“I had to play along to get you to follow me out of the house.”
“Did I hurt you? Did we?”
“No,” she said and raised her hands. “It was the house. I had to save you. I let you make love to me, but we didn’t get beyond second base.”
“Why were you crying? I remember tears. Did I humiliate you?”
“Oh, Burt, no. I think I felt like I was using your love for me to get you out of the house. I abused and used you. I’m sorry.”
Burt turned her head towards his and saw more tears streaming down her face. “Mia, don’t lie to me. Tell me.”
“Angelo took that from me. Those beautiful sensual memories. It all came back to me in the house, and it hurt me so deeply inside. I was losing you all over again.”
“I don’t understand.”
Mia bit her lip to stop it from quivering. “I know that you’ll never understand this, but I will never stop loving you. I may be in love with my husband and enchanted by Murphy, and fuck, I don’t know what the hell is going on with Mike, but I will never stop loving you. I can be happy for you because you’re moving on, and I don’t think about you too much, but I will never forget how you saved me. How you took me in your arms and made love to me as if I were the most special person in the world. And for those moments, I believed I was. Thank you.”
“Mia, I want you to be happy, and I know that Ted makes you happy. It’s tough, especially since the flitch left, seeing the two of you together. You both are so immature and full of life. He’s the right guy for you. He knows you need him, and you do, baby, you do. I’ll always be your friend, your grumpy Burt. Thank you for regarding me so highly and honoring me with your love. Thank you.”
Mia nodded and flipped the lock on the door. She walked over and sat down to compose herself. She heard Burt leave.
The setting sun caught the stained-glass window, and the glare momentarily blinded her. She felt the warmth of what she thought was the sun upon her face. She opened her eyes and saw the light. She looked around frantically, thinking that Mike had died and was moving on. Instead, two little boys walked out and said, “Mee ah.”
She looked behind them and saw their parents standing, looking over at her.
“Thank you, Mee ah,” Timmy said and turned around, stopping only because Jimmy was still staring at Mia.
Jimmy said, “We won,” and turned heel and skipped over to his parents. The light disappeared.
“Now that’s something you don’t see every day,” Glenda said from behind Mia.
Mia turned around and wondered just how much Glenda saw.
“That is a Ghost Orchid, kiddo,” she said, pointing to the arrangement on the table. She walked over and touched it. “Damn, it’s fake.”
“How’s Mike?” Mia asked.
“He’ll live. He remembers being on your back. Now was this a sexual position?”
Mia almost let loose a string of cuss words, but she remembered where she was. She walked over and informed Glenda, “I had to carry him out of the cellar. I had him on my back.”
“You saved him. That house imploded, exploded, screwed itself into the ground. There aint nothing left that you and bean pole didn’t carry out of there. What are you doing in here?”
“It was so nice and peaceful. I was just catching my breath. Reflecting on my life so far.”
“Mia, we women have a great ability to love, and with this ability comes a wagon full of hurt. But I assure you, it’s worth it. In time, you’ll know.”
“Thank you, Glenda.”
“Aham Braham Asmi,” Brian chanted as Ted walked him into the chapel. Brian held his hands out to Mia, and she took him from Ted.
She walked him over to the flower arrangement and told him, “This is what a Ghost Orchid looks like. One day, we’ll have to find a real one.”
“Ooh ooh,” Brian said, clapping his hands.
Chapter Thirty-two
They squeezed into the cottage’s living room. Mark was there with his grandparents, and the PEEPs were there in force. Orion and Glenda were busy reminiscing about the good old days, and Audrey sat and listened to them, fascinated. Mia walked in after putting Brian down for the night. She walked over to the couch where Ted and Mike had saved her a spot between them. Burt got up and looked around.
“He’s sitting at the kitchen counter next to Cid,” Mia said.
Burt nodded his thanks. “I’d like to start this wrap-up meeting of the Old House investigation. I’d like to say that I appreciate how each of you rose to the occasion. It was a tricky investigation in that we couldn’t trust our senses. Was this a good house or a bad one? Did Wyatt kill his family over gold? Let’s hear all the evidence, and hopefully, we will come to a decision. Audrey?”
Audrey got up and walked over to Mark who handed her his notes. “Mark and I started our research at the library. The librarian found a memoir by a parson. His name, and I’m not joking, is Adolphus Tayberry.”
“German and Irish?” Ted asked Cid.
Cid raised his hands.
“Anyway, Reverend Tayberry liked his position as pastor for the community of farmers here in northwestern Illinois. Here, Earl Wayne had shared his farming methods, and soon the other farmers were supplying Chicago with fruits and vegetables. The pastor lauds Earl as a progressive thinker and Earl’s second wife as a great homemaker.”
“Second wife?” Orion asked.
“Yes, the first wife died at childbirth. Wyatt and William had different mothers.”
Orion looked over at Mia. Mia nodded.
“The pastor went on to say that the boys were a rambunctious duo together. William was the studious one while Wyatt was the hard worker, toiling with his father until late in the evening on the farm.”
“That’s a
