"Believe it, little brother. I spent my whole life in this town so Dad would have someone with him and so I could prove to Mom, wherever she was, that she had made the wrong decision to leave. I told myself this was all I wanted, but you know what? I want a hell of a lot more. I want to see something of the world. I want to work on a paper that actually has news to report. And I want to live in a place where no one knows anything about me."
Ryan sent Loretta an approving smile. "I don't suppose you had anything to do with this?"
Loretta beamed with the joy of motherhood and the satisfaction of love. "I just want Andrew to be happy."
"And he will be. You're a good woman, Loretta."
"And you're a good man, Ryan."
Billy took a step forward and held out his hand. "Good-bye, Uncle Ryan."
"Good-bye, Billy." After a slight hesitation, Ryan pulled Billy into his arms and gave him a hug. "I want you to know that I would have been proud to be your father, but since I'm not, I'm glad you've got my brother, because he's the best man I know."
Andrew slapped Ryan on the back. "Thanks -- for everything."
Something deep and personal passed between them, something only the two men would ever know, Kara realized as she watched them say good-bye. Maybe some secrets were meant to be kept.
Finally Ryan, Kara, and Angel were alone. They walked over to the last two cars parked on the bluff, the red Ferrari and Kara's Ford Taurus.
"I think we should take my car," Kara said. "Everything won't fit in yours."
Ryan raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Kara walked over to the trunk and opened it. Inside there was a set of luggage. "Angel and I had a long talk, and we're going with you, Ryan. Wherever you want to go. That is, if you want us."
"If I want you?" Ryan took slow, purposeful steps toward her, stopping just inches away. He lifted her chin with his hand so she had to look into his eyes. "What about restoring the Gatehouse, rebuilding your dream, living in a small town for the rest of your life?"
"I don't want any of that without you, Ryan. You were right. The Gatehouse is just a house, and Serenity Springs is just a place. I love you, and I want to be with you. I want us to be a family. There, I said it." She sniffed with a tearful smile. "I promised myself once that I would never be the one to love more, but here I am, so completely and totally in love with you that I'll take whatever you have to give me, however small it may be."
"Oh, Kara, you couldn't possibly love me more than I love you. Do I want you with me? Of course I do." He kissed her on the mouth with tender, loving promise. Then he held out his hand to Angel. "I love you, too, Angel-face. Promise me you'll tell me a story every day for the rest of my life."
"If I can think of that many."
"Oh, I have no doubt that you can. You're right, Kara. We'll take your car. I don't need a sports car anymore. I need a family car."
With Angel in the backseat and Kara sitting next to him, Ryan started the car. He didn't take the road toward town, but the one toward the Gatehouse.
When they arrived, Ryan turned to Kara with love in his brilliant green eyes and said, "We're home."
"Really?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yes." He got out of the car and went around to open Kara's door for her, pulling her into his arms as they stood on the lawn in front of the Gatehouse, surveying their home. The roof was damaged and the garden torn up. There was a big hole where the living room wall had once been, and the piano was now on the front lawn.
Ryan started to laugh. "Looks like you'll still be able to practice your music, Kara."
"Maybe we can make a duet. My piano, your saxophone."
"Sounds perfect. I want to live here with you and Angel and your crazy aunt and those mongrel puppies." He laughed as the puppies came barreling across the lawn, jumping between their legs, licking and kissing and barking with the joy that surrounded them all.
"For a man who likes to travel light, you certainly seem to have acquired a lot of baggage," Kara said. "A house, a family, a newspaper..."
"It's about time. I did the same thing Andrew did; I based my life on something that wasn't true."
"We all did."
"No more illusions, Kara. No more ghosts. Just kids and puppies and love -- lots and lots of love."
"What about your work? I'm not sure I can see you running a small-town newspaper."
"To be honest, I can't either. Maybe it's time to have someone other than a Hunter controlling the news."
"I think so. I don't want to hold you back, Ryan. You can still travel. Just come home every now and then, okay? I'll make you apple strudel."
He grinned at her. "It's a deal. And you can run the inn."
