Epilogue:
Richard relaxed happily into the deck chair. His life had taken a turn for the better and he intended to enjoy every moment to the fullest.
Pennilynn in her wisdom had refused his marriage proposal. Realizing that getting married would destroy their relationship, she had become his mistress instead. Richard lavished her with expensive gifts, took her to the finest out-of-the-way restaurants, and trips to exotic locations. The thrill of the forbidden really spiced up their love life.
Then, after enjoying his exotic, erotic adventures, he'd return home to his new wife Amber, the hottest woman Richard had ever known. One of his favorite activities was to take her out in public and bask in the envy of the other men and the jealousy of their wives. Life was good.
He heard a blip from his phone, picked it up, gave it a brief glance, and then put it back down. It was just a text from his broker, nothing important.
Speaking of investments, his decision to loan Dean Forrester the money to start his own construction business had paid off handsomely. Dean Forrester was an honest, hardworking young man who was rapidly expanding his business. Reconciling with that lovely wife of his had been the second best decision of his young life. And to think that he'd thought that boy hadn't been good enough for Rory!
His face hardened at the thought of Rory. That girl had been handed every opportunity to make a success of her life, but had wasted them all. He'd paid for her expensive education, introduced her to the finest young men, and she threw it all away.
He couldn't really blame himself for Rory, as she had been reared by Lorelai. Well, not so much reared as coddled, spoiled and made the center of her mother's universe. The end result was a hothouse flower who couldn't handle criticism and who didn't want to venture more than a few miles from home. The latter being quite a handicap for someone who wanted to be an international reporter.
Lorelai had been no better. Richard didn't believe in the nobility of poverty. Why make your life harder than it has to be? But no, that wasn't what Lorelai had wanted. Lorelai was stubborn as a rock. She worked long hours at a menial job, lived in a shed for years, and called it independence. More like pig-headed stupidity in Richard's opinion.
Really, all he and Emily had wanted was for their daughter to have the best, the best schools, the best men. What was wrong with wanting your child to have a good start in life? Why was wishing your daughter to never want for anything, to associate with the movers and shakers of the world so wrong?
Granted, Emily was a vicious harridan and his mother had been right about her, but that didn't excuse Lorelai's refusal to grow up. He remembered their last conversation. Lorelai had embarked on her usual tedious, juvenile banter when something inside Richard had snapped.
"Oh for crying out loud! You're forty years old. At some point, Lorelai, you have to take stop blaming your parents, take responsibility for your own life and grow the hell up," he'd said angrily. Lorelai had gaped at him like a dead fish.
Lorelai had chosen to move out and refuse all help; Rory had accepted his help but blew her opportunities. As for Emily, forty years spent with that termagant was more than enough. He intended to life the rest of his life to the fullest.
