The Widow and the Will (29 page)
Read The Widow and the Will Online
Authors: J. Thomas-Like
Epilogue
Tess knelt at Jack’s grave and pulled out the dead stems of the last bouquet of flowers she had placed there. Putting fresh blooms in the holder, she smiled and ran her hand down the chiseled marble face of the tombstone. Until last week, his marker was of the flat, in-ground variety with only his name and the dates of his birth and death. Today, the new monument had been installed and Tess felt proud to see it standing over Jack’s final resting place like a beacon of protection.
“Jack Xavier Kingston. Gone too soon, but forever in my heart.”
“It’s lovely, Tess.” Lilly came up behind her and knelt down. “I think you picked out a really nice one.”
“Thanks. He sure deserves it.”
“Yes he does. Except for you, he got nothing but shit in life, it seems.”
Tess shrugged. “Well, not totally, but I know what you mean. I’m glad he’s not here to see all this.” She shivered and cupped her elbows while she crossed her arms in front of her.
Emily Kingston was sitting in jail, charged with the murder of her youngest son. She swore she wouldn’t plead guilty and would go to trial, but Tess hoped eventually she would give up. What was the point? With Tess’s testimony, she would absolutely get convicted. Why waste all that time and taxpayer money? In the end, it didn’t really matter. She was going to prison no matter what and Tess would be more than willing to take the stand and hang her out to dry.
Roger Kingston was also being prosecuted, but not for murder. That was all on Emily. Roger, though, was being charged with all kinds of fraud and perjury counts. When the toxicology report had come back with evidence of foul play, the police had started an investigation long before anyone had even known about it. Detective Isham had been watching the Kingston family and doing whatever cops do to nail people for crimes. It had been as much of a surprise to him as anyone else when Emily turned out to be the murderer. She had met Mike Andrews as a patient of Dr. Guildford and together they had cooked up a way to keep all of Jack’s inheritance for themselves. Unfortunately, Jack wasn’t supposed to die, but Tess was. Logically, Tess understood most of what happened, but emotionally she just didn’t care anymore. Her ex-in-laws were both going to prison, one for the rest of her life and the other for a good portion of the rest of his life.
The only person who remained unscathed as far as criminal charges went was David Kingston. His father had been the one to sign all of the probate documents and make all the false claims. David had only followed his “client’s” instructions. No charges would be brought against him. Instead, he would be left to wonder what the hell happened to his family. Both of his parents in prison and his brother dead. He would be alone and who knew what would happen to him. Sometimes Tess felt sorry for him, but the one and only time she tried to reach out to him, he had blamed her for everything that happened, promising that he would one day get to the real truth and see her punished. That rejection was all the permission Tess needed to finally be done with the Kingston family once and for all.
“Come on. It’s time to go.” Lilly stood up and touched her sister lightly on the shoulder.
“Yeah. I did what I needed to do.”
Tess leaned forward and pressed a brief kiss to the front of the gravestone. “Love you, J.” Then she put her hands on top of it and helped herself to stand.
As she and Lilly walked away, Tess felt the crisp fall air against her cheek. Looking up, she swore the clouds above were making the shape of a smiley face and pointed it out to her sister. “Look, it’s a smile.”
Snorting, Lilly swung an arm around her sister’s shoulders and grinned. “Yep. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if the angels put that in the clouds just for you.”
They made their way back through the rows of gravestones to the paved road where Hudson and Ford Marks waited for them. Together they leaned against Hudson’s pickup and both offered smiles as they approached.
Still out of earshot, Tess snickered. “Who’d have thought two sisters would end up with two brothers?”
“Sure as hell not me,” Lilly mumbled. “I still think I got the hotter one, though.”
Tess laughed and nudged her sister. “Keep tellin’ yourself that, sis.”
THE END
About the Author
J. Thomas-Like is a writer born and raised in Michigan. She lives with her doting husband, brilliant son, a passel of cats, and a dog. This is her second novel. She started writing at a very young age, and is making her dreams come true, one story at a time.
Check out her first novel,
The Widow and the Rock Star
, available at Amazon.com
Note from the Author
I hope you enjoyed this story!
Please take a few minutes to leave an honest, constructive review at Amazon or on my Facebook page. Reviews are just tips for writers, like a gratuity for the waitperson who brought your meal the last time you dined out. It gives us encouragement for bad days when we think we’d be better off taking up poking badgers with spoons for a living.
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http://twitter.com/jthomaslike
Cover art by James,
GoOnWrite.com
Author Photo by Chasing Light Photography
