TWO MONTHS LATER, Connie and her accomplice were arrested.
They were fortunate to escape gaol sentences; but only because Steve had found out their intentions in time to stop any actual funds from being tampered with. As it was, the accountant lost his job and his credibility, and each of them received a crippling fine.
By the following summer, Steve’s divorce had come through.
Two weeks later, he and Ruth were married, with Casey as pageboy and Granddad Bob as best man. Proud and upright, he carried out his duties like a true soldier.
Both Marilyn and Dolly were maids of honour.
‘I feel like a princess in my pink dress,’ Dolly said.
Marilyn told her not to be so vain. ‘We’re just two old birds dressed up like candy floss … but don’t tell Ruth I said that.’ Although, just like Dolly, she was thrilled to be maid of honour.
Eight months after the wedding, Steve and Ruth became the proud parents of a daughter, whom they named Mary.
‘We don’t waste much time waiting for paper approval, do we, eh?’ Steve laughed.
‘It must be that beach,’ Ruth said. ‘It’s magic.’
‘Well, whatever it is, it’ll do for me.’ Steve was now a happy man. He had the family he’d always wished for. But he was even happier when little Mary was followed by a son, who was named after Steve’s late father, Edward.
Steve had been thrilled and amazed when Ruth had introduced him to Casey, his son – the child genius he had heard so memorably playing in Blackburn market. It was now evident that Casey had inherited his astonishing talent from his natural father and the two of them grew ever closer. The boy Casey never forgot Tom, the man who raised him. That wonderful man, who had nurtured Casey’s gift of music and who had taught him how to respect and appreciate the good and worthwhile things in life.
In the following year, Steve recruited the best music tutor in the North-West to hone Casey’s natural talents.
Granddad Bob went along to the lessons ‘to keep the lad on his toes’, as he informed anyone who would listen.
For Steve, the road had been long and arduous in pursuit of his dream, but now, three years on, the studio project was a reality, and the opening celebrations were planned with great enthusiasm.
Casey was the star turn on the official opening night, and he gave the solo performance of his life. Hundreds of people got to their feet and cheered, clapped and called for more.
Proud and tearful, Ruth uttered a little word for Tom. ‘He’s playing for you,’ she said tearfully. ‘Whenever he plays, or sings, he’ll be doing it for you. I’m sorry for what I did.’ Hurting that good man was the biggest regret of her life. ‘Rest easy, Tom, and forgive me … if you can.’
Later, when the excitement had died down, Steve took Casey aside and told him that his future as a recording artist was assured.
‘I wish my dad could have been here,’ Casey said tearfully. ‘He would have been so proud.’
‘Oh, but he’s watching you from somewhere up there,’ Steve put an arm about his son. ‘He’s proud of you. We’re all proud of you.’
Long ago, when Steve had first re-entered her life, Ruth had asked him, ‘How do you feel about Casey not wanting to call you Dad?’ Casey had expressed his feelings on that.
‘I’m not hurt, if that’s what you mean.’ Steve had thought long and hard about it. ‘Casey and I have talked it through, and I’m happy to go along with his wishes. The way I see it is this: there is no way we can take away what he had with Tom. I am his biological father, but Tom was the man who raised him; who shaped his good values, and taught him everything he knows. I’m proud of Casey, my first-born son, and he knows I’m here if ever he needs me.’
Now, grabbing hold of her, and full of excitement over the success of the opening, he kissed her long and hard. ‘The thing is, my beautiful woman, I am a very lucky man. I have a daughter, two sons, and my heart is at peace. I’m proud of Casey, and I’m proud of my whole wonderful family. A family man – that’s what I am now. Whatever happens with the studio, I’ll have what I’ve always wanted right here.’
The following year, they threw a big family party to celebrate Casey’s rising star in the world of music. They held the event in their new home at Lytham St Annes, where from their bedroom window they could follow the curve of the beach that stretched to neighbouring Blackpool.
After the party, when little ones were sleeping and the family were chatting with friends in the garden, Steve and Ruth strolled along the beach, hand in hand.
‘It’s been a long and winding journey, hasn’t it?’ Ruth asked.
‘You could say that, but we found our pot of gold at the end of it, didn’t we?’
‘We did, my darling, we did.’
When Steve ran on, teasing and urging her to catch him, Ruth looked up at the night skies, and for a moment she felt the strength of Tom’s presence. Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
‘Good night, Tom,’ she whispered, ‘and thank you.’ She hoped he would understand.
So in love, and with so much still to look forward to, Ruth and Steve lay down, right there on the beach, with the stars twinkling overhead. Two lovers, snuggled together on this magnificent, lonely beach.
Just a heartbeat away from where the story first began.