Epilogue

Kenna

The holidays were magical, though it felt odd to have a Christmas tree in the house when I still broke a sweat if I stayed outside in the sunshine too long. I asked Dec if we could forgo gifts and instead host a party on January first. Not New Year's Eve like most of the revelers in town. I wanted a party on the first of the year to celebrate new beginnings. To mark the past from the future. To start anew with a clean slate.

We woke up early, spending the morning cleaning the place and fixing last-minute items that had been overlooked for larger renovation projects over the summer.

"Babe?" I hollered from the bedroom. Dec's answering voice was somewhere on the second level. His head popped into our bedroom a few moments later. I held up Maeve's mermaid urn. "Let's put her in her place of honor."

Dec's expression when we spoke of my aunt lately was no longer weighed down by a heavy sorrow. Joy from having known her was beating back the grief of losing her. Renovations were complete on the house, meaning that it was safe again to put the urn on the mantel as Aunt Maeve had requested in her will. Seeing that lusty wink every day would be a perfect reminder to live life to the fullest, a message Aunt Maeve would have imparted had she still been alive. Even in death, her reminder would ring clear.

Dec put his hand on my back as we went downstairs, a comfort and support. When we reached the fireplace, I stopped, holding the urn out in front of me. We both stared at the bawdy mermaid, not able to help smiling at the ridiculous final resting place Maeve had chosen.

"I'm sorry I didn't get to know you before you were gone, but thank you for bringing me here, Aunt Maeve. Thank you for saving me from a life that was never mine. I'll proudly keep you on my mantel and live my life with the same zest you had, albeit with fewer plants."

Dec softly snorted next to me. I lifted the urn higher and placed it on the mantel, careful to position the mermaid just right. I wanted to see her wink every time I came down the stairs and crossed the living room. I stepped back and Dec wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close and kissing the top of my head.

"Maeve is most certainly smiling down on you, sunshine."

Tears gathered in my eyes, but they didn't fall. Maeve wouldn't want tears. She'd want exactly what we were doing today. Celebrating life.

We got back to cleaning, each of us lost in our memories of Aunt Maeve. It was just past lunchtime when my stomach let out an unholy gurgle of emptiness. I opened my mouth to ask Dec if he wanted to take a break and eat, but the doorbell chime peeled, interrupting me.

I walked over, pretty sure I hadn't ordered anything for the house recently. The door swung open without a squeak thanks to Dec greasing the hinges yesterday in preparation for the party. A private courier stood there with a brown box and a tablet for me to sign.

"Kenna Cugly?"

My lip snarled at the use of my married name, but the kid wasn't to blame for my poor choices. I signed his digital tablet and he handed me the package. He was already backing out of the driveway before I got the door locked again.

"What is it?" Dec asked.

I looked up, a myriad of emotions flooding through me. The package was from Justin. "I'm not sure, but I've been waiting for the final divorce decree any day now."

We both moved into the kitchen, where I grabbed a knife and tore through the packaging. A stack of papers greeted me. I pulled them out and flipped through the pages until I got to the page with the judge's signature. It was official. I was no longer married to Justin. I was a free woman.

I shot Dec a grin as relief pushed away the other emotions. "Guess who's officially a single lady?"

Dec whooped so loudly I almost covered my ears. Then he picked me up and spun me around. Laughing, I pushed him away and laid the papers down on the counter. My gaze snagged on the open box. There was something else in there. I pulled out a smaller box within and opened the folded piece of paper taped to it.

Kenna, I should have only seen the diamond that was you. Wear it, sell it, or melt it down. I'm sorry. J

I gasped, flipping open the lid of the box to see a familiar diamond bracelet on a bed of velvet, winking in the bright kitchen lights. Dec leaned over my shoulder and whistled.

"That's definitely nicer than a Kindle," he muttered.

The sight of that hideous bracelet, that I'd last seen on Ashley's bony wrist the day my world fell apart, should have sent me into a spiral of righteous anger, but oddly, I felt none of that. I snapped the lid closed again and tossed it into the larger box. Instead, I laughed, relieved that Justin no longer had a hold on me. That his mistreatment of our marriage hadn't left a permanent scar. That I'd finally seen my worth long before he did. The apology was nice, but I'd already forgiven myself for my poor choices, which mattered far more.

"Come on, salty. We have a party to get ready for and I need a shower first. Then you can feed me." I grabbed Dec's hand and pulled him out of the kitchen with a suggestive wag of my eyebrows. He whooped again and picked me up, tossing me over his shoulder and racing for the stairs. "Stop! You'll hurt yourself!"

