“Hearing your story, Mom, I understand what you meant,” Tamara said, “when you gave me the keys to your car on the same day I landed in Lusty.”
“When I heard how Morgan had tackled you to get you away from a possibly burning plane, I could only laugh.” Samantha grinned. “And your fathers? They just smiled their devil smiles and winked at me.” She shook her head. “It was so long ago, and yet, in many ways, it was all just yesterday.”
“So you stayed in Austin, for how long?”
“We lived there until I graduated law school, and passed the bar, about four years, in all. Of course, we alternated between Austin and Lusty—Lusty really was, and always will be, home. When I discovered I was pregnant with Morgan, then I decided I wanted to stay in Lusty most of the time.”
“What happened to that horrible man? Mort Robbins?” asked Penelope.
“He was tried, and convicted, of attempted kidnapping, and attempted extortion, and sentenced to ten years in prison,” Samantha said. “That’s Texas prison, so it wouldn’t have been easy for him. We heard later that about two years after he was released, and returned to New York, he was hit by a car and killed while trying to cross a busy street.”
“Did Judith’s boys ever come to Lusty to visit?” Ginny asked.
“Oh, heavens, yes. They came several times, and although they married separately, they brought their wives, and then their children—at least once a year. And they found good, loving father figures in Martin and Nicholas, and a welcoming second mother in Miranda.
“They’re retired now, the three of them, of course. They don’t travel much anymore, but we keep in touch through e-mail and Skype. It’s been a couple of years since Derek, Keith, and Jamie’s kids have visited, which is a bit of a surprise. They’ve been regular visitors, and consider Preston, Taylor, and Charles to be their uncles, and me, their aunt. Oh, and they had second thoughts, Judith’s sons did. They did change their names, but with Martin and Nick’s permission, they had their names changed, legally, to Kendall.”
“So those are the nomadic Kendalls Kate was talking about,” Chloe said.
“Precisely. And Noah’s sons, too, and some of the others descended from Isaiah Kendall. They’ve visited, though not as often. And Kate and I both keep in touch with some of the other ones, who ended up in other countries. There’re really quite a few of them in Australia.”
“Aren’t some of James, Jacob, and Rosie’s descendants there, too?” Emily Anne asked.
“There are, and some in England as well.”
“Last year, when Grandma Kate said there were more Benedicts, Kendalls, and Jessops outside of Lusty than in it, I didn’t get it,” Carrie said. “But now, I guess I do.”
“I wonder if more of them will find their way to Lusty?” Jillian asked.
“How could they not?” Samantha spread her hands, palms up. “I took a wrong turn, but wound up right where I was meant to. Looking around this room, I see others that can say the exact same thing. Maybe we came through happenstance, and maybe someone invited us. Fate’s like that, and Lusty, to a large degree is like that, too.”
“When you think about it,” Chloe said, “Lusty was created as a sanctuary, a place where people could live and love as their hearts decreed. I think that made it a kind of charmed place. A place that calls needy souls.” Chloe blushed. “That sounded fanciful. But it’s how I feel, because that was what I was, when I came to Lusty. I was a needy soul, and Lusty was where I was meant to be.”
Samantha nodded. “Chloe, I think you’re right. And I think that as long as loving people keep coming, and keep believing, then Lusty will continue to live and grow and thrive.”
And provide a place for people like her and her three beloved husbands to find their very own happy ever after.
THE END
WWW.MORGANASHBURY.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Morgan Ashbury, also writing as Cara Covington, has been a writer since she was first able to pick up a pen. In the beginning it was a hobby, a way to create a world of her own, and who could resist the allure of that? Then as she grew and matured, life got in the way, as life often does. She got married and had three children, and worked in the field of accounting, for that was the practical thing to do and the children did need to be fed. And all the time she was being practical, she would squirrel herself away on quiet Sunday afternoons, and write.
Most children are raised knowing the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule. Morgan’s children also learned the Paper Rule: thou shalt not throw out any paper that has thy mother’s words upon it.
Believing in tradition, Morgan ensured that her children’s children learned this rule, too.
Life threw Morgan a curve when, in 2002, she underwent emergency triple bypass surgery. Second chances are to be cherished, and with the encouragement and support of her husband, Morgan decided to use hers to do what she’d always dreamed of doing—writing full-time.
Morgan has always loved writing romance. It is the one genre that can incorporate every other genre within its pulsating heart. Romance showcases all that humankind can aspire to be. And, she admits, she’s a sucker for a happy ending.
Morgan’s favorite hobbies are reading, cooking, and traveling—though she would rather you didn’t mention that last one to her husband. She has too much fun teasing him about having become a “Traveling Fool” of late.
Morgan lives in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a mysterious cat, a nine-pound Morkie dog who thinks he’s a German shepherd, and her husband of forty-one years, David.
For all titles by Cara Covington, please visit
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For all titles by Cara Covington writing as
Morgan Ashbury, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
Siren Publishing, Inc.
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Their Lusty Little Valentine [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 24