"What about the river? Some day it will rise again."
"No doubt. I can handle the river now. My parents are a part of that river, and when I look at it, I feel their love. Now I want to feel yours." Ryan lowered his head to kiss her. "Take a deep breath, sweetheart, because I'm never letting you go."
And he didn't, not for long, loving minutes, not until Kara laughingly pulled herself out of his arms. "Let's go home." As they walked up to the house, Kara saw a scarf caught on a bush just to the side of the porch. It was a woman's silk scarf -- yellow, orange, and red. "What's this?"
"My mother's scarf," Ryan said. "She took it with her when she left."
"How did it get here?"
"I don't know. Do you believe in ghosts?"
"I believe in love, and I think it lives on forever."
"Maybe that's close enough."
Angel watched Ryan bring the scarf to his lips. Then she looked up at the sky. "I don't know if you're real," she whispered. "But thank you."
Wind chimes blew in the warm breeze, a robin sang out for its mate to finish the nest before the babies came, and Nick's guitar played a soothing melody of sleep and love. The porch swing creaked as Lisa stroked her baby's head, letting the fine strands of black silk curl around her fingers. She pressed the baby closer to her heart. She'd never felt so happy, so complete. Then Nick hit a false chord, a shrieking note that clashed with the springtime harmony. The robins squawked and fluttered and flew away, leaving their nest dark and empty...
Lisa Alvarez jolted awake, her heart racing, her breathing ragged. "It was a dream," she told herself. "Just a dream." The pounding on her office door brought her back to reality.
"Elisabeth?" her secretary called.
"Come in," Lisa said somewhat weakly, still disoriented by the vivid dream.
Her secretary, Marian Griggs, walked into the office with a brightly wrapped box in her hand. "I know you told me not to disturb you, but this just came for you. I thought it might be a wedding present, and well, you know how I am about presents," Marian set the box down on the desk in front of Lisa and sent her a curious look. "Are you all right?"
She pushed a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm fine. I just put my head down for a minute. I was so tired after working all night, I guess I fell asleep."
"Open the gift," Marian encouraged.
Her hand shook slightly as she slipped the ribbon off the box and removed the lid. She carefully pulled away the white tissue paper to reveal a charm bracelet that held only one small charm, a pair of gold baby shoes. "Oh, no," she whispered as she touched the shoes with her fingertip. "Oh, no." The metal burned her fingers, and she slammed the lid down on the box and took a deep breath.
"What's wrong?" Marian asked with concern.
"Please, go. Just go."
Marian looked like she wanted to argue, but then she nodded. "Okay. I'm going." She walked out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.
She took several calming breaths. Why was it all coming back now, when she finally had her life together? After a long moment of indecision, she opened the box once again. This time, she reached for the small envelope lying beneath the bracelet. She slipped it out and opened it.
"Eight years, Lisa. You can push the rest of us away. You can marry this safe, older man, but I will not let you forget her -- Robin Nicole Maddux. This bracelet was blessed. If you hold on to it, you will feel the magic. Believe in it now and come home, before it's too late."
Eight years, and her mother, Silvia Alvarez, still hoped for a miracle. When would Silvia learn that there was no magic in the world -- only foolish dreams?
She looked at the bracelet once again. It had been blessed by her great-aunt Carmela, who drank tequila for "medicinal purposes" and fashioned jewelry out of gold nuggets she believed were from an ancient Aztec city. Her mother might believe Carmela was a descendant from the mystical Aztecs and therefore had special powers, but as far as Lisa was concerned, Carmela was nothing more than an old con artist. That's why Lisa had left the bracelet behind all those years ago -- as she had left everything else behind.
Setting the box on the edge of the desk, she walked over to the window, resting her palms on the windowsill. Below, the streets of downtown Los Angeles bustled with activity, but here in her third-floor office, she was protected from the heat and the smog, the mix of languages, the car horns, the curses, the smells of burritos and quesadillas being sold in tiny taquerias tucked in between the glass and chrome skyscrapers.
