EPILOGUE:

Over the next few months things slowly began to get back to normal. I got the impression that Cary wasn't completely sure about my flimsy excuse for what had happened to Lara, but he didn't push it. I suppose he figured if I ever wanted to tell him I would. Plus he was busy with work on the new factory which was going full steam ahead. He'd often spend hours down on the building site and come home with details about what was going on. I'd listen with a slight smile- it seemed as though finally things had worked out for us. And as for Lara, well I was beginning to let her out of my sight again, but not for long. Aunt Sara had gotten over her fears that she was the one responsible for Lara's abduction, and May spent quite a lot of her spare time at our place with Lara- that was when she wasn't spending it with Tommy.

There were only some dark days. The first was when I saw Adam in town one day. I gathered Lara tighter to me and turned and walked away in the other direction, my heart hammering in my breast in case he had followed me. But he didn't. Clearly his father had convinced him to leave me alone, which was the only thing I had to be grateful to Mr. Jackson for. The others were when I saw the judge, my grandfather. He was growing ever weaker and we knew that if he survived another year it would be a miracle, but he was not fussed about it. "Most of my friends, and my dear wife, are already up there waiting for me." He told me philosophically. "So to me death is not the end, but the next adventure."

One day I was sitting with Lara and I looked at her carefully- to me her heritage was glaringly obvious, but only Holly and I knew about that for the time being. It hadn't escaped me that I'd have to tell her one day, and by extension also Cary, and I wasn't looking forward to that day, but it was the least I could do for Billy, a nice, unselfish man who had died too young.

For the moment though, I wanted to preserve the calm harmony which had settled over our lives at last. The future would come when it was ready.