Page 131 of Heartbroken Husband
EPILOGUE
ADELINE
It was early fall in Chicago and the air was crisp, the trees lining the streets as beautiful as if they’d been professionally color graded. I’d forgotten how gorgeous this time of year was here—and how cozy the entire city became, with everyone suddenly holding a coffee cup as they walked, wearing a sweater they technically didn’t need quite yet.
I left the Chicago Institute of Art, grinning like a loon after another successful meeting about the massive catalog of art back home.
Back home.
I still couldn’t believe I was living in a house filled to the brim with priceless art, but it was also so much more than that. It really had becomehome.
For a little while before we’d moved in, I’d been worried that we’d always feel like guests, but Westwood Manor had stopped feeling like Zach’s family’s house weeks ago. Lu had claimed Charlotte’s old bedroom, Jennifer organized tea parties in the formal sitting room, and Amber often threatened bodily harm if anyone touchedherespresso machine in the kitchen.
Between that and so many other things, the house had quietly become ours. We’d finally redecorated some, Zach and Ibuying furniture we actually liked together and painting a few of the walls.
Slowly but surely, we were bringing it into the modern age, but we were also careful to respect its history—a fact Theo was struggling to get behind. In his opinion, we shouldjust rip it all out and install new everything, but neither of us had wanted that.
When we’d decided to live there and raise the girls in the house Zach had grown up in, I’d been a bit concerned about the other Westwoods’ reactions, but it turned out they were ecstatic the place would be staying in the family, and none of them had ever had any aspirations to move back in, it seemed.
Alex was relieved that the maintenance and upkeep would no longer be his concern and Douglas was overjoyed we were breathing new life into the place, apparently having been worried the kids would simplysell the old mausoleumonce he was gone.
Literally the only caveat from anyone had been that we continue the tradition of hosting Friday night family dinners there. Apparently, they hadn’t always been very good about it, but the last few years, they’d really been trying to keep it up and I was over the moon about getting to become a part of that.
Life had been coming at us fast since the weddings, but it was so beautiful that I rarely stopped smiling. Honestly, sometimes, I still felt like I was living a dream. I climbed into my car, Zach’s wedding present to me, still smiling as I turned over the engine and excited to share the news with him that the deal with the Institute was done.
Douglas and I were both thrilled to be moving some of his pieces to the museum. He’d even gotten all teared up when I’d told him that it was happening, and then he’d given me this long, tight, relieved hug and emotionally whisperedthank you.
I’d honestly thought he’d forgotten about all those pieces since they’d been in the attic for so long, but nope. One day, while I’d been walking him through the catalog I’d compiled for them, he’d confessed that he’d been moved to buy each piece because he’d known his wife would’ve loved them.
Each one had made him feel closer to her, like he had a little part of her back, but it’d hurt him too much to look at them every day. He’d said he was honored to sharehercollection, and then he’d moved me to tears when he’d thankedmefor ensuring that her legacy would live on.
W&S was also making a massive donation to the institute in honor of the Rochelle Westwood Collection showcase, and a hefty portion of that money had been allocated to bringing art to underprivileged kids. Zach had asked for that to be included, and thankfully, the Institute had agreed.
The drive home was beautiful, golden leaves covering the trees lining the streets and gray skies threatening rain but in that way that made the world feel quieter. Peaceful.
When I got to the house, I had a couple hours left before I had to pick the girls up from school. They’d started at Ellison Academy at the beginning of the school year a few weeks back and they were loving it. So much so that they were often disappointed to have to leave at the end of the day.
But since I still had some time before then, I slipped out of my coat and hung it up. Then I headed upstairs toward my study on the third floor, mentally preparing myself to spend the next few hours arguing with insurance databases as I continued trying to have the collection appraised.
When I reached the landing, however, I noticed Zach’s office door was open and I frowned. I’d thought he was at the office, but when I peeked inside, he was sitting behind his desk in a dark sweater with the sleeves pushed up, flipping through paperwork.
My heart did stupid little gymnastics as I looked at him, a smile spreading across my face. “I didn’t know you were working from home today.”
He glanced up, returning my smile with a wide one of his own. “There’s my wife. How was your meeting?”
Tingles still shot through me at that word. “It was good, but you first.”
“I wrapped up my accounts at the office and I had a few things to finish here, so I came back,” he said, his tone suspiciously casual. “Your turn. How’s your day been so far?”
I narrowed my eyes as I walked in, knowing for an absolute fact that when he had to trythathard to sound casual, he definitely wasn’t. There were papers spread all over the desk, and the second I stepped closer, he shuffled half of them into a folder.
“Uh-uh,” I said. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“You’re hiding something.”
He scoffed. “I’m literally sitting in my office, doing paperwork. How could I be hiding something?”
