The next week, Chelsea and Bailey flew into Denver to meet with Tara and follow through with the sale of the house. They’d reached an agreement to sell her most of the furniture, too, with arrangements made as to when Bailey would return to box up what she needed and drive it to Bloomington.
On the return flight to Indiana, Bailey laid her head back.
“You okay?” Chelsea asked.
“A little tired.”
“This is what you wanted, right? Selling the house?” Chelsea’s voice was tentative.
Bailey noticed the lines of worry on Chelsea’s brow. “Remember what Eleanor said? Wherever Daphne was is home? That’s how I feel about you.”
Chelsea’s expression softened. “It’s so good to hear you say that.”
“You’d better get used to it, Chels, because I plan to be with you for the rest of our lives.”
* * *
The following Wednesday, Bailey looked over her final notes, made a few small changes, and sent the file on to Joanne. She stared at the computer screen after she sent the e-mail, lost in thought. She picked up her cell phone. She intended to call Eleanor to inform her she’d finished her work and to ask when Chelsea and she could come for a visit. Just as she flipped the phone open, it rang. The caller ID showed Eleanor’s number.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Hampton?”
Bailey recognized Niles’s voice immediately.
“Yes.”
“This is Niles. I found your number in Ms. Burnett’s papers. I’m sorry I’m not telling you this in person.” There was a slight pause. Bailey pictured the stately gentleman trying to compose himself. “Ms. Burnett passed away in her sleep Monday night.”
Bailey, struggling to speak calmly, said, “I’m so sorry, Niles.”
“As you know, Ms. Burnett requested she be cremated, which will take place later this week. There will not be a service.”
“No, I didn’t think so.” Bailey blinked back tears.
“Within Ms. Burnett’s paperwork was an envelope addressed to you and to Doctor Parker.”
“An envelope?”
“Would you like me to mail this to you, or do you wish to pick it up?”
“I can pick it up this afternoon, if it’s okay.”
“That will be fine. I’ll be here, of course, so anytime will do.”
“We’ll be there by three.” Bailey ended the call. She debated about calling Chelsea and telling her the news, but thought better of it. She’d go to her office.
On the drive to campus, Bailey recalled the conversations she had with Eleanor, the ones shared between just the two of them, and she remembered the night she’d played cards with Eleanor over a couple of beers.
She was going to miss the fiery Brit.
* * *
Chelsea finished typing her last thoughts about Eleanor and Daphne. She read over what she’d written. She never thought she’d take to the old woman as much as she did. Movement in her periphery drew her attention to the doorway.
“Bailey, what are you doing here? Not that I’m not glad to see you, but you said you had to work on your notes this morning.” Something was wrong. Bailey was never good at masking her feelings, and something was definitely wrong. “What is it?”
“It’s Eleanor.”
“No.” Chelsea felt like a little kid, wanting to cover her ears to avoid hearing bad news.
“I’m sorry, Chels. She passed away Monday night in her sleep. I got off the phone with Niles about thirty minutes ago. I came right here to tell you.”
Chelsea buried her face in her hands. “No, no, no.”
Bailey’s arms slipped around her shoulders. She let Chelsea cry for as long as she needed.
Chelsea grabbed a tissue from the box on her desk and blotted the moisture on her eyes and cheeks. “She got to me, you know? She irritated the hell out of me when we first met, but then she got under my skin, and I couldn’t help but love her. And then she goes off and leaves us. Damn it.”
“There’s other news. I hope you’re not doing anything this afternoon.”
“I don’t have anything on my schedule. Why?”
“Niles said she left an envelope addressed to us. He said he could mail it, but I told him we’d swing by before three.”
“I wonder what it is.”
“Only one way to find out.”
* * *
Chelsea rang the doorbell. Standing there knowing they’d never see Eleanor again felt odd.
Niles opened the door. Normally impeccable, he appeared disheveled and lost. “Doctor Parker, Ms. Hampton, thank you for stopping in on such short notice.”
Chelsea wanted to hug him but thought better of it.
“Come inside, and I’ll get the envelope.”
They walked into the living room and stood beside the mantel to await his return. Chelsea looked up at the painting of Daphne and Eleanor. She sensed a peaceful outcome with the hope they were now reunited.
Niles returned with the envelope and led them back to the front door. They stepped outside, but before they got too far away, Niles’s voice stopped them.
