Epilogue

EPILOGUE

“ T he man at the general store said the place is haunted.”

Striking a dip on the road, the Lincoln Continental bounced roughly, and Willa gripped Noah’s leg to steady herself. Her bones were tired from traveling, and she knew his were too, no matter how much he tried to hide it.

“Oh, I’m sure it is haunted.” Noah shifted in his seat and snuggled Willa closer. “But no more than any other old place.”

Their granddaughter slowed the car’s progress down the clay lane and peered up at the tunnel of oaks with its Spanish moss dangling overhead. “It certainly looks like it could be haunted,” Anne mumbled, wrinkling her nose. “I know this is your family’s land, but would you care to tell me why you want to see this place so badly, Nana?”

“I grew up here.”

Willa smiled when their granddaughter spun around in the driver’s seat with her mouth hanging open. “I knew you lived in Florida growing up, but I didn’t know you lived in some old haunted house.”

“It wasn’t old when I lived here.” Willa shifted in the backseat to peer out the car’s side window. Just as she suspected, not much had changed. The overgrown forest hugged the road, obscuring her view of anything else. “Haven House was a grand home by the time I left. ”

“Haven House? You’re telling me this place has a name? How very swanky, Nana.” Anne turned back around and continued driving. “Pop, did you live near here too?”

“For a few months.” Noah grinned at Anne’s excitement. She was inquisitive to a fault, and he loved her dearly for it. “My family had a lumber mill about a mile from here, but their house wasn’t as big as Haven.”

“Oh, yeah. I remember.” Anne leaned forward again, driving slowly as she took everything in. “That’s the one that burned to the ground not long after you two got married, and since Uncle Beau was out of a job, it was how you convinced him to come up and run the practice.”

“That reminds me that I need to phone Beau when we return to the motel tonight.” Noah pulled a small memo pad from his pocket, jotting down the note. “Dr. Callahan has to check on Mrs. Johnson tomorrow, and Beau will need to follow up with him on his findings.”

It had been a big step for Noah, but he had finally taken on another doctor at his practice. Even at eighty-eight, he didn’t want to truly give up all his patients, but knew it was time to make that final transition into old age.

Willa hated that she was partially to blame for him feeling like he needed to remove himself from the day-to-day happenings at the practice. Her health had never been an easy thing, with her breathing issues at the forefront of their life. But to next have one’s mind begin to fail was nothing short of adding insult to injury.

The gaps in her memory started a few years ago, with little things disappearing here and there. Now, it was hours or even days lost to her, and when it became noticeable, Noah finally decided to hang up his white coat for good, wanting to make the most of their remaining years.

What a wondrous thing it had been to spend a lifetime with the man she loved, to have children and grandchildren, and to have grand adventures with the small family she and Noah created. There were ups and downs, but always more good than bad, with neither minding as long as they were together .

After leaving Haven House that awful night, Willa never thought of the Fairweathers again. She didn’t belong to them anymore, especially when she and Noah were married directly after the New Year. Their daughter Mary came along by the following autumn, and with a newborn to care for and another on the way shortly after, life became too hectic for her to give her old family a second thought.

“You’ll need to call Robert tonight as well,” Willa reminded him, proud of herself for remembering their son’s schedule. “He’s operating on a tough patient in the morning, and a few words of encouragement from you will help settle his nerves.”

It turned out Ohio’s climate worked well for her lungs, and Noah opened his family clinic not long after their son entered the world. Noah had dedicated his life to serving others but focused mainly on those with breathing difficulties so he could remain at the forefront of research on Willa’s behalf. Their son had chosen the same profession and was as brilliant and caring as his father.

“Dad is always a bit looney before he hacks at people,” Anne joked. “Mama likes to tease him and serve a big, rare steak dinner the night before.”

Noah chuckled along with Willa. Their son’s weak stomach was a long-running family joke.

Hitting the brakes hard, Anne let out a shout. “Goodness! Is that it?”

Through the trees, the white of Haven House peeked through. From her spot in the back, Willa couldn’t see much but nodded. “That would be her, but who are those men at the end of the lane?”

Noah went on immediate alert, scanning the three large, surly men staring at them as if they were lost. “Don’t drive any further, Anne. Let me go and speak with them.”

“Pop, they’re just workers,” Anne assured him, pulling the car forward. “I wrote to Nana’s family to let them know we were going to be in the area, and they said the place was being renovated. I thought I told you. ”

Willa shrunk in her seat. Anne had probably told her, but the information likely slipped off into the unknown corners of her mind. “I’m sorry, Noah. I guess I forgot.”

Noah’s blue eyes crinkled in their corners, and he squeezed her close. “It’s alright.”

Pulling the car forward, Anne parked directly in front of the house. Getting out, the three of them stared at the stark white columns, and Willa had to hold on tightly to Noah’s hand when a jolt of nostalgia struck. “Oh, my.”

Anne let out a whistle. “This is…Wow!”

“Can I help you folks?” One of the three men approached. “Haven House is private property, and the Fairweathers don’t like people snooping around.”

Straightening her spine, Willa looked down her nose at him. It was a Fairweather move she hadn’t pulled in years. “My name is Wilhelmina Fairweather, and I am the sister of Calvin Fairweather.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” The man stopped short. “I, uh, Mr. Malcolm didn’t mention you would be stopping by.”

