Page 51 of Irresistible

Epilogue

Richard and Scarlet Grant stood on the porch of their beautiful colonial home and looked out into the distance. It was a bright, cloudy day with a light breeze sailing through the trees. The rare weekend with no work called for full enjoyment of the weather and the down time. While they were still working hard to maintain the bank’s success, Richard and Scarlet knew when they had to slow down.

“Mom!” a tiny voice called out. It was Lizzy, their three-year old daughter yelling through the front door. “Are we going to get some ice cream?”

“Maybe a little later, dear! We just had lunch!” Scarlet yelled back.

“But, Mom! You promised that we would get ice cream this weekend!” Benji, her twin brother screamed.

“I said we would get ice cream, but I didn’t say exactly when! Be patient. We’ll go before you know it,” Scarlet responded, clasping Richard’s hand.

“Do you guys have to work this weekend? Is that why we’re not getting ice cream?” Lizzy said, running onto the porch to join her parents.

Richard approached his young daughter, stooped down, and looked her right in the eyes.

“We’re not working today or at all this weekend, sweetheart. I know we work a lot, but we wanted to stay here this weekend so that we could be with you two.”

“Okay. So we can go get ice cream soon?” Lizzy asked, ignoring the deep moment that her father was trying to have with her.

“Yes, dear. We’ll go get ice cream soon. Now head back inside with your brother and I’ll let you know when we can go.”

The young girl scampered back inside and picked up one of her toys to play with. Scarlet put her head on Richard’s shoulder and stopped to consider just how great her life had become over the last four years. It almost brought her to tears.

“Did you think, four years ago, that the two of us would be standing on this porch trying to figure out when to get ice cream from our kids?” Scarlet asked with a smile.

“No, but there’s nowhere I’d rather be,” Richard laughed.

The two turned around, headed into the house, and set off with their kids to get ice cream at a small shop down the street.