Too Little, Too Late (39 page)

Eve was saved from responding by the sound of her daughter’s voice.

“Grams!” cried Karen, rushing up with Liz to give her grandmother a hug. “What are you guys doing here?”

“What does it look like we’re doing?” asked her grandmother gruffly. “The weeds don’t pull themselves, you know.” She hugged both girls, happier now that they had come.

“We can do that,” Liz offered. “I like working in the garden.”

Karen became transfixed by the headstone. It had two pictures on it; one being a duplicate of the angelic cherub from Kate’s necklace and the other was a picture Liz had taken of her mother not long after Maria had been released into her care. In between the two pictures was the poem Liz had written:

Maria’s mind meandered freely

searching for that special place,

neither happy nor unhappy;

The awkward stares and merciless taunts

were deflected by a cocoon of oblivion.

There was sweet solace in oblivion

where her mind and spirit were free.

Therein lay the feeble pulse

that was the enigma of Maria’s existence

until her mind meandered freely

once again to that special place,

Neither happy nor unhappy...

In that split second, Karen became overwhelmed by a profound sense of remorse – and of loss. Tears trickled down her cheeks as she sank to her knees, her head bowed.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered through her tears.

Liz knelt down beside her. “We all are.”

There was a bittersweet smile on Kate’s face as she watched her two grandchildren. “At least one very good thing has come out of all this.”

Eve followed her mother’s gaze. She couldn’t have agreed more.

***

It was an intimate gathering, just a hundred or so of their closest family and friends. Eve sat in the front pew, beaming proudly as Kate came down the aisle, glowing as a bride should on her wedding day. She was preceded by Karen, her maid of honor and her bridesmaid, Liz. Paul was beaming from ear to ear. Otis, serving as his best man, looked more nervous than he did.

When the minister asked if Kate took Paul to be her lawfully wedded husband, the hush was tangible until a baby let out a lusty wail, drowning out Kate’s response. The entire congregation chuckled indulgently. The ceremony was able to resume once Eric had retrieved a bottle of formula from the diaper bag so Brooke could feed their hungry son.

Kate spent their honeymoon moving into the Swanson Estate, Paul’s wedding gift to her. As Kate walked through her new home, she felt complete. With her new husband and the nightmare of the past months behind her, her life had almost come full circle. But as Paul was about to find out, she still had one more surprise up her sleeve. She just hoped her new husband was up for the challenge.