“She was very fond of both of you. She talked about you often.”
“We were very fond of her, too, Niles,” Chelsea said. “Thank you for all you did for her. I’m sure you’ll miss her.”
He cleared his throat. “Very much.” He straightened and tugged down his vest.
“Please let us know if there’s anything we can do for you,” Bailey said before she got into the Jeep.
He nodded at her from the doorway.
Chelsea listened to the crunch of the gravel under the tires as they took the long drive out to the state road. Perhaps it would be the last time they’d visit here.
Bailey pulled to a stop at the end of the driveway. “Where do you want to go to read the letter?”
“The lake?” Chelsea could think of no better place to be alone with her sorrow while listening to anything Eleanor had written them.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
* * *
Bailey and Chelsea held hands as they walked down the incline to their spot.
“Do you mind sitting in the grass without a blanket?” she asked Chelsea. “I didn’t think about bringing one.”
“Not at all.”
After they got comfortable, Bailey offered the envelope to Chelsea, but Chelsea shook her head. Bailey studied Eleanor’s distinct black script at length before pushing her thumb along the enclosure. She pulled out the thick stationery and smoothed it down.
Dearest Bailey and Chelsea,
If you’re reading this, I am no longer present in this world and am at peace now with my Daphne. I wanted to tell you what I had done for you while I was still alive but thought better of it. I never wanted any discomfort to taint our many visits, for to me, those were precious minutes of my days spent sharing the love of my life with two highly receptive friends. Because that is what you came to mean to me. You were much more to me than interviewers, well before we finished our journey. You were a reason for me to go on living, if only to tell Daphne’s story. Our story.
As to what I’ve done for you, I consider myself rather cunning. No, perhaps shrewd is a better word. Yes. Shrewd. Rather than write a will, Daphne set up a revocable living trust with herself as the grantor and naming me as the successor trustee. Hence, all of her property and assets passed on seamlessly to me upon her death. Of course, I would have given everything up in a heartbeat if it had meant the return of Daphne, but sometimes life isn’t fair.
Because I have a revocable living trust, rather than a will, what I set into motion will go much more quickly than waiting for a will to drag its heels through probate court.
So, without further ado, you are the beneficiaries of five million dollars—
Bailey tried to focus on the words that now blurred together. “Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.”
“Oh my God, is that what it says? Let me have that.” Chelsea snatched the letter from Bailey and continued reading.
and our home and property here in Bloomington.
Chelsea raised her head. “Holy shit,” she said, echoing Bailey’s words. “She left us her home, too.”
Bailey was suddenly lightheaded. “Keep reading. I don’t think I can.”
Chelsea went back to the letter:
Now that I have your attention, let me continue. The only thing I request of you is to go to the funeral home and collect my remains, then take our ashes back to my home soil and spread them in Studland Bay. Perhaps this is asking a lot, but something tells me you can now afford a trip to England.
Bailey laughed, hearing Eleanor’s teasing voice.
You needn’t worry about Niles. I’ve bequeathed him the cottage in Banbury, plus a retirement fund that will allow him to live very comfortably. Daphne earned her money through film work and wise investments. The remainder of her fortune, approximately ten million dollars, will be divided between the Gordon Scott Memorial AIDS Foundation and the Daphne DeMonet Hospice for AIDS Patients in Los Angeles.
I am also leaving my precious diaries to you. I realise you probably have what you need for your work, but please keep these books as a remembrance of our time shared together. And as a reminder to never again let anything come between you.
You may think of me as too generous in the money I’ve left you, but there are no children or grandchildren to leave any assets. My brothers died some years ago. Daphne had no living relatives, or at least none with whom she wished to share her wealth.
What do you do with five million dollars and a home and property worth one million dollars? You live, you laugh, you grow old together. You love each other with every fibre of your being.
And on some evenings, when you’re feeling especially nostalgic, you drop an old LP on the turntable, dance to “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” and accept that, like the lyrics say, some things really are meant to be, such as the love you two share.
Godspeed and bon voyage on your life’s journey. —Eleanor.
Chelsea turned to the next page. “There’s an attorney’s business card stapled to a note in Eleanor’s handwriting.”
Doctor Parker, I took the liberty of looking up your address. You and Bailey should receive a letter from my attorney within two weeks to sign the proper paperwork. When you go to his office, he will give you my diaries that I mailed to him.
