AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Then I won.”
With those words, the pieces of herself she’d spent so much time barely holding together finally bound tight. Whatever he might think, clear to her bones she held the knowledge that she had won.
EPILOGUE
The KDVX live news van was parked in the dirt lot at the Miracle Mike Festival. A crowd had gathered to watch the interview as it broadcast on the five-thirty news. The rooster actually spoke this time. William grinned from his perch on the van’s step. Lucy had insisted on taking the headless chicken interview. Turned out she had a bit of a competitive streak and wanted to prove the rooster would talk to her. He hadn’t believed it could be done. She was proving him wrong.
With the sun tucked behind a large cloud, the dry heat of summer in Confluence took a break. It didn’t matter, though. Lucy was oblivious to the world around her when on the job. In the summer heat or a winter blizzard, she didn’t care once the camera rolled. His wife was funny like that.
Yeah, he had married her. It’d been almost a year now with no signs of the honeymoon being over yet. About two-point-five seconds after she’d accepted his proposal, he dragged her to the courthouse, and in front of God and a judge, they vowed to love each other as long as they lived. That was a lie, though. If any kind of afterlife existed, he’d love her then, too.
She now owned half of everything that was his, including KDVX. Apparently, that made it okay that she worked there sometimes. She didn’t hang out at the station often, but every once in a while she’d tackle a story “to keep her skills sharp.” That wasn’t the whole truth, but he understood she got off on the high of being on camera, and he loved that about her.
These days, The Butterfly House Foundation she’d dreamed up took most of her attention. The foundation created anti-bullying agendas for kids through after-school programs. At the moment, the programs were full with a waiting list, and that was unacceptable to Lucy. She worked overtime to figure out how to expand their capacity. That was unacceptable to William because it bit into their time together. He was working on hiring an assistant for her. She hadn’t agreed yet, but she would.
“Guess who got a rooster to talk?” Lucy sauntered toward him, her skirt molded to the curves of her hips.
He stood and dusted the dirt from his jeans. “You certainly have a way with cock.”
She snorted. “C’mon, I’ve been saving my calories all week for a funnel cake. There’s a place that puts whipped cream and those sugar-covered marshmallow chicken things on top.”
“Peeps?” he asked.
Her eyes danced. “I heard they even lop off the heads before they serve them. Isn’t that awesome?”
Yeah, she fit right in here at Confluence.
She grabbed his hand and made her way through the crowd. “If there’s a food truck filled with marshmallow chicken heads, I wonder if they’d let me buy just the heads?”
“Anything you want, Princess.”
“Have you talked to Parker, lately?” she asked.
Parker continued to keep track of William’s investments in Colorado Springs. He’d turned that station around in only a few months. They’d been in the black for months, and everyone had kept their jobs.
“Yesterday.”
“Allie?”
“Same.”
Lucy glanced away. “I’m sorry.”
He threaded her fingers with his and squeezed.
“Holy crap, is that Neilson?” She stopped abruptly. “Neilson!”
Her former bodyguard paused and turned around, the crowd parting to move around him. He nodded at William before his gaze fell on Lucy. “Lucy.”
She scuttled to him and tossed her arms around his shoulders. Neilson glanced uncertainly at William.
He shrugged. “She’s a hugger. What can I say?”
Neilson patted her back awkwardly until she stepped back.
“What’re you doing here?” she asked.
“Festival security,” Neilson replied, deadpan.
