Epilogue
Doctor Dave crossed his legs and closed his notepad. “It’s very brave of you to attempt therapy after what sounds like an incredible ordeal.”
“Gabby’s the brave one.” Fidel wrapped his arm around her shoulder and she felt a full-bodied blush coming on. “I was right out of it, don’t remember a thing. I don’t know how she hauled me out of that house before it collapsed, but I’d have been a goner without her.”
“Yeah, you were pretty loopy.” Turning to Doctor Dave, Gabrielle said, “I’m just glad you believe us. I was so sure you’d think we were crazy.”
“Oh, no. No chance of that. I’ve heard tales of Loindici Manor since med school. I must say, I thought it was an urban myth until now. Monkey butlers—I mean, that’s a little unlikely. What happened to them? Do you know?”
Gabrielle nodded. “We’ve been in touch with animal services.”
“I’ve heard of a great rehabilitation centre for former circus animals and such,” said Doctor Dave. “But it’s in South America.”
“That’s where they’re going!” Fidel said. “Money from the sale of the estate property is footing the bill.”
“Loindici Manor was sold, then, was it?”
“The city bought it,” Gabrielle said. “They’re incorporating it into Loindici ravine. I think they’re putting in a dog park and some other stuff. I don’t know. I’m not sure how much I really want to know.”
“What about you, Fidel? This place was your home for so many years. How do you feel about starting a new life in the real world?”
Fidel shrugged. “I guess I’m just glad I didn’t step off the property and age instantly into a sixty-year-old man.”
Gabrielle elbowed him in the ribs. “Fidel!”
“Oww. Sorry. I meant I’m so glad that I’m starting a new life with this wonderful woman who means the world to me. Better?”
“No, I mean…” She lowered her voice, though there was no way Doctor Dave, who looked about sixty, wouldn’t hear her. “There’s nothing wrong with being in your sixties, or however old you really are.”
“I’m just glad I don’t look it.”
Burying her head in her hands, Gabrielle said, “Oh my goodness, you are such an idiot.”
“What are your plans for the future?” Doctor Dave asked, without missing a beat.
“Actually…” Fidel tightened his grip on Gabrielle’s shoulder. “Gabby and I are planning on getting married.”
Her heart fluttered as she raised her head from her hands and looked into her fiancé’s beaming face. The surgeons had done a damn good job putting him back together.
“Well, that’s exciting.”
“It’s still weird to hear it out loud,” Gabrielle said. “We haven’t told anyone yet. Actually, we’re meeting my dad for lunch to give him the good news.”
“Will this be the first time you’re meeting Gabrielle’s father, Fidel?”
Gabrielle answered for him. “Are you kidding me? Do you know how protective Daddy is? The moment I told him I had this guy living with me, he was over at my place like a shot. He wanted to check out the arrangement.”
Nodding deeply, Doctor Dave asked, “Do you think you’ll ever tell your family what you endured at the hands of Mme de Villeneuve?”
“No.” Gabrielle shook her head resignedly. “Daddy worries enough about me. If I told him, he’d think it was his fault somehow. I couldn’t put him through that.”
“It sounds like he’s an excellent support in your life. Perhaps he could support you through this.”
She looked down at Fidel’s thigh. Placing her hand there, she said, “This man right here is all the support I need.”
“If that were the case, you wouldn’t be sitting in my office right now,” Doctor Dave replied. “You both need support after everything you’ve been through—each other’s support, and outside help as well. So I want to thank you again for taking this first step. And congratulations on your engagement.”
Gabrielle knew she was blushing, but she couldn’t help it. “Well, the last thing we want is to carry all this weird emotional crap into our future.”
“Shall we book another appointment, then?”
“Yes,” Fidel said, decidedly. “Let’s do that right now.”
Doctor Dave grabbed a slim laptop from his desk and opened it.
Fidel pointed at it. “Hey, I’ve seen that apple before—Macintosh Computers, right?”
Gabrielle smiled. “Something like that.”
“I bought stocks in that company back before I went into Mme de Villeneuve’s care. I wonder if they’re worth anything these days. Guess I’ll find out when I start training to go back to work.”
Doctor Dave’s face fell, and Gabrielle knew exactly what he meant when he said, “I’m not sure you’ll need to. You still have possession of those stocks?”
“I still have my whole portfolio, but I doubt it’ll be worth anything now. Why, you think I should look into that?”
Doctor Dave’s salt-and-pepper eyebrows seemed like they were about to shoot off his forehead. “I would if I were you.”
Gabrielle’s heart trilled as they left the office. Her boyfriend was a secret billionaire—so secret even he didn’t know about it!
In the elevator, she jumped into his arms, losing herself in a kiss that gleamed with hope and excitement. They were set for life! No more apartment with hospital green walls. They could live anywhere. They could buy her dad a farm. He’d always wanted to live on a farm. They could do anything. Anything!
When the elevator dinged, Gabrielle slid reluctantly back to earth.
“What was that about?” Fidel asked, wiping lipstick from his beaming grin.
“I’ll tell you after lunch.”
The moment they stepped out of the elevator, she felt the early afternoon sun shining through the big glass atrium windows. She felt so revived she didn’t even have words to describe it.
“You look happy,” Fidel said.
“I am happy.”
“Me too.” Fidel took her hand and she gave her weight to him as she hobbled on the foot that had never quite recovered from having a Victorian writing desk land on it.
Her father was already seated at a patio table when they arrived at the restaurant. He stood to pull out Gabrielle’s chair, and she shared a secret grin with Fidel as she sat. She’d always be Daddy’s Little Girl. Lucky for her, Fidel thought it was cute.
