work over Marcus’s very strenuous objections.
Rebecca and Ami showed up at the library just before we closed at lunchtime. Ami hugged me. “Thank you for finding Miranda’s killer,” she said. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She handed me a bag of organic cat treats. “For Hercules,” she said with a smile. “I’m glad he’s all right, too.”
Rebecca wrapped me in a hug. “I’m so glad that woman didn’t hurt either one of you,” she said. She handed me an envelope.
I shook my head. “No.”
She made an exasperated sound. “Don’t give me that look, Kathleen. You don’t even know what it is.”
I gave her a mock glare. “I know you’ve done something you shouldn’t have done.”
“I’m always doing something I shouldn’t have done,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “It’s one of the perks of getting older.”
I opened the envelope. It contained a check for a very large amount of money made out to the Reading Buddies account.
“I can’t take this,” I said.
Rebecca gave me her most innocent look. “But it’s for the children.”
Ami leaned her cheek against Rebecca’s. “How can you deprive little children of books?” she asked.
They were in cahoots and they’d bested me.
“You did this on purpose,” I said, shaking my finger at them in mock annoyance.
Rebecca smiled. “Yes, I did,” she said.
I’d never won an argument yet with her. I wasn’t sure why I even tried.
* * *
“Are you all right?” Marcus asked as he headed up the walkway to the theater entrance that evening.
My stomach had done a couple of flip-flops when we’d pulled into the parking lot, but now, as I thought about the wonderful music we were about to hear, mostly all I felt was happy anticipation.
I gave his hand a squeeze. “I’m fine,” I said.
An usher showed us to our seats. I remembered the first time I’d come to one of these concerts. Maggie had been supposed to meet me, but she’d conspired to make sure that Marcus had ended up with her ticket instead. It hadn’t exactly been the start of a beautiful friendship.
I smiled and gave Marcus’s hand another squeeze. “Remind me I need to put my name on the list for CDs. I promised my mother I’d send her one.”
He nodded just as the overhead lights flashed to signal five minutes before the concert began.
I looked around the auditorium, pushing away the image of Nora Finley holding a gun and backing me against the seats, and replacing it with one of Burtis and Lita waving from four rows back.
I waved back and turned just as Maggie and Brady appeared, taking the two seats in front of us.
“How’s your hand?” she asked.
“A lot better,” I said, holding it up so she could see. Roma had stopped in before we left and changed the bulky dressing Ric had put on for a smaller one.
She smiled. “I’m glad.”
“Is everything ready for tomorrow?” I asked. Twenty-four hours from now we’d all be at Roma and Eddie’s wedding.
Mags nodded. “I think so. And Roma would be happy to get married out on the lawn in jeans and her rubber boots anyway.”
“I think jeans and rubber boots were what she was planning on wearing until we took her dress shopping,” I said with a grin.
Almost everyone was seated now. There was one empty seat on the aisle, across from me and one row down. Just as the lights began to dim a man slipped into it. He glanced in my direction and then raised a hand in hello.
It was Derrick. And he was alone.
Did that mean what I hoped it meant? I felt a bubble of warmth in my chest.
The curtain rose and Michel bowed to the audience as the sound of applause filled the space.
I scanned the massed choir. I spotted Ami, and a row ahead of her I caught sight of Ruby. And there, on Ruby’s right side, was Emme, standing tall and smiling. Michel lifted his baton, and I put my head on Marcus’s shoulder and let the music wash over me.
* * *
One day later, on a warm Sunday evening, Roma Davidson and Eddie Sweeney were married.
“You look wonderful,” I said as Pearl adjusted the neck of her daughter’s dress.
“She’s right,” Olivia said. She looked beautiful in her pale green bridesmaid dress, which Ella King had hemmed with time to spare.
There was a knock at the door and Pearl opened it to Maggie and Sydney. Syd took a step into the room. She stopped and stared at her future stepmother. “You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen,” she exclaimed.
“And you’re the most beautiful flower girl,” Roma told her. Then she noticed the small box tied with silver ribbons that Sydney was holding.
