| For Love Or Money | ✔︎

Epilogue

Three months later Nancy and Bess were both honored to be present at the wedding of Charles Pierce and Nila Kirkedottir. Pierce was able to walk down the aisle under his own power ---- thanks to the heart transplant he'd undergone eight weeks earlier.

Nancy and Bess were late getting there ---- Bess had had trouble deciding what to wear ---- and by the time they got to the church, the ceremony had already started. So it wasn't until after the ceremony that Philip caught up to Nancy.

"Hey there, gorgeous !" He called out cheerfully. "Don't I know you ?"

"Philip," Nancy said, feeling the usual rush of attraction that hit her whenever he was around. After the Pierce case closed, Nancy broke up with her boyfriend and ditched him bravely. Since then she realized how deeply she has fallen in love with Philip. She avoided him because she thought it would be selfish of her to start dating Philip after she broke up. But she missed him very much and so didn't pull away when Philip kissed her.

"Where have you been hiding ?" He asked her as Bess went off to throw rice at the bride and groom. "I've left messages, but you never replied to them."

"I was taking a break from this relationship thing. I broke up with Ned."

"What ? You mean, your boyfriend ? So, are you single now Nan ?" Philip asked, his eyes glittering.

"Yes, apparently." Nancy said, giggling.

Philip stared at her. Before she could react, he lifted her in the air, laughing brightly. Nancy had to catch her breath when he landed her down. He grazed his thumbs softly on Nancy's cheeks and gave her a soft kiss. He placed light kisses on her eyes and cheeks. "I love you so much," he said, kissing her forehead. "I missed you very much, Nan. So can we be together now ?"

Nancy looked deeply into his eyes and said, "Yes, definitely. I'm free now Phil. And when I was away from you I realized how much I love you. And I really do."

They were about to kiss again, when Bess came. "Wow ! Great ! Go on ! How can I miss this fucking romantic story between you two !"

Nancy and Philip laughed out loud. "I'm leaving ! You two continue your kissing." Bess said, and left.

"So how have you been ?" Nancy asked Philip.

"For starters, I'm no more that immature and spoiled kid who doesn't know how to handle money. Well, let me catch you up on the new Philip Pierce. I've opened a savings account, and I contribute to it regularly out of my salary at Dad's company. I even make monthly contributions to the Pierce Foundation. At night I'm going for a degree in business. I'm having no fun at all, because I work like a dog and spend zero money on going out ---- but I've actually been happy, believe it or not."

"That's great, Philip !" Nancy said, sincerely glad for him. "So you and your dad are getting along ?"

"Fantastically," he told her. "I'm amazed myself about it. But dad's different now ---- he's got a new heart, a new wife, and a new lease on life. His whole attitude's changed. He's taken over the company and the foundation personally again. He's up at six every day and works like a dog. But now that I work with him, I'm coming to appreciate the side of Dad I always missed growing up. I kind of like the guy, to tell you the truth."

"Oh, Philip, I'm so happy to hear all this," Nancy said. "How are Karen and Jack doing ?"

"Great !" He told her. "Jack's in a gamblers' support group, and he and Karen are in couple counseling. They seem to be making progress, and Jack's working hard, for a change. I know because I'm his boss now." He winked at Nancy mischievously. "Tom's betting parlor closed down, and Tom's getting out of prison next month after doing ninety days. But I guess all's well that end's well, huh ?"

"What about Eleanor ?" Nancy asked.

Philip sighed. "She's bearing up," he said. "She got a suspended sentence for being an accessory. But she's all broken up about Cecilia, I'm afraid."

"It's sad about Cecilia, of course," he went on. "We're all crushed about it. Let's just hope she can make a fresh start when she gets out of prison. After all, if I can improve, there's hope for all of us."

Nancy gave him a peck and gave his arm a squeeze. "That's why I love you," she told him. "It's your sunny, optimistic nature."

"Ah, so that's it !" He said, arching his eyebrows. "I thought it was my smashing good looks and my way of seducing you." Philip teased her.

"Not at all," Nancy laughed.

The bride and groom drove off in their silver Rolls-Royce, while the crowd waved and cheered. "Nila sure looked beautiful," Nancy commented.

"She certainly did," he agreed. "She's a fantastic woman, you know ? I never appreciated her before. I guess I felt too threatened by her. But now that Dad's remade his will ---- and we're all in it equally ---- everyone's made peace. We've even become friends, to tell you the truth. Nila's running the foundation with Dad, and she's got big plans for it. In fact, you'll probably be invited to the big benefit bash."

"Me ?" Nancy asked, surprised. "Why ?"

"Oh, they're going to have all the local celebrities," Philip told her, smiling. "And, of course, that includes the greatest detective ever to hit River Heights !"

"And my girlfriend too," he whispered into her ears, giving chills through Nancy's body.

* The End *

𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 ! 𝒀𝒂𝒚 ! 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅 :)

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅 ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔. 𝑰'𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚'𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆. 𝑲𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 :)

𝑳𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒑 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕 ( 𝑳𝒐𝒍, 𝑱𝑲  ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°  )

𝑰'𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒚'𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 ☹︎

𝑳𝑶𝑽𝑬 𝒀𝑶𝑼 𝑮𝑼𝒀𝑺 ❤︎

Yours sincerely,
Ariel.