He smacked my backside, making me howl. "You calling me old, woman?"

Giggling and trying to keep the blood from rushing to my head, I forgot all about ex-husbands and bracelets and terrible bosses. "Well, you are forty…"

Dec let out a growl that sent my blood heating. "I'll show you old…"

And he did. Repeatedly. In this house, old meant experienced and I was the happy recipient.

Sadly, we showed up late to our own party.

Everyone was here: Mom, Daniel, Harley, Char, Laurie, and even Liz, who'd flown in the day before with two large suitcases. She was staying at Dec's house next door until she could figure out housing now that she sold her condo in San Francisco and gave her two weeks' notice to Morgan Dudly.

Dec was a fabulous host, working around the room to make sure everyone had a full glass of champagne before I stepped up onto the fireplace hearth like we'd planned. Everyone's head swiveled in my direction and the conversation died down. Daniel had his arm around Mom. My true friends, a blend of San Francisco and Sunshine Key, were here supporting me.

"I believe I can speak for Aunt Maeve in saying that she's proud of us." I gestured to the urn next to me. "Proud that fences have been mended and?—"

"Oh my God!" Mom exclaimed, cutting me off. Her hand slapped over her mouth and she moved forward as if in a trance. She came right up beside me, but her gaze was focused on the urn. "Where did you get that?"

I glanced quickly over at Dec, but he looked as confused as I was. "It's Aunt Maeve's urn, Mom."

Mom's eyes went impossibly wide and then she was sobbing. Or laughing. Or maybe both at the same time? I wasn't really sure. I put a hand on her back as she bent over, that same watery yip filling the room.

"Mom?"

She straightened, her gaze still on the urn. The sobs died down and she wiped frantically at her eyes. "It's not an urn!"

Dec came over, putting his own hand on Mom's arm. "I had strict instructions from Maeve to pick up her urn from the funeral home and they assured me that was the urn she picked out."

Mom smiled up at Dec, her mascara leaving black streaks down her cheeks. "Oh, yes, I understand that, Dec. But that's not an urn. It's the cookie jar our mother had bought us at a yard sale when we were little. Maeve and I loved that hideous thing. Our mother kept trying to get rid of it over the years, but Maeve and I never let her. We used to say the old mermaid was our spiritual guide, mostly to make Mother roll her eyes, but we started to believe it."

Our friends gathered closer and we all gazed at the busty mermaid with new eyes. Mom reached out a hand and brushed a finger over the mermaid's face.

"It must have been her last little way of reaching out," she whispered. Daniel pulled her into his chest and let her cry against him.

I felt for Mom, I really did. Her pride had kept her from having time with her only sister before she died. I promised myself not to make that same mistake.

Lifting my glass of champagne in the air, my charm bracelet tinkling lightly, I looked around the room at the people who'd loved Maeve and my family the most. The giant mural on the far wall, painted lovingly by Laurie, and the plants remaining on the wood shelves Dec had built were all a reminder of the incredible woman that had lived and loved here. Dec had framed a picture he'd taken of me just a few weeks ago. I was out on the beach, staring at the sunset as my wild curly hair fluttered in the breeze. I almost didn't recognize myself as he'd placed it on the wall. I'd changed so much in Sunshine Key, all thanks to the aunt I'd finally gotten to know. I had her to thank for so many things.

"To Maeve!" I offered, a wobble in my voice.

Glasses were lifted, Maeve's name repeated, and then we drank the expensive champagne she would have approved of. The gathering turned into a party and at the center of it was Maeve and her lusty mermaid wink reminding us life was to be lived.

As the sun sank into the ocean and the string lights overhead on the patio flicked on, Dec grabbed my hand and sank to one knee right there in the living room of Maeve's house. He held out a ring I couldn't see because of the tears gathering in my eyes. In front of my family and friends he promised to love me forever, always my protector and friend. When he asked me to marry him, the answer was simple. I knew myself now. Knew what I wanted, what I deserved.

Without a single second of hesitation, I answered, "Yes!"

Everyone cheered and Dec spun me around before dipping me over his arm and kissing the hell out of me. The diamond ring found its way onto my finger and congratulations rang out. Dec tucked me into his side and didn't let go of me the rest of the evening.

Sometime later when he and Harley got into a heated discussion about boat engines and Liz and Char were planning a girls' day for us at the local spa and Mom and Daniel were snuggling on the couch, I let the happiness of my life settle over me like a warm blanket after a long winter. I'd finally found my home. My place in the world that was all mine.

Looking over at the urn on the mantel I shot Aunt Maeve a returning wink.