“I thought we agreed we weren’t going to do this,” she said, frowning. “No superstitions.”
“We didn’t agree to anything, dear,” Pearl said. “You talked, we nodded. That’s it.”
“And it’s not a superstition,” Maggie added. “It’s a tradition.” She looked at Pearl. “Go ahead.”
Pearl smiled. “Something old,” she said, offering a small box.
Roma opened it. “Oh, Mom,” she whispered.
The box held a short strand of pearls. “They belonged to your grandmother,” Pearl said. “After the wedding, if you want to, you could have them restrung into two bracelets for your girls.”
Roma hugged her mother. “You’re going to make me cry,” she said.
“I’m next,” Maggie said. She reached under the bed, pulled out a long flat box and handed it to Roma.
“I’m kind of afraid to open this,” Roma said as she undid the ribbon bow that was keeping the box shut. She lifted the lid and immediately pushed it down again. Color flooded her face as she looked at Maggie.
“For the honeymoon,” Maggie said, green eyes gleaming.
“Kissing stuff?” Sydney asked.
“Yes,” Olivia said.
“Something borrowed,” I said, quickly offering my gift. Roma’s cheeks were still pink.
She took the blue velvet bag I held out. Inside was the braided silver bracelet Mom and Dad had given me when Ethan and Sara were born, to represent the new family we were making. She pressed a hand to her mouth, understanding the symbolism of the gift. “Thank you, Kathleen,” she said, fastening it around her arm.
“Our turn,” Sydney said, bouncing up and down with excitement. She handed over the ribbon-trimmed box. “This is from Olivia and me. Something blue.”
Olivia held up a hand. “It was all her idea,” she said. Then she grinned. “And a very good one, too.”
Roma untied the ribbon and opened the small rectangular box. And smiled as she lifted out a lacy blue garter.
“We made it,” Sydney said with shy pride.
“It’s perfect,” Roma said, struggling not to cry. She held out her arms and hugged them both. Then she stretched out her right leg, lifted her skirt and slid the blue lace-and-ribbon garter to a spot just above her knee.
“Beautiful,” Pearl said. Then she clapped her hands together. “Stand up, ladies. I need to check your dresses. We have a wedding waiting for us downstairs.”
Roma caught my eye as I got to my feet, smoothing the skirt of my dress. She smiled and I smiled back at her. I thought about one of my
mother’s favorite sayings: “Everything will work out in the end. And if it doesn’t, it’s not the end.”
Everything had worked out and it wasn’t the end. It was just the beginning.
Maggie had done a beautiful job of decorating the living room. It was filled with all of Roma and Eddie’s favorite people. Sydney led the way down the stairs and down the makeshift aisle to the fireplace, where her father waited with Marcus and one of Eddie’s former teammates. Olivia was next, followed by Maggie and then me.
Roma walked down alone, eyes locked on Eddie’s face the entire way. Pearl and Neil, Roma’s stepfather, were waiting just before she reached the fireplace. She stopped to kiss them both. And then she was standing with Eddie and they looked so happy it made my chest hurt. I caught Marcus watching me and he smiled.
And then they were married. Roma pulled two flowers from her bouquet. She gave one to me and the other to Maggie. “Don’t wait too long for your own happy endings,” she said.
She turned and looked teasingly at Lita, standing with Rebecca. “Don’t even think about it,” Lita warned.
A smile spread across Roma’s face. She swung around in the other direction. “Burtis, catch,” she called, tossing him the bouquet.
He was so surprised he automatically reached up to snatch it out of the air. Everyone laughed and clapped.
Marcus came up behind me and slipped an arm around my waist. I looked over at Roma leaning against her new husband with one hand on Olivia’s arm and the other on Sydney’s shoulder. “And everyone she loved the most was close enough to touch,” I said softly.
“Shakespeare?” Marcus asked.
“No,” I said as I laid my head against his chest. “Just me.”
about the author
Sofie Kelly is a New York Times bestselling author and mixed-media artist who writes the Magical Cats Mysteries and, as Sofie Ryan, writes the Second Chance Cat Mysteries.
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