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For Erin, the next few days passed in a flurry of excitement. The trial was over. Steve was a free man. That was cause for celebration. The past with all its uncertainties could be laid to rest. The joy of that knowledge was lessened by the realization that she faced an equally uncertain future, but not before she tied up the last loose end of that painful past. There were old friendships to renew, prior commitments to honor, and last good-byes to be said before she began to contemplate the complexities of what lay ahead.
Erin agreed to grant Marc a last interview. She didn't anticipate the prospect with any degree of pleasure. It proved to be brief and relatively painless. She was glad when it was over.
Three days after the trial, Birdie and Marc flew back to the East Coast. Erin lunched with them before they boarded a jet for New York. Over a wilted salad in the air terminal restaurant, she told them, "I'm going to miss you both so much."
Birdie stuffed the last crust of a mammoth hamburger into her mouth. "Maybe you won't be shy about coming to New York for a visit."
"And you must come back to see me," Erin pointed a finger in their direction, "both of you, often."
Marc looked up from his steak. "And you won't forget to watch America Now Sunday evening?"
"How could I forget?" Erin asked. "It's not often I get to see myself on national TV."
Birdie wiped her mouth with a paper napkin. "What happens to you now, Erin? Do you plan to stay in Summerville?"
All the doubts and misgivings Erin had pushed to the back of her mind for the past four months surged forth. She only knew one thing for certain. "I'll never leave Jenny again."
Birdie dusted crumbs from her skirt and reached for her handbag. "That means you're going to stay married to that louse Harrow."
Marc laughed as he rose from his chair. "Don't be so subtle, Birdie. Feel free to express your innermost feelings."
Erin walked to the entrance gate with her friends. She leaned against the rail and watched as their plane rose, soared, and slowly faded out of sight. She walked back to her car, contemplating Birdie's words as she went.
Steve and Sarah were moving to California. "Sarah has been offered a position with a very prestigious law firm in Los Angeles," Steve told Erin, looking with pride at his lovely young daughter.
Erin smiled. "I'm sure you will both be very happy there."
"It doesn't matter where we are," Sarah reached for her father's hand, "so long as we're together."
They left by automobile the next day. Another bittersweet departure, another chapter closed. Erin was growing weary of good-byes. She still had one more to say, and it would be the most difficult of all.
Charles and Mary were retiring. They decided to move to Cedar Gap to be near Mary's mother. It was just as well, Erin could no longer afford to offer them a home or a salary. They were waiting on the front porch beside a stack of boxes the bright sunny morning she pulled into the driveway of the house on Hackberry Avenue.
The old Victorian mansion looked sad and deserted, like an abandoned child. Erin got out of her car and called to them. "Isn't it a lovely day?" She had known these two people so well for so long. Now all she could talk about with them was the weather.
Charles grunted his reply. He lifted a box under each arm, and came down the front steps. As Erin came toward him, he stopped and rested a box on the pickup tailgate. He looked tense and uncomfortable. "I gave our key to the realtor, just as you asked me to do."
Erin murmured a stiff, "Thank you."
Charles slammed his fist down on the box in front of him. "Hell's bells, Erin, are you sure you want to sell this place?"
She didn't, but she had no choice. She could no longer afford the cost of maintenance and taxes. "It's for the best."
Mary came down the steps carrying a box in her arms. "Charlie's upset. Don't fret. He'll get over it in time."
Would he? Erin was not sure she ever would. She sat on the edge of the front porch and watched in silence as the couple loaded boxes into the back of their pickup.
"You will come to visit often?" Mary put a last box inside the cab and shut the door, before she burst into tears. "I'm going to miss you."
Erin pushed herself to her feet and rushed to Mary's side. "I'll miss you too."
Charles's voice was gruff. "You won't be a hundred miles away." Then he said to Erin. "If you need me, you know where I am." He got into the pickup and called to Mary. "Come on, Mamma's expecting us for lunch." His gruff tone didn't hide the break in his voice.
Mary gave Erin one last hug, scooted the box over and got into the pickup. "Good-bye. Good-bye." She was still hanging out the window and waving when the vehicle shot around a bend in the road and disappeared from sight.
