Epilogue

^ONE YEAR LATER^

CHELSEA

Well, what a whirlwind of a year it’s been. I finally tied the knot with the man of my dreams, Brian.

Brian was discharged from the hospital a month after the fire. We decided to hold off on the wedding until he could stand on his own two feet.

When that day finally arrived, we got hitched. It was a quick ceremony. I might not have had the fairytale wedding I’d always imagined, but I did get to marry the man who believed in me and promised to take care of me.

The house he was building was also put on hold until he could make the necessary plans for the nursery.

My mom still doesn’t know she’s a grandma. She’s so wrapped up in her own world, she doesn’t even realize what’s happening around her.

As for me, I gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl three months ago. She tipped the scales at seven pounds and four ounces.

The most amazing part? She was born on July 17th, the same day as my great-aunt Dorothy. So, I named her Dorothy Christine Wynn.

The estate has been sealed off. About a month after the fire, we bulldozed the entire property. We didn’t leave a trace of that house. Even the other house on the property that Clayton claimed as his own.

The small cabin was also reduced to ashes. We took down the big concrete sign that read Payton Estates and replaced it with a large steel gate at the entrance.

A couple of months ago, we had Jennifer come back to the property. She wasn’t too keen on the idea until I offered to pay her. Once we were on the property, she couldn’t stop smiling.

“What?” I ask.

“There’s nobody here. There might be a few souls, but they’re content now. They keep telling me to tell you, thank you. I don’t even feel that one spirit that haunted me when I was here last. They’re all at peace now.”

Speaking of ghosts. You won’t believe this, but Zoey is training to be a ghost hunter. Can you believe it? Zoey, of all people.

She’s obsessed with ~Ghost Hunter~ and takes notes religiously. She and Jennifer have teamed up and now they travel with others, staying in haunted places.

You know why she’s doing this? Because she’s an expert on her inner body experience. She thinks she’s the first to be violated by a ghost.

She even tried to rope me into her study, knowing I’d slept with a ghost multiple times. It was definitely an experience, but not one I’d like to repeat.

Dan and Lynn, what can I say about those two? They’re a match made in heaven. I’ve never seen Lynn so happy.

I truly believe Dan was the missing piece of her heart. When she bumped into him, there was no turning back. He’s the Yin to her Yang. They’re perfect for each other.

They haven’t tied the knot yet. Not sure what they’re waiting for. She says they want to get their business off the ground before starting a family. I guess I can see her point.

As for Dan, he took early retirement from the police force. His captain suspects he had something to do with the case.

When Dan returned to work, he handed the case back to the state police, labeling it as an attempted suicide.

If he had altered anything about that case, they might have reopened it, putting Dan under scrutiny. That was something he wanted to avoid.

So now he’s going to do what Lynn suggested. They’re starting their own private investigation firm. With Dan’s background and Lynn’s computer skills, I don’t think there’s a case they won’t be able to crack.

On another note, the historic district recently declared the big oak tree an eyesore and gave us permission to remove it.

Everyone who had lost someone to that tree was there to watch it get chopped down. Even Brian was there to witness it.

Frank Stallworth Jr. had the honor of felling it. Once it was down, everyone cheered. I think I even heard champagne corks popping in the background.

Then Brian noticed something no one else had. When Brian hit the tree, he saw his Toyota emblem embedded in the trunk. Frank cut out that part of the tree and handed it to him.

The tree was chopped up into smaller logs and donated to the local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts for their camping trips.

As for me, I’m still writing. I write almost every day. I still have a contract with Amanda Fesser.

When Amanda discovered the real reason why Dorothy did what she did, she looked at me and said, “As long as you keep writing, I will publish it till the day I die.”

I started to go back and reread all of Dorothy’s books in order this time. She pretty much told the whole story about the history of the house and the ghosts that lived there. I had no idea she’d pieced it all together.

The journals, the newspaper clippings, everything, plus her own journey with the house and the guests living there.

For that, I am grateful—to her and what she did—and I will continue to honor her name in every book I write.

^The End^