Epilogue

Six Weeks Later

Labor Day ushered in the end of summer, or, as Nikki put it, “I just knew when the pool would be finished, it would be by Labor Day. We can’t even take a dip, the water’s too cold, so the pool people installed a cover, and now we have to wait till next summer. The good news is that Jack and I are no longer living in a world of mud. I have grass!” She announced this like she’d just been handed the Holy Grail.

The gang, or as Charles referred to them, all his chicks, were on the terrace waiting for the holiday barbecue to get under way. Conversation was about everything and anything, none of it important in the scheme of things. Everyone was just glad to see one another and to unwind.

The gang had gone their separate ways after dumping Lincoln Moss in Nikki’s unfinished swimming pool. Kathryn had signed herself into the hospital and had the titanium bar removed from her leg. She’d been right all along, to the chagrin of the surgeons. She was allergic to the bar. She’d spent the entire six weeks, as she put it, working her tail off in therapy, and she was now good to go with nothing more than a slight limp. The good news was she was pain-free. And just as good was that Bert had finally managed to take some time off from Annie’s Las Vegas casino and was at Pinewood for the Labor Day holiday.

Isabelle had hunkered down with Abner and was still learning the tricks of his trade. Abner said she was a natural and was already almost as good as he was at the hacking game. They’d weathered their personal marital storm and were closer than ever.

Because of changes at the monastery that the monks wanted the parents to approve, two days after they walked away from Nikki’s pool, Yoko and Harry had gone to China for a rare visit. After their initial visit with Lily, which lasted only six hours, the two of them had toured China. They had just returned home ten days ago, sad yet happy.

Alexis and Espinosa had driven out West and gotten engaged all over again, but they were still shy about setting a wedding date. They were home now and raring to go, as Espinosa put it.

Nikki and Jack had taken care of business at her firm and spent long weekends touring the various countrysides, followed by a trip to the Big Apple just for fun. A totally uneventful six weeks, according to both of them.