A Lone Wolf’s Serenade – Extended Epilogue

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Johnny squinted into the bright sun, holding up one hand to shade his eyes. 

“Did you just pull that curtain open and blind me?” he asked Pearl, looking around his hand at her.

“It’s time to get up,” she said in an amused voice. “We have things to do today. Lots of exciting things to do.”

Johnny groaned good-naturedly, throwing the covers from his legs and sliding out. “I don’t wanna. You can’t make me.”

Pearl laughed, throwing a shirt toward him. “Here, I mended the button on it. Don’t rip it off again, that’s one of my favorite shirts on you. You look good in it.”

Johnny took the shirt from where it had landed on his shoulder and glared at her, though he wasn’t in the least bit mad. “All right, all right. I know, he’s gonna remember this birthday. You keep telling me that.”

“Well, it’s true,” Pearl replied, moving quickly around the room, gathering what she needed to get ready. “It’s only one time your child turns eight. And he’ll start remembering things now. As he gets older, he will remember his eighth birthday party better than any of the ones before. If he even remembers them.”

Johnny listened to her, getting dressed in the clothes she’d laid out for him. 

“We’re going to the lake?”

“Yes.”

“And we’re going to have a picnic there and ride around in Ben’s boat?”

“Yes.” Pearl was looking at him as if she were about to burst out laughing. He was purposefully using a child’s voice to make her laugh. He liked her laugh. In fact, he loved her laugh. He was grateful he got to hear it so often. 

Two years had passed since she’d come to Rusty Spike to be his wife. He still loved her the same as he had then and expected that love to never end. She treated him with kindness and respect and a great deal of love. She was sweet to his son, the perfect stepmother for the little boy. It helped that she had such younger siblings. 

They had proven to be a wonderful family, as well. Johnny had paid for them to visit nearly a year ago, and it was becoming obvious the family wasn’t going back to Chicago. He didn’t mind. They’d become a part of Rusty Spike just like Pearl. And her little brother Joey got along famously with Billy. They were nearly the same age, with only a few months between them, Billy being older.

He heard a small cry in the room next to theirs and got to his feet quickly. “I’ll take care of her,” he said, hurrying out the door before his wife could see to their baby daughter. 

The child was cooing in the bassinet, her little eyes gazing out the window right next to her. 

“Hello there, little Lana,” Johnny tutted softly, reaching in the bassinet to lift the baby out. The sun was in her eyes, which might have caused the little sound she’d made that got his attention. He held her against him, patting her on the back. She hiccupped, burped, and babbled in his ear. 

Johnny hadn’t felt that much love in his heart since he’d held his son against him in the same way. He thought about how much his life had changed since then. He was grateful God seemed to be looking out for him. He’d sent a wonderful, kind woman to be his wife, who would give him the precious daughter he’d longed for after having his firstborn son. 

Now Johnny felt like his life was complete. What more could he want? He had everything. 

Patting the baby on the back, Johnny moved around the room, gathering the things they would need for the girl at the lake. She would need to be fully clothed so she wouldn’t burn in the hot sun. She would need her snacks, her nappies, extra clothes … He stood in the middle of the room swaying back and forth and singing softly to her until Pearl came in.

“I was wondering what you were doing in here,” she said lovingly, approaching the two of them and patting her husband on the cheek. Johnny loved it when she did that. She looked at him with such love in her eyes. 

“Just holding and loving our little girl,” he replied, tilting his head to rest it on Lana’s before lifting it again almost immediately to put a kiss on her small head. He breathed in her scent, his eyes closed. “We’ll have to have a few more of these when this one loses that smell.”

Pearl burst out laughing, which made the baby jump in his arms. 

“I think you just scared this child half to death,” Johnny said, joining her in laughter. 

“I certainly wouldn’t want that to happen.” Pearl reached out for the child. “Give her to me, Johnny, and you go finish getting yourself ready. You have other things to do this morning before we leave, don’t you? Mama is getting the other little ones ready.”

Johnny looked thoughtful as he handed Lana to Pearl. “You know how strange it feels to have a little stepbrother the same age as my son?”

Pearl lifted her eyebrows. “I’m surprised you haven’t mentioned that before.”

“Well, I’ve thought it before,” Johnny responded, grinning. “I just never told you.”

“You are very good with them all.”

“Yes, having little sisters is strange, too. I’m an only child, you know.”

Pearl knew that about him. He’d told her long ago about his lonely childhood and how he’d spent most of the time with his uncle or Ben, who grew up in Rusty Spike as well.

