by Harmon, AJ
Tears flowed freely down both Bess’s and Ethan’s cheeks, as they saw the joy lit up in each one of the beautiful faces smiling at them. They were all one family, and the bonds of death could never break that. Bess was part of that family and would treasure them from afar. That is, until the day that she and Ethan would join them.
EPILOGUE
Bess spent many hours in the upstairs bedroom at the end of the hall. It was her second favorite room of the house, the family room being her first. Sitting in front of the fireplace, even when it didn’t have a fire in it, was one of the highlights of every day. After their honeymoon, a week spent in Boston visiting historical sites that held significance to the Wentworth family, Ethan suggested to Bess that they turn the upstairs bedroom into a master suite. It was certainly big enough and there was already plumbing on the second floor, so adding another bathroom wouldn’t be that difficult. She was ecstatic at the idea and a contractor was hired right away.
All of the furniture was moved to the other upstairs bedrooms while the work was being completed and Ethan and Bess stayed out of the way. After all, Andrew was no longer inhabiting the second floor so there was no reason to venture up there before the remodeling was completed.
But once the workmen left, the tools were all gone, the carpet installed and the room ready for furniture, Bess and Ethan, hand in hand, walked up the stairs and down the hall to inspect the finished suite. As they walked past the first bedroom, Bess stopped as she saw the old wooden trunk planted haphazardly just inside the doorway. She remembered Andrew often looking at it with a sadness that she never understood.
“Can you open that?” she asked her husband.
“I’m sure I can,” Ethan said as he bent over to look at the rusty old lock. He ran downstairs and returned a minute or two later with a pair of bolt cutters. “I had no idea that these would come in handy one day,” he chuckled as he broke open the lock. He pulled the rusty bits of metal away and unlatched the lid.
Lifting it slowly, Bess peered inside. It was truly a treasure chest to behold, holding a fortune much more valuable than gold or jewels. Inside was an old, worn hand-made quilt and she wondered if it had covered Lizzie’s bed, or lain on the floor so Andie could sit on it and play. As she gently lifted it from the chest, appreciating the skill of the hands that had made each stitch, laying underneath it was a dozen or so hand-cut pieces of wood, little pictures of ducks and trees painted on each side.
“Andie’s blocks,” she whispered as she carefully and reverently picked one up in her hand. “These are Andie’s blocks. No wonder Andrew cherished this chest.”
Two years later, Elizabeth Andrea James – Lizzie - was born, weighing in at four pounds, four ounces. Her brother, Andrew Ethan James, was born two minutes later, weighing a hefty five pounds, two ounces. Ethan sat next to his wife, holding her hand and kissing her cheek all through the C-section delivery. It couldn’t have gone any smoother and Ethan was already telling Bess how excited he was to have more babies with her. She just laughed, kissed him and told him there would be at least a four-year waiting period if they were going to have twins every time she got pregnant.
Mother and babies went home a few days later to a newly decorated nursery in the room next to the master suite on the second floor of their cottage on the cliff. On one wall a giant pedigree chart had been painted, starting with Captain Andrew Wentworth and Elizabeth Jane Sherton Wentworth at the top, and baby Lizzie’s and baby Andrew’s name at the bottom, the paint still wet. Ethan and Bess’s twins would grow up playing in the house in which baby Andie had been born, and they would play with the same blocks that she had played with as she sat by the fire in the family room. Ethan and Bess had vowed to one another that they would make sure that the twins knew where they had come from and the sacrifices their ancestors had made. They were all one big family, and, families are forever.
THE END
About the Author
Born in Perth, Western Australia to English parents, AJ grew up on the beaches in the summer and studiously studying English, music and languages during the school year. Reading, dancing and cooking filled the rest of her time. Moving to the United States as a teenager opened her up to not only a new culture, but a faster paced life and eventually to her own Prince Charming as well. Instilled with the love of reading by her mother at a young age, AJ grew up believing in the fairytale ending. All her favourite books had one, so why shouldn’t she? Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett, and Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester shaped her belief in the happily-ever-after. Now married for over thirty years to her sweetheart, AJ is still perfecting their own happy ending, and loving every minute of it.
It doesn’t take a village just to raise a child, it also takes a village to publish a book. AJ Harmon was blessed with a village in her very own family. She and her husband have two children that she describes as “every mother’s dream.” Her son and son-in-law are stationed in North Carolina, and her daughter is an attorney in Washington. All are vital members of her ‘village’ and she is thrilled to call them her best friends.
When AJ came home one day from her accounting job and announced to her husband that she was writing a book--after the initial shock wore off--he immediately went to work on preparing marketing plans and strategies. As a small business marketing strategist, he was excited at the prospect of playing in the ‘big league’ with the giants of the publishing industry. Never shying away from a challenge, he was up to the task and took AJ on as his number one client. Turning to her son next, AJ has come to rely on him for most everything else. A computer and technical guru, he has been the one who takes a word document and turns it into a book ready for sale digitally or in paperback, among countless other tasks and projects.
Playing with her dog, Max, trying out new recipes and reading are just some of the things that keep AJ busy when she’s not working, but her career of writing romance novels is a source of delight and constant excitement. A USA Today bestselling author, AJ has published over twenty-five books and always has at least five or six in the “working” phase, with countless more characters in her head wanting their stories told too. Follow her on Amazon to stay up to date on her newest releases and signings.
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