With shaking hands, Chelsea folded everything and put it back into the envelope.
They sat in stunned silence. For how long, Bailey hadn’t a clue. She finally spoke. “I guess we have a house now. And then, of course, there’s the five million dollars.”
“Holy shit, Bailey,” Chelsea said.
“Yup.”
* * *
They stood in the security line at O’Hare. Chelsea set the oak box containing Eleanor’s remains on the conveyor belt next to the box containing Daphne’s. She tried not to fidget as she had in Indianapolis. She wasn’t doing anything wrong, but with all of the added security precautions, she felt like she was.
She and Bailey had already shown the security personnel the paperwork from the funeral home verifying the contents of the two boxes. After the boxes were X-rayed, there was one last inspection for explosive residue, and it was on to London.
“I don’t know about you,” Bailey said as she picked up Daphne’s box, “but I’m ready to catch some Z’s on that plane.”
“I’m with you on that. We’re all set with a rental car at the airport?”
“Yes, and we’re all set at the Gentry House.”
“Great. Studland Bay here we come.”
* * *
“I think this might be the same room,” Chelsea said with a note of awe in her voice.
Bailey couldn’t suppress a grin. “I wanted to surprise you. When I called, I asked for this room. The manager knew what I wanted after describing it to him.” Bailey noticed the yellow paint, cherrywood furniture, and bay window. “I don’t think they’ve changed it, based on Eleanor’s description from her diary.”
Chelsea fell backwards onto the king-size bed. “I’m exhausted.”
Bailey flopped down next to her. She stared up at the beamed ceiling. “Me, too.”
Chelsea shifted on her side. “How about we tackle what we came for in the morning? Maybe around the same time that Daphne and Eleanor met out at the rocks?”
“Feels right, huh?”
“Yeah, it does.”
The next morning, Chelsea stepped out of the bathroom with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Like Bailey, she’d dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. It had been nippy last night, and they’d anticipated the same temperatures this morning, if not cooler.
“Ready?” Bailey asked.
“I think so.”
They each picked up their boxes and proceeded outside and down the hill to the outcropping of rocks Eleanor had described in her diary.
“I can see why they loved it so much here.” Chelsea gazed at the white cliffs and the sea below them. The sun had risen two hours before, splashing the cliffs in a blaze of orange.
“Me, too. The view is pretty amazing.” Bailey opened her box and took out the plastic bag containing Daphne’s ashes.
Chelsea did the same with Eleanor’s.
“The wind’s blowing behind us, so I think if we toss them up in the air together, they should float out to sea,” Bailey said. “Do you want to say something before we do it?”
Chelsea furrowed her brow, then it smoothed out and she smiled. “How about, here’s to two wonderful women who loved and lost and loved again.”
“Perfect. I think Eleanor would like, here’s to two kick-ass ladies who did it their way.” They opened their bags. With a nod to each other, they tossed the ashes into the air.
They watched the ashes rise on the wind. Bailey stood behind Chelsea, her arms wrapped around her as she rested her chin on Chelsea’s shoulder. At first, it appeared that Daphne’s ashes would go one way and Eleanor’s the other, but as if by magic, the breeze shifted and swirled them together.
Laughter floated down. Bailey heard Eleanor’s distinct laugh and then heard what must have been Daphne’s joining in.
Chelsea stiffened in her arms. “Please tell me you hear that.”
“Oh, yeah, I hear it all right.”
A gust of wind carried the ashes far below until they were no longer visible against the blue of the water. Bailey and Chelsea stood there a long time, each lost in thought, surrounded by the call of the seagulls.
Chelsea sighed. “At last they’re together again.” She turned around and the sunlight sparkled in her green eyes as she looked up at Bailey. “I’m kind of hungry. You ready for breakfast? The hotel restaurant’s open.”
“I don’t know.” Bailey gave her a soft kiss. “What was it Daphne said?”
“We could go to our room and order room service?” Chelsea pressed against Bailey. “Why, Ms. Hampton, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” she asked with a British accent.
“Why yes, Doctor Parker, I am.” Bailey slipped her arm around Chelsea’s waist, and they began their journey back to the hotel. As they reached the crest of the hill, the faintest hint of familiar laughter once again tickled Bailey’s ears. She smiled and pulled Chelsea tighter.
Thank you, Eleanor. Thank you indeed.
THE END