Page 125 of Bad Seed

“Love you forever,” he whispered, then closed his eyes.

Epilogue

Sometimes the ensuing months felt endless. Other times, they slipped past so fast it felt like life was trying to buck Harley and Brendan off the ride.

The grand opening of the renovated Serenity Inn happened just at the height of summer. Brendan was back at work in the hotel kitchen, and Harley was in her office, methodically cleaning Wolfgang Outen’s financial house.

On their first day off, they went up the top of Pope Mountain, to the little Church in the Wildwood, and said “I do” with Brother Farley officiating from a wheelchair. He’d married his last Pope and was retiring and moving away.

A new preacher would come, but they didn’t yet know his name, and it wouldn’t matter. Brother Farley had stood in the shoes of the Wildwood church’s pastor long enough. It was time for someone else to claim them.

And that day, after Brendan and Harley were finally alone, he was finally able to share his last secret with her.

“Mrs. Pope, come sit with me. I have a secret to share that only members of our family can know.”

Harley plopped down on his lap, smiling. “As long as you aren’t going to tell me you shape-shift under the light of a full moon.”

He laughed. “Oh, way better than that. I know when you were auditing Ray Caldwell you saw the payments going to the company who controls Jubilee, right?”

“Yes, and the same now that Wolf has taken over, why?”

“Well, every business in Jubilee has the same agreement, because PCG Inc. owns the land outright, and all of the business owners pay PCG to have shops here.”

“Yes, I know that,” she said.

“Well, what you don’t know is that we are PCG Inc.—Pope, Cauley, Glass—PCG. We own Jubilee together, all of us on Pope Mountain.”

Harley gasped. “What? Wait. How?”

“Cameron is the CEO. He and a lawyer in Frankfort manage the corporation. A couple of generations back, they incorporated when Jubilee began turning into what it is today. It was a way to control our way of life, and with no one knowing, we aren’t constantly invaded with complaints from tourists or shopkeepers. We, as in every voting member of the corporation, get quarterly dividends paid into personal accounts in banks outside of Jubilee. No one outside the families know this. So now you do, and you are part of the secret.”

Harley just kept staring. She heard the words comingout of his mouth, but could hardly grasp the extent of the revelation.

“Good lord, honey! That has to be millions of dollars yearly.”

He nodded. “And you all share in the profits.”

She started to smile. “Amazing. Who knew?”

“Just us, is who.”

“Right, and we’ll keep it that way.” And then she threw her arms around his neck. “We all own a town. A whole freaking tourist industry. This is one of the smartest business moves I’ve ever heard of. My lips are sealed.”

“Not too tight, I hope. I still want my kisses.”

She was laughing as he carried her to bed.

***

Months later, Amalie gave birth to twin boys. They were born on Labor Day, which seemed fitting, because she’d labored long and hard to bring them into the world. Sean held both of his sons in his arms for the first time, looking deep into their faces, seeing pieces of him and pieces of her. But their dark hair, long legs, and long arms were a given.

Aidan Pope and Dillon Pope had entered the world.

The seventh generation of Popes had just been born.

***

The last nail went into Brendan and Harley’s new home almost a year to the day from when they first met.

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