Erin sat on the porch for a long time after the pickup vanished from view. Would Charles ever forgive her for committing what he considered an act of sheer folly? She doubted that he would. Mary seemed to understand. Maybe only another woman could comprehend such a choice. Erin got into her car. She would come back later and pick up the few items she had stored inside the house. A wave of sadness swept over her. She'd had such high hopes when she moved here. This was going to be the place for repairing old dreams and building new ones. "It's just a house," she told herself as she studied the realtor's for sale sign in the front yard. "You will get over losing it." She knew she never would.
Erin was thankful for the many chores that occupied her time and her thoughts over the next few days. They kept her mind off of an uncertain future.
Jenny and Mavis insisted on shopping for a Christmas tree. Erin spent the better part of Saturday afternoon driving them from lot to lot until they found what Jenny declared to be, "The perfect one."
*****
Late Sunday afternoon Gabe set up the tree in the living room, hauled boxes of decorations down from the attic and put them in the middle of the floor. "Okay girls, see what you can do." He dropped into a chair and watched Erin from the corner of his eye. She sat on the window seat, silent and pensive. Shadows fell across her lovely face as light from the window highlighted the burnished bronze of her hair. Would she ever forgive him for his cruel arrogance? Perhaps a more accurate question was: could she forgive him?
Mavis and Jenny knelt on the floor, pulling boxes of decorations from cardboard cartons. Leaning back on her heels, Jenny called to Erin, "Mommy, come and help."
Erin moved toward the kitchen. "Later sweetie, now I have to make dinner."
Gabe followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the cabinet. "I'll help. Tell me what to do."
"We're having soup and sandwiches. You can set the table while I heat the soup."
Gabe methodically set four plates around the table before sitting in a chair and nodding toward the empty seat across from him. "Sit down."
Erin turned the burner to simmer before coming across the room and sitting down. She watched him with a guarded expression kindling in the emerald of her eyes. Did she think he would hurt her again? He wouldn't, not ever. "I talked to Todd Macon today."
Erin ran her fingers around the rim of the plate in front of her. "Summerville's resident shyster—What possible business could you have with him?"
"Cora hired him as her attorney. Todd says she wants her daughter back."
"Isn't Cora being charged with several crimes?"
Gabe shook his head. "Not according to Macon. He used a lot of legal jargon and lawyer-ease and talked about statutes of limitations and intent. What it boils down to is Cora, with Macon's help, has succeeded in convincing the court that she's more a victim than a criminal. She's been charged with some minor crimes. She's on probation." The bitterness Gabe had sworn not to give vent to, surfaced suddenly. "For whatever reasons, Cora is walking away a free woman. The court has revoked my rights of guardianship. She also gets her daughter back."
Erin gasped in disbelief, "Just like that?"
"Not quite." Gabe replied. "There are several stipulations. Social Services will make weekly visits for some time. Mavis must continue her therapy and Cora must seek counseling." That seemed a small price to pay for the havoc Cora wrought in so many lives.
"Mavis will be happy. Despite everything that's happened, she misses her mother." Erin pushed back her chair. "Dinner is ready, call Mavis and Jenny." She went to the refrigerator, removed a tray of sandwiches and brought them to the table.
Gabe stood. "Cora has a court order. She's coming tomorrow afternoon for Mavis."
"So soon? Jenny will be upset." Erin ladled soup into bowls. "We should tell them tonight."
"Let's wait until tomorrow morning." Gabe was almost to the door. He turned. "Tonight the America Now program airs. That will be about all they can handle for one evening."
Erin nodded her agreement.
Dinner was a pleasant meal with Jenny and Mavis both chattering on and on about the now-decorated tree and Erin's scheduled TV appearance. Jenny asked, "Mommy, when Marc interviewed you, were you nervous?"
Erin smiled. "Not this time. The first time I was a basket case."
Jenny pushed her empty bowl aside. "I remember the first time I saw you on television. That's when I knew I had to see you in person and talk to you."
Mavis drank the last of her milk. "I want to see Erin on TV too."
Jenny scrambled from her chair. "Let's go."
"Put your dishes in the sink first." Gabe extended his hand over the table and waved. "We can all help clean the kitchen."
Everyone pitched in and fifteen minutes later the four of them had dispensed with kitchen chores and were seated around the television waiting for America Now to begin.
As Marc Renfro's handsome image appeared on the screen, Jenny told Mavis. "I have an autographed picture of that man. Would you like to see it?"
Mavis seemed impressed. "Yes. Where did you get it?"