Two hours later, Pearl was seated on a blanket on the shore of the lake, watching her family swim and play and have a good time. Kia sat next to her, her own baby boy on her lap. They’d had their babies almost exactly one month apart. She felt special, being able to raise her child alongside her best friend. Their children would be best friends surely. Maybe they would even marry someday.

Pearl and Kia had laughed at that thought in the past. They’d promised each other they wouldn’t bug their children or push them into a marriage when they were older. It was a running joke between the two families. 

“How have things been going with your whole family being there with you?” Kia asked, her eyes on the action nearer the water. She had a smile plastered on her face and chuckled every now and then when someone splashed someone else or some other funny shenanigans occurred. 

“Oh, they love it here,” Pearl gushed. “I love having them here, too. It’s such a blessing that Johnny was willing to pay for them to come and his house is big enough for everyone.”

“They’re not going back to Chicago then?”

“They’ve been with us over six months,” Pearl stated, looking over at Kia. “I don’t think they have a home to go back to. I know Papa never got his job back. Johnny’s money helped a lot, but I’m glad they decided to stay here. I’d rather have them here than in Chicago. It’s so cold there sometimes. The winters can be brutal. At least here in Texas, I know my family will be warm. They won’t freeze in the wintertime.”

“It can get cold here, as you know,” Kia remarked, “but I’m sure it’s nothing like Chicago. Not if it’s like you’ve described, and I do believe you.”

Pearl chuckled. “You wouldn’t like it there, Kia. You wouldn’t.”

Kia grinned. “I have no intention of visiting. I don’t know a soul there.”

A scream came from the shoreline, and the women watched as Johnny and Ben threw their sons into the water, diving in after them and lifting them high in the air, only to throw the boys back into the water.

“That would absolutely terrify me,” Pearl said with a soft laugh. “I hope Johnny never tries to do that with me.”

“I don’t think he will,” Kia responded with slight sarcasm. “You are fifty pounds. I hope.”

Pearl snorted. “Do I look fifty pounds to you? I wouldn’t want to be fifty pounds. There’d be nothing of me.”

“You got that right.” They were quiet for a moment before Pearl continued, “Did you hear Cartwright tried to bribe one of the men on his jury so he could get out of the kidnapping?”

Kia closed her eyes, shaking her head. “He’s so low down. I hope he never comes back. Did you hear that from Atticus? He’s turned out to be nothing like his father.”

Pearl noted the surprise in Kia’s voice. She had to admit she’d been a bit taken aback by how well Atticus fit into the job. It was like Deputy Smalls being named sheriff. It was well deserved by both men, and they handled it supremely. 

Atticus had lifted the town from its devastation, calling back some of the families his father had pushed out of town, offering to sell them back their land and homes at a steep discount, one they could afford. Some came back. Some didn’t. Atticus gave them all money regardless.

“It was Atticus who told Johnny, yes,” she answered. “He has done a good job, I agree. I’m glad he took over from his father. I didn’t think I would be at first, but I am.”

Another scream ripped through the air, followed by raucous laughter as the boys played with their fathers. Pearl watched, her smile stretching from ear to ear. She looked down at Lana, running one finger over the child’s tiny nose and cheek. She was a sweet child, easy to take care of, not fussy hardly at all. 

“I love this little girl so much,” she murmured, feeling her heart fill with love. “She’s added so much to our household, even though she’s so tiny. Everyone takes care of her. She’s like the star of the show all the time. Even when she’s sleeping, someone will come over and just look at her. She’s so beautiful.” Pearl looked at Kia, who was giving her a warm smile. “Your boy isn’t going to be able to resist. They’re gonna fall in love. They’re both so beautiful. We will have beautiful grandchildren.”

“Goodness, you already have me as a grandmother!” Kia laughed. “Oh my dear, I think both our children will be happy with whoever they end up with. I certainly pray they are. And if that’s each other, then that’s wonderful. We will be related!”

Pearl’s smile stretched wide again. She was so happy. Life was so fulfilling with everyone in their house. It was just the way she liked it. Things had been lovely with her and Johnny and Billy there with the servants around. But when her family moved to Rusty Spike and into the big ranch house, she felt like the place was finally her home. 

There was constant action, except in the middle of the night. The children played together well. Billy no longer fell asleep on his playroom floor. There were too many toys to do so. Even when the kids put all their toys away like they were supposed to, Billy was a “big boy” now and insisted on sleeping in his bed, “like his brother and sisters do.”

Pearl was in love with her life. She was content and happy. Her own child, her stepchild, her parents, siblings, and husband, all under the same roof. Life could not possibly have been better in Rusty Spike for Pearl. Her life, in her estimation, was completely perfect.

What more could she ask for?

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