Cal was dead. It was the only reason she and Noah felt as though they could come to Haven House one last time. They knew little of her brother’s life, only that he married well and had three sons. The oldest was named Malcolm, and he had taken control of the family business, which they were calling Fairweather Holdings these days.

Willa didn’t care for the name. She thought it sounded rather pretentious.

“What are you building out there, sir?” Willa asked, pointing at the bones of smaller structures out along the bayou.

The man smiled at her question. “With the war over, Mr. Malcolm wants to make this place into a retreat, and he’s ordered us to construct cottages along the shoreline for extra guests who might stay over.”

“Looks like you have your work cut out for you,” Noah replied. “This old girl has sat vacant for a long time. ”

“Over fifty years, from what I hear. The forest and gardens were so overgrown when we started that they were nearly in the house.” The man waved a clipboard at Haven. “Feel free to go inside. We’ve cleaned it up pretty well and plan to overhaul the interior soon.”

Thanking him, they headed down the worn front walkway leading to Haven. As they went, Anne twirled about in the beams of sunlight peeking through the branches of the twin oaks standing guard. “Growing up here must have been a dream, Nana.”

“Not really.”

There was no need to elaborate. That part of her life didn’t need to touch their precious Anne.

Pushing open the oak double doors, the three of them stood in the foyer, with Anne staring up at the gargantuan crystal chandelier. She pulled out her portable Kodak and took a photo. “Jeepers.”

“It’s a bit gauche if you ask me,” Willa said, shuffling down the hall. She didn’t want to stay long but was desperate to see her conservatory one last time. “I’m surprised my mother didn’t take it with them when they moved to…” There went her mind again, damn it all. “Noah, what was the name of the house they built on Richards’ land?”

“Something absurd.” Noah took her arm, refusing to allow her to revisit the past without him. “Parkland Grounds, I believe.”

Willa snorted. “Yes, that sounds like a name Mother would come up with.”

Margaret Fairweather didn’t get to live long enough to enjoy what Willa assumed was the grand home Calvin built for them. They received word that she died not but five years after their family abandoned Haven House and the mill.

On the other hand, Bonnie lived to a ripe old age and married a man from Tallahassee, where she spent the rest of her days in peace. She wrote to Willa only once, wishing her well and letting her know where life had led her .

Anne snapped another photo. “When I spoke to Malcolm’s secretary, she said he couldn’t meet with us because he was celebrating the birth of his son. I think she said they named him James.”

She and Noah nodded, not at all concerned with the lives of the Fairweathers.

A cat darted out of the dining hall, startling them. “Bonnie’s cats are still here!” Willa exclaimed, happy to see them. “If you find a kitten, grab one to keep, Anne.”

Noah chuckled and kissed her temple. “What are you going to do with a kitten?”

“Cuddle it.”

They entered the conservatory, and Willa stopped short. Nothing had changed. Not a single thing. Her piles of books and writings, the chaos of her mind—all of it remained as if they half expected her to return. A stack of letters caught her eye, and she recognized the handwriting immediately.

“Oh, Lucy.”

John Richards had given her sister a happy life, even though their farm failed due to a sickness that spread among his animals. Through the letter from Bonnie, Willa learned Lucy and her family had moved somewhere further south, opening a grocery store that became quite successful.

Anne’s camera clicked. “It’s spectacular.”

“This was my sanctuary,” Willa told her. “I lived in this room every day.”

“And I fell in love with her in this room.” Noah nodded at the lower level. “Your grandmother was asleep on that sofa down there, and I sat and watched her for almost a good half hour, utterly captivated.”

Willa rested her head on his shoulder. “Then he took me on a horse ride and had his dirty way with me on the beach.”

Properly shocked, Anne gaped at them. “Don’t tell me things like that. ”

“Well, then, I guess I shouldn’t mention the little building a bit west of here.” Willa wiggled her eyebrows at Anne. “We had quite a naughty time there.”

“Nana!”

They toured the ground floor and spent the afternoon telling Anne the story of how they began. Willa had to sit every so often, not wanting to lose the momentum she was holding onto by a thread.

When they reached the library, she and Noah didn’t bother to stop their granddaughter from stealing a copy of The Modern Prometheus.

Anne batted her eyes at them innocently. “It’s not like they don’t have two copies.”

They decided it was time to go when the sun began to set.

“Thank you for allowing us to poke around,” Anne told the foreman as they stood on the side porch. “Do you expect renovations will last very long?”

“Honestly, it’ll take years,” the foreman said. “She needs all new pipes and then the electrical…”

Taking the side porch stairs down the lawn, Willa ignored what the man was saying, too busy listening to the song coming in off the bayou. The locals were right to think Haven House was haunted. Her sister remained. Tommy, Jennie, and every other poor soul to lose their life on this land probably did, too. All of them, forever trapped.

Her mother had claimed there was a curse, and after so many years of being away, Willa believed it. She could only hope her father’s soul had moved on. Enduring an eternity with him would be a hell unto itself.

“I wonder what the future will hold for this place,” Noah mused as he joined her. “Whatever it is will have to be better than what she’s already lived through.”

Willa sighed, gazing out over the estate grounds and the bayou at its end. “My mother was right. This place is cursed,” she replied, sending out a silent goodbye to Grace. “Haven House will never know peace. At least, not while the Fairweathers control her.”