Jenny leaned forward, her eyes glued to the screen. "I'll tell you all about it after we see Mommy on TV."
Marc's sonorous voice spilled out into the room, "Ladies and gentlemen..." Gabe tuned him out. He wasn't interested in hearing a rehash of Steve's trial nor did he care to listen to a review of the events that had come in its aftermath. His concern was for the future, yet his mind insisted on straying back to the past. He had made so many foolish mistakes. One by one they paraded through his head. How long he sat, lost in his own morose thoughts, he didn't know. Jenny's voice calling "Daddy," pulled him from his black study. "Mommy's interview is over. Can we be excused now? I want to show Mavis Marc Renfro's picture."
Gabe rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Ask your mother."
"Daddy, we did." Jenny scrambled to her feet. "She said to ask you."
Gabe dropped his hand. "You're excused."
As the door closed behind the two retreating figures, Erin asked, "What did you think of my interview?"
Gabe didn't want to admit he hadn't heard a word that was spoken. "Maybe now we can put this all behind us."
"We can try." Erin eyed him suspiciously. "You weren't listening, were you?"
"I'm recording the program. I'll watch it later."
Erin reached for the remote control. "Had you rather see something else?"
"No!" Gabe half rose before sitting back down "I did an interview with Marc before he left. I'd like you to see it."
The control fell from Erin's limp fingers. "Why didn't you mention it before now? I'll call Jenny and Mavis."
Gabe's jaw tightened. "I said I'd like you to see it."
"But they'll want to watch too," Erin protested.
"They can do so later."
Gabe's face flashed on the TV screen and Marc began his introduction, "Ladies and gentlemen..."
Gabe patted the couch cushion beside him. "Come and sit beside me."
Erin obeyed. "I can't believe you granted an interview to Marc Renfro."
Marc introduced Gabe as "a man I have come to admire and respect."
Erin shook her head. "If my eyes aren't playing tricks on me, my ears are."
The two men sat in wing-backed chairs facing each other. A bookcase behind Marc and a desk to the right of Gabe gave the recording studio the appearance of an office. Marc, as always, was self-assured and in command of the situation. Gabe seemed relaxed and at ease. They could have been two old friends about to begin a pleasant conversation.
After Marc's introduction and Gabe's acknowledgement, Marc addressed his unseen audience: "Gabriel Harrow is, as most of you know, the husband of Erin Bennett who was cleared of..."
Gabe interrupted him. "The lady's name is Erin Harrow. She's been my wife for over six months."
Marc raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Indeed she has, and for the second time. You and Mrs. Bennett, excuse me, Mrs. Harrow were divorced eight years ago, just after Steve Palmer's first trial."
Gabe answered, quite calmly, "That's true."
With complete aplomb, Marc asked, "Did the outcome of Steve's second trial have any bearing on the two of you deciding to marry again?"
"No. Erin and I were married before Palmer's second trial began."
Marc rubbed his chin and frowned. He appeared to be in deep thought. "But the trial has affected your life?"
Gabe nodded. "Oh, yes, in many ways. But the trial and its outcome had nothing to do with my decision to ask Erin to be my wife again."
Marc probed deeper. "Why did you ask your ex-wife to marry you again?"
"I asked Erin to marry me because I love her. I always have, I always will." The picture telescoped from view and a commercial appeared to take its place. Erin aimed the remote at the TV and pushed the power button. Shifting her gaze she stared into her husband's eyes. "Gabe?"
All the love in his heart was reflected in the caressing warmth of his tender glance. "Yes, my darling?"
Tears filled Erin's eyes. "You told everybody in America you love me."
Words Gabe had never before been able to say, found their way from his heart to his lips. "I do, with every beat of my heart."
Much to his surprise, Erin whispered, "Don't lie to me."
"I've never lied to you." Gabe realized as he spoke that although he had never told Erin what he considered to be a deliberate falsehood, he was the worst kind of liar. "Only to myself," he concluded with a sad shake of his head.
Caution framed Erin's question. "How can I be sure you're not lying to yourself now?"
"You can't, unless you can trust me." An elusive tear spilled from Gabe's eye and rolled down his cheek. "Believe me when I say, I love you, more than yesterday, less than tomorrow. I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving how great that love is."
Erin smiled through her tears. "Why didn't you say so long ago?"
"I've wanted to, for such a long time. I didn't think I had the right."