“Good to see you, Daddy. You look well.”
“You look tired. Have you not been sleeping? Has this boy been keeping you up?”
“What? No! Daddy…” She covered the blush in her cheeks. “I’m not even tired at all.”
Leaning back in his chair, her father laughed, then smacked Fidel’s shoulder. “I’m just teasing. But you do look different. You’re not pregnant, are you?”
“Daddy! No!”
He laughed even harder.
“You’re mean.”
Fidel cut in. “Actually, we do have some big news. Gabby? Do you want to…?”
“No, you tell him.”
Her father looked alarmed. “Tell me what?”
Without taking his eyes off Gabrielle, Fidel said, “We’ve decided to get married.”
Her father’s expression hardened. “You’re engaged? And you didn’t come to me first?”
“Daddy!”
“You didn’t ask for my daughter’s hand?”
“Daddy! Nobody does that anymore.”
Just when Fidel’s face fell in fear, her father burst out with more laughter. “I’m just pulling your leg, son. Get over here and give your new dad a hug!”
Pulling Fidel into a sideways bear hug, her father growled. In case that wasn’t enough, he cupped one of Fidel’s cheeks with a strong hand and planted a hard kiss on the one Madame had sliced open with that fearsome leather paddle.
“Daddy, don’t break him!”
“It’s okay,” Fidel said, surrendering to her father’s manly show of affection. “At least he’s not mad.”
“Mad? No! I couldn’t be happier. I never thought…” Suddenly, her father seemed choked up. “Gabby, honey, if your mother could see you now…”
“Don’t.” Gabrielle looked down at her menu, though she couldn’t see a thing through the tears clinging to her eyes. “What do you feel like? I think I’m in the mood for fajitas.”
“Gabby…” Fidel reached across the table and cupped his hand over hers. “It was so many years ago. You must know by now that it wasn’t your fault.”
“What wasn’t her fault?” her father asked.
“She blames herself…”
“No!”
“…for her mother’s death.”
“Fidel!”
“What?” Daddy asked. “Gabbykins, why on earth would you think a thing like that?”
She glared at Fidel. “I don’t know why. I just do.”
He looked down at his menu, pinching his lips shut.
“If it was anyone’s fault…”
“Daddy, it wasn’t yours.”
“But if I’d gone to bed rather than falling asleep on the couch…”
“Daddy…”
The waiter stepped onto the patio and said, in a far too sprightly voice, “Are we ready to order some drinks? It’s half-priced margaritas, G&Ts and wine spritzers.”
“Yes,” Gabrielle pleaded.
The waiter’s pencil hovered over his pad. “Which would you like?”
“All of them.”
“O…kay?”
Fidel ordered for the table, and when the waiter had gone, he said, “Maybe it wasn’t anybody’s fault. Maybe it’s just one of those things. You look for meaning in it, but there is no meaning. It just happened.”
All three sat in silence for what felt like a painfully long time.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Her father reached for a bag that was hanging on the back of his chair. “Remember the last time I was down in the states?”
“Vaguely.” Gabrielle shared a half-hearted smile with Fidel.
“Well, you asked me to pick up a glass rose from Sharon and I completely forgot about it. It’s been sitting in the bag all this time.” He pushed a smallish box across the table. “Hope you like it.”
She lifted the lid and when the sunlight struck the gorgeous glass petals, its beauty took her breath away. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“Wow, that’s really pretty,” Fidel said. “Who’s Sharon?”
Her father’s cheeks turned instantly beet-like. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”
“Don’t tell me you’re engaged too,” Gabrielle said, slyly.
“No, no, no, no, no.” He couldn’t seem to get the words out fast enough. “Nothing like that. Only, she’s come up for a craft show and she needed a place to stay and we’ve kept in contact anyway, so I thought why not? Right? I’ve got an extra room.”
Fidel looked to Gabrielle like he was trying to figure out how she’d take her father’s obvious crush on this woman. Some daughters might be possessive of their fathers, but not her. She wanted him to be happy.
“Can I meet her?” Gabrielle asked.
“Well… sure.”
“Can I meet her?” Fidel asked, imitating Gabrielle’s voice and pose.
“Dork.” She slapped his cheek.
He winked and said, “You love it.”
“I love you.”
“Hope so,” her father joined in. “I wouldn’t recommend a marriage without it.”
“Without love?” Fidel asked.
When her father nodded, his expression fell slightly, like he was reflecting on the halcyon days of life with Gabrielle’s mother. He was moving on now and that was okay. Gabrielle was also moving on in a lot of ways. She’d fallen in love at long last. She’d been through hell and back. She’d watched her beast turn into a prince. Neither of them had escaped the venture unscathed, but nobody ever does. Life leaves a mark, whether on the flesh or the soul. There’s no way of escaping without a scratch.
Taking her hand across the table, Fidel asked, “What are you thinking?”
The waiter chose that moment to emerge from the restaurant with their drinks as well as the appetizers Fidel had ordered.
“Good timing,” she said as the man in black set a fancy margarita beside her glass rose. He’d barely let go when she snapped up the glass and took a long sweet sip.
When she eased back in her chair, a smile crept across her lips. The waiter asked, “How is it?”
“Perfect.” Gabrielle sighed as she looked around the table. Her two favourite people in one place, getting along like old friends. She was living with a great guy and they were about to start planning a wedding. Even Daddy had someone special in his life. The dark night had passed and the future looked bright. “Everything is just perfect.”
The End