She had left Solana Beach, a suburb of San Diego, to come to the sprawling city of Los Angeles, to lose herself in the crowds. It was easy to do that here. Her Mexican/Irish heritage raised few eyebrows in this city of immigrants. She heard three or four languages every time she stepped on the elevator. No one questioned why her hair was so black, her eyes so blue. No one asked, because no one cared. That was the trade-off.
For almost eight years she'd lived in LA., working her way up from a receptionist in a public relations firm to a senior account executive at one of the most prestigious advertising agencies in Los Angeles. She had changed jobs every few years and apartments almost as frequently, never letting herself get too close or too settled -- until now.
In less than a month, she would marry her boss, fifty-two-year-old Raymond Curtis, a man twenty-one years her senior. The age gap didn't bother her. Raymond was the first man she'd felt comfortable with in a long time. She couldn't keep running for the rest of her life. It was time to settle down.
Her mother thought she had chosen Raymond because she wanted a father figure, but Lisa had stopped looking for a father years before. Patrick O'Donegan had taken off two days after Lisa's birth, knowing his family couldn't accept a child who wasn't pure Irish.
In truth, she didn't feel Irish or Mexican. She felt alone. Her mother said she'd been born with a chip on her shoulder. Maybe so. After all, her father had taken one look at her and run screaming for the hills. Was it any wonder she always anticipated rejection?
As she turned, her gaze was caught by the sudden fluttering of a bird outside the window. The bird had a bright orange chest and a gray coat -- a robin. Lisa swallowed hard as the bird settled on top of the streetlight just a few feet from her office window. She couldn't imagine how the bird had come to be here, amidst the concrete, the buildings and the smog. She closed her eyes against a wave of memories. But in her mind she could see another robin, a tall tree, a budding nest and Nick holding their baby ... no, she wouldn't remember. She couldn't.
A knock came at her door, and she opened her eyes. The robin had disappeared. Perhaps she had simply imagined its appearance. With a sense of relief, she turned away from the window as her fiance entered the office.
"I'm back," Raymond Curtis said, offering her a broad smile.
Raymond was an attractive man with thin brown hair, graying sideburns, and a narrow face. Of average height, he had a lean, wiry look that came from hours of exercising. A noted clotheshorse, he had a closet full of suits and ties for every occasion. Today, he wore his trademark charcoal gray Armani suit, which he fondly referred to as his "pitch" suit. Judging by the smile on his face, his latest pitch had gone well.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"Exceptionally well." He kissed her on the cheek, then set a box of cereal down on her desk. "I hope you tike graham cracker cereal with marshmallows."
"Can't say I've tried it."
"It's new, and the Nature Brand people want to launch the cereal with print, broadcast and internet ads. This is going to be great, Elisabeth." His eyes lit up at the prospect of landing a big new client. "I need an initial proposal, campaign strategy complete with various slogans and artwork four weeks from today. We're competing with one other firm, and we're talking million-dollar account,"
She stared at him in amazement as he rattled off a hectic schedule of meetings and appointments with the Nature Brand people. "Raymond, have you forgotten? We're getting married in four weeks."
"I know." The light in his eyes dimmed slightly. "The timing isn't the best."
"That's an understatement."
"This account is too good to pass up." He smiled persuasively. "The wedding details are pretty much set. All we have to do is send out the invitations."
Her eyes drifted over to the box of invitations sitting on her credenza. The engraved ivory cards still needed to be addressed, sealed and stamped. She tucked a strand of her hair behind one ear.
"I wouldn't say that's all we have to do, Raymond. I still have the final fitting of my gown, presents to buy for the bridesmaids you insisted we have, last-minute decisions about flowers, and -- "
"Let Mrs. Carstairs handle it."
"I'm still not comfortable with a wedding consultant planning my wedding."
Raymond laughed. "That's her job. Look, I know I'm asking a lot, but this account is just what we've been waiting for, especially since losing Bailey Brothers to Beverly Wickham earlier this year. This one will put us back on top."
"Is Beverly competing for Nature Brand, too?"