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Echo looked at her husband and smiled. She enjoyed the view from the ranch house. It had been over a year since Wiley had been locked in the state hospital and Rand released from jail. The authorities certainly didn’t believe all of Wiley’s crazy rants about the ghosts. From what she’d heard, he was still raving about the women chasing him. Echo wondered if they had followed him to the hospital.
“Hey, you two, come on down and give us a hand,” Alexis hollered up at Echo and Rand. “Are you going to spend all day sitting on the deck?”
“Yes, we are,” Rand hollered back. “This baseball game was your idea, Lex, so I’d say go for it.” Smiling down at Echo, he said, “This was a wonderful idea. The Ann Halstead House.” Tears filled his eyes. “Thank you, Echo.”
“Silly! It’s a joint effort. I knew you didn’t want to live out here. A safe house for women and children was Alexis’ idea.”
“A wonderful one, too.”
“Isn’t Alexis great with children? Now she can use her education as a child psychologist. And I think she’s finally gotten over her divorce. Thriving, actually.”
Rand sat beside his wife. Reaching out, he touched her very pregnant stomach. “I look forward to coming out here now. The smile on those little kids’ faces make me feel warm inside.”
The baby chose that very moment to kick Rand’s hand. “It’s nearly time for a new generation, an age free of abuse and pain,” he said and then touched Echo’s lips tenderly with his own.