by Trisha Grace
“Marianne, look at her necklace,” Tyler interjected.
Marianne frowned but moved closer for a look. Even Kate looked down at the long chain holding her locket.
Tyler reached behind Kate’s neck and unclasped the necklace he’d once given his mother. Holding one end of the chain, he lifted the necklace and let the rest of the chain hang freely.
Marianne gasped and took the necklace from him. “Where did you get this? Your grandfather searched everywhere for it.”
“What’s that?” Kate asked.
“I gave this necklace to my mother when I was young.”
“And she never took it off,” Marianne added.
Everyone leaned in closer to look at the necklace.
“Where did you get that?” Evelyn asked.
“I don’t know,” Kate said slowly.
Marianne placed the necklace into Kate’s hand. “I know you’re safe. That’s all that matters.”
Kate nodded. “And Lydia?”
“I left her a message, and she called back a while ago. She says she’s fine. She wanted to come over now, but I told her you were fine and to come tomorrow instead,” Evelyn said.
“Thanks.” Kate yawned softly.
“We should go. She needs her rest,” Joseph stated.
Everyone gave Kate a hug before leaving the room.
When Ryan came over, he leaned in, and instead of the usual brotherly hug that squashed her, his hand draped lightly across her shoulders. “I believe you saw what you saw.” He grinned and added, “Goodnight.”
Only Tyler stayed behind. He lay in bed beside Kate while she curled up against him. He ran his hand down her face while his cheek leaned against her hair.
For twenty years, he’d thought his parents were ripped from him and he was all alone.
But he wasn’t.
They were always watching over him; he just hadn’t realized it until now.
Evelyn was chatting with Dan when she spotted Joanne walking past her ward and heading toward Kate’s. She got out of bed and rushed out. After what they had gone through that night, Evelyn didn’t want anyone disturbing Kate.
“Where are you going?” Dan asked.
But Evelyn was already out of the door. She was ready to drag Joanne out when she saw her standing by the door, looking into Kate’s ward.
“Anne, not tonight. Whatever you’ve planned, not tonight. Ty thought he lost Kate,” Dan said from behind Evelyn.
“He’s smiling, even in his sleep,” Joanne said softly, her words saturated with pain.
Evelyn gave Dan’s arm a squeeze and cocked her head toward her ward. “Give us a minute.”
Dan arched a brow.
She nodded, then waited until Dan was back in her ward before saying, “He does seem happy, doesn’t he?”
Joanne spun around at Evelyn’s voice, and she swallowed hard. “I’m not here to make a fuss.”
“And you’re here looking like yourself,” Evelyn stated as she gave Joanne a look over, noticing that she’d returned to her former blond hair and thick mascara.
“No matter how much I change, no matter how I prove myself, he’ll never look at me the way he looks at Kate.”
She was probably supposed to feel sorry for Joanne, but she didn’t.
Joanne never had anything with Tyler; it was a childish infatuation that blew out of proportions.
“That’s right.”
“I’ll leave now.”
Evelyn reached out and gently grabbed her arm. “You should be happy. Forget about him. He never cared about you anyway.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“Yes. You don’t have to be like this.”
“What? A spoiled brat?”
“You don’t have to be like your mother. Move out from your parents’ house and find your own place. Tyler isn’t your life, he never was. You can be so much more. Find your own dreams, find yourself. Whatever you want to pursue, I’m sure Dan will support you.”
Joanne wiped away the drop of tear that escaped her eye. “I don’t know what I can do or what I want to do.”
“It’s not too late to start thinking. When you’ve made your decision, we’ll help you. We all will.”
“They have never considered me to be one of them. I’m always chasing after them, no one tells me anything. I know they think I’m just Dan’s irritating sister. Even when this happened, no one called to tell me. I only found out because I saw it on the news.”
“That’s because you have never bothered about anyone but yourself.”
“I care about Tyler.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do,” Joanne said, clearly indignant.
“Why did you come here?”
“I was concerned.”
“No, you weren’t. You came here thinking it was a chance to show Tyler how concerned you are about him. If you were truly worried about him, you’d be smiling now. Everyone’s safe and he’s happy.”
“You never sugarcoat your words, do you?”
Evelyn grinned and looked at her. “You’re like this because you’ve received nothing but sugarcoated words. You should start listening to some truths.”
Joanne sighed and turned to leave. “Tell Kate to take care. Goodnight.”
Evelyn watched Joanne leave, then she turned back to glimpse at Tyler and Kate in the ward before returning to her own ward.
Dan was seated on the couch and he smiled as she stepped in.
“Settled?”
“Yeah. I don’t think we have to worry about her bothering Kate or Tyler again.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“You sound skeptical.”
“My mom brought her up with one concept. Stay pretty, marry well, and live happily ever after. For whatever reason, she was determined to have that with Ty.”
“I think she’s figured out that it isn’t going to happen.”
“Again, I hope you’re right.”
Evelyn glanced at the clock on the wall and said, “You should go home; I’m fine. It’s time for me to rest anyway.”