"I'm your wife, Gabe, you had every right."
Self-loathing choked in Gabe's throat. "I didn't think so, not until something Marc Renfro told me gave me the courage to speak."
Erin frowned. "I've never told Marc anything about you and me."
"I know that." Gabe wiped at a tear with the back of his hand. "Why didn't you tell me about the provision in Sheldon Bennett's will?"
"You wouldn't have married me if you'd known."
"And you wanted to marry me?"
Erin nodded.
Gabe asked on a spent breath, "Why?"
Erin stared down at her hands resting in her lap. "For Jenny's sake."
"Is that the only reason?"
"No." Erin shook her shining head. "I was never sure until now, but I married you because I love you."
Gabe had waited so long to hear those words. They sang now like a serenade through his aching heart. Tenderly, carefully, he took Erin into his arms. "I don't know how you can, but I'm so thankful you do." He kissed her trembling mouth, parting her lips with his tongue as slowly the kiss deepened and became more intense. He brought his passion under control, lifted his head, and sighed. "I need to apologize for so many things, beginning with the way I've behaved over the past few months."
Erin laid her head on his shoulder. "It doesn't matter now."
Gabe smoothed Erin's hair back from her face. "It matters to me. I want everything to be right between us. That means, as painful as it is for me, I must try to explain."
Erin caught his hand in hers and kissed his fingertips. "I'm listening."
This was his moment, his one chance, his God-given opportunity. Drawing a deep breath, Gabe voiced his greatest fear, the fear he was only now finding the courage to admit to himself. "From the very beginning, I was afraid you would leave me again."
Understanding lit the green of Erin's eyes. "Just as Serena left you and your father?
A familiar pain settled in the pit of Gabe's stomach. "I realize now she didn't leave. Dad drove her away with his doubts and his jealousy."
"Whatever the reason, you felt she'd abandoned you."
That fear of rejection and abandonment had pursued Gabe through his childhood and dogged his footsteps through most of his adult life. "Beautiful women aren't to be trusted." He could have been a small child, voicing some infantile belief. "They always go away."
Once more, he was baring his soul, begging Erin to see that it had been fear, not lack of caring that had made him so tenderly ruthless over the past few months.
"Were you punishing me because you were afraid I'd leave you again?"
"I know it doesn't make a lot of sense..."
Erin laid her finger across his lips, stopping his flow of words. "It makes perfect sense. I didn't behave any better. I wanted to punish you too."
"I deserved to be punished. You didn't."
"We could hash over the past forever and it wouldn't change a thing. Let it go, Gabe. We have a future to plan for and look forward to." She ran the back of her hand along his cheek. "I love you."
Gabe's heart soared like a bird set free from a cage. Erin understood his foolish fears and his weaknesses, and she still loved him! He pulled her back into his arms. "I'll make it up to you. I swear I will."
She dipped her chin and looked up from under her long, luxuriant lashes. "You will, how?"
"By loving and cherishing you," Gabe pulled her to her feet as he stood, "for the rest of my life." He lifted her into his arms.
Erin looped her arms around his neck and smiled up at him as she echoed, "For the rest of your life?"
Gabe took long strides down the hall. "Maybe even longer." He pushed open the bedroom door.
Erin began to laugh. She was still laughing when Gabe carried her into the bedroom and set her on her feet. "Longer than a lifetime, how long is that?"
Gabe kicked the door shut as he stopped her laughter with a sweet, tender kiss. Lifting his face, he asked, "How long is forever?"
Erin's delicate features radiated with delight and adoration. "Not long enough to love you. Love me now, Gabe, this moment, this second; show me what a forever love is like."
Gabe's heart raced with joy. His pulse pounded with desire. With hands that trembled, he undressed the beautiful creature that stood before him. What began as a gentle disrobing soon escalated into a frenzy of haste to bare and expose. "You are so beautiful. It takes my breath away."
They came together in a wild explosion of need and passion. It was a passion rooted in love and flowering with promise. For all its intensity, it was underscored with a delicately exquisite tenderness. The world around him burst into a panorama of exploding ecstasy.
Afterwards, sated, complete, they lay in each other's arms for a long time before Gabe spoke. "If I could live forever, I could never be happier than I am at this moment."
"Even if we can't have forever, the now we have is enough." Erin kissed him tenderly. "I love you."
"And I love you, this now and forever."