“It’s all right. I can stay with you.”
“I can’t sleep when someone else is around.”
“I’ll just sit on the couch. I won’t disturb you.”
Evelyn sighed and sat on the bed. “I don’t like having people in my room when I’m sleeping. I know you’re being nice, and I’m trying to say this as nice as possible, but please leave.”
“Are you still angry that I was late?” Dan asked.
“I just don’t like having someone else in the room with me when I sleep,” she repeated and drew in an impatient breath.
There was more to why she didn’t like people being in the room while she slept, but she wasn’t going to explain. She hated being reminded of it.
“All right, I’m out of here. If you need anything—”
“If I need anything, Kate’s next door.”
Dan shrugged, took his coat, and left Evelyn’s ward.
Evelyn wanted what Kate and Tyler had. She had known Kate since they were in college and had never seen her happier. But frivolous things like love wasn’t meant for someone like her.
Chapter Twenty Six
Kate placed the new photo frame down on the late Mr. Hayes’s desk, setting it right beside the photo of young Tyler and his grandfather.
When she got home from the hospital, she immediately dug out the photo of the late Mr. and Mrs. Hayes. The official report stated that Kate had picked up the gun and shot the window before leaping out. But she was certain she wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for God who sent Tyler’s parents.
She’d just set the frame down when the doorbell to the mansion rang. It must be Lydia.
Kate trotted down the stairs and opened the door. She turned without saying a word to Lydia and sat beside Evelyn on the couch.
She’d never been angrier at Lydia than she was then.
She didn’t mind helping Lydia with t
he investigation. She wouldn’t have been pleased if Lydia had chosen to continue with it despite the lack of leads. But she hated being lied to.
And Lydia didn’t just lie to her once.
“Are you all right?” Lydia asked, breaking the silence.
Evelyn set the newspaper down and stared pointedly at Lydia.
“As you can see, we’re alive and well,” Kate said.
“I’m sorry.”
“About the fact that we were almost burned to death or that you blatantly lied to me?”
“I thought they were empty threats. I went back there a few times. I might’ve hinted that I knew more than I was letting on and was going to uncover the truth about our parents’ case.”
Evelyn grunted while Kate sighed.
“But I had nothing. I was just trying to get something, anything, out from him. When you told me about the threats, I didn’t think it would result in anything serious. And you had so many people keeping you safe anyway. I thought my pushing was starting to scare him. The threats proved that I was right, that he was hiding something. So I kept going back,” Lydia continued.
She couldn’t believe what Lydia was saying. Despite knowing about the threats, Lydia didn’t think of anything else but the case.
“Well? I hope you got something major that would blow the case right open because your sister almost paid for your so-called justice with her life,” Evelyn said. Lydia opened her mouth, but Evelyn raised her hand to stop Lydia before continuing. “And by the way, if she’d died because of your pig-headedness and I kill you, is that justifiable under your book?”
Lydia pursed her lips and took in a slow, deep breath. “I’m sorry.”
“Maybe it’s time for you to be more concerned about the living than the dead,” Evelyn chided.
“I know you guys are angry, but I swear I didn’t know he’d follow through with the threats. I thought Kate was safe.”
“Thought?” Evelyn gave a dry laugh. “Yeah. It’s the thought that counts, right?”
Though Kate was frustrated, she didn’t want things to get out of hand. And most importantly, she didn’t want Tyler to see Lydia.
“Look—”
“Lydia, I cannot begin to explain or describe how angry I am with you. And seriously, I don’t care what you thought. What you caused Evelyn, me, and everyone else to go through was inexcusable.”
“Kate,” Lydia said.
“I’m not done.” Kate paused and drew in a deep breath. “I know you want to know the truth about our parents’ case, but I’m done with it. I’m not going to help you anymore. If you want to live your life obsessing about something that happened so many years ago, then you can go ahead and do that.”
Kate strode over to her handbag and fished out her mother’s locket. Taking Lydia’s hand, she dropped the locket into her palm. “It’s your ghost to chase.”
“I didn’t know you would get hurt. I didn’t know things would turn out like this.”
“Yeah, you’ve made that pretty clear,” Evelyn said and rolled her eyes.
“I think you should go.”
“Kate—”
“One more thing, I’m engaged. That was why I called you from the cabin.” Kate opened the door and stood by it. “Bye.”
“And try not to do anything that will get us killed,” Evelyn shouted as Lydia plodded out.
Kate closed the door once Lydia was out.
“Don’t feel bad. She deserves it,” Evelyn said as Kate walked back toward the couch.
“Dan told me that you kicked him out of the ward last night.”
“That’s a smooth change in topic.”
She shrugged. “So what happened?”
“Nothing.” Picking up her phone, Evelyn focused on the screen and refused to look up at Kate.
Evelyn always did that when she wanted to avoid talking about something.
“Eve, I know how hiding in the bathroom must have brought up some forgotten nightmares.”
“They were never forgotten.”
Kate pursed her lips. She knew she could never understand the fear that Evelyn grew up in. “I’m sorry for what you went through, but Dan isn’t like—”
“I just can’t have people around when I’m sleeping, you know that,” Evelyn interjected.
“You’ve fallen asleep with me around, so it’s a matter of trust. I seriously doubt he’ll mind waking up if you have a nightmare.”
Evelyn ignored Kate and continued staring at her phone.
Seeing that Evelyn wasn’t ready to talk about it, Kate let it drop. “You deserve to have someone who will love and protect you; someone who will cherish you and give you a family.”
“I already have you for that. Or are you telling me that since you have gotten Tyler, I’m being booted?”
Shaking her head with a grin, Kate continued. “He’s fine, by the way. A little confused, but I assured him that he did nothing wrong.”
Evelyn finally glanced up from her phone. She gave Kate a small smile, then returned to scanning through her phone.
“You’re welcome,” Kate said.
The next few months flew by quickly. Winter came, turning the evergreen woods that surrounded the mansion white. Snow covered the green leaves, and with the cold, a stillness took over the woods.
Things in the mansion were the complete opposite.
On top of her work, she was planning her wedding and redesigning the mansion. There never seemed to be enough time, making it easy for her to put the fire incident behind her.
She was worried that Tyler would get all worked up and decide to ship her away from it all, but he never brought that up again.
Even when Detective Allen told them that there weren’t any leads on the fire, Tyler merely requested that she be careful.
His protection was no longer overbearing. He didn’t insist that someone had to be around her all the time and didn’t go crazy when she went to meet a client on her own.
Maybe it was because of what Kate had seen, letting him know that his parents were watching over them. Maybe the angel necklace she now wore became a reminder that they were never alone.
Evelyn, on the other hand, was very much affected.
Kate had thought that after having gone through a near-death experience, Evelyn would realize how vulnerable life was and would finally open up her heart. Instead, she appeared to have withdrawn even further. She shut Dan out of her life and avoided him at all costs.
Kate wanted to help. But when it came to relationships, nothing she said or did would get Evelyn to change her mind.
“So, have you asked him?” Ryan asked, pushing aside the drawings that Kate had in front of her.
She sighed and shook her head. Of all the things she had to deal with, this was the worst.
Whenever the guys had the chance, they would pester Kate on who the best man would be.
Each time they had asked her, she had told them to ask Tyler. But somehow, they kept coming back to her.
“All right, all right. I’m going to ask him now.” She stood and marched up the stairs, ready to transfer her vexation onto her fiancé. “Have you decided on who will be your best man? They won’t stop bugging me.”
“I’ll tell them to stop.”
She elbowed him lightly in his chest. “That isn’t the point. Why haven’t you made your decision?”
“They’re all hoping to participate in the wedding. I can only have one best man and one groom’s man; that means one of them will be left out.”
“That was what you were worried about?” Shaking her head, she continued. “You should’ve told me. I don’t have anyone to walk me down the aisle, so they’ll all be involved. One best man, one groom’s man, and one to walk me down the aisle.”
Tyler blinked while she laughed.
“All right. Now that I’ve solved your problem, please, please, please tell them what they’re doing before I strangle someone,” she said and gave him a peck on his lips. “Oh, and Joanne came over the o
ther day.”
“Here?”
“No, at the office.”
Tyler’s eyes narrowed.
“Don’t worry, it was nothing. She was actually looking for Eve. She wants to go study interior design, so she came over to ask for our opinions.”
“Huh.”
“She apologized.”
Tyler’s eyes widened. “Did she actually mouth the words ‘I am sorry’ or did you assume she was sorry?”
Kate rolled her eyes. “She said she was sorry.”
“Why interior design?”
“I know what you’re thinking. She swore she isn’t trying to become me. Apparently, the only real work she’d ever done was at our office and she loved it.”
“Okay.”
Kate grinned. Tyler wasn’t the only one who had changed. She didn’t know how to explain it, but something was different with Joanne as well.
Epilogue
With the fading of the cold snow and the arrival of a new season, the mansion morphed from a time capsule that captured what had been lost to a home where great friends gathered. Instead of the painful memories of loved ones gone, the mansion now echoed of laughter, joy, and love.
Even Evelyn’s house had been transformed.
Since Kate couldn’t stay at her scorched house, she had to stay at Evelyn’s to get ready for the wedding. They spent a week cleaning up the house and clearing all of Evelyn’s clutter.
It was spick and span now, but Kate was certain it wouldn’t last.
Kate and Evelyn lay in bed, with Evelyn scanning through the channels on TV. Kate looked at the wedding dress hanging in front of the wardrobe and smiled. “I hope he’ll like the wedding dress.”
“He loves everything about you. He’ll love the dress,” Evelyn replied monotonously.
Turning to her side, she studied Evelyn’s face. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, come on,” she said.
Evelyn sighed softly and stared at the television’s screen. “I’m worried for you. I know it’s silly, but I can’t shake the notion that things will change after marriage, and he’ll end up hurting you. Then I’ll have to commit murder.”
