No sooner did the clock end than the room was filled with flashes of brilliant gold light. C.J stepped back as everyone threw their arms over their eyes. “I think,” he muttered, “I’d better go turn the real lights on. I think there’s people here that these agents really need to see.” He hurried out the door, ducking around his father and two cops with their mouths gaping open at the spectacle.
Maple was so shocked, she almost dropped Eagle. She threw her arms to her face to shield the glare. When the overwhelming brightness finally subsided…she felt a human hand in hers. “Miss…Bloom?” The man whose long, tapered fingers held hers had a long, rather hangdog face, with dark, gleaming whiskey eyes. His wispy light brown hair was missing a bit all together on top. “Thank you…for aiding in our reclamation. I owe you more than I can ever repay.” He gave her a small, boyish smile. “I’m no pilot in real life, but Sherwood does have some piloting ability. Perhaps, we can have him take us up in the airplane he retained from his failed mail service venture sometime in the near future and enjoy another tet’a’tet in the clouds.”
“Aw Vic!” Maple kissed the long, lean visage of Victor Comstock as hard as she could. “I don’t care what we do, as long as we’re together. I wanna hear you talk for the rest of my life.” She threw her arms around them so violently, she knocked him to the floor before smothering him with passionate kisses.
Betty had to jump back as the light surrounded Bear. It entered every crack and crevice, unraveling the heavy rope around his hands before consuming him. When it subsided and she was able to move her arms, Scott Sherwood leaned on her shoulder, one very human hand now resting on top of hers. “Betty, Betty, Betty,” he rasped as those wide amber eyes gazed into her chocolate brown ones. “You sure are a sight for sore eyes…and my eyes are very sore right now. I’ve been trying to figure out how to tell you what was going on for months, but Pavla’s damn curse wouldn’t let me. Writing stories was the only way I could get through to you.”
“Scott,” she whispered, “I think I’ve known it was you for a long time, since at least Halloween, maybe earlier, but I didn’t want to believe it. You were so, so…”
He made a face. “Dumb? Ugly?”
“Different.” She gently cupped her tiny fingers around his plump cheeks and pulled his head close to hers. “Look at me, Scott Sherwood. I don’t care how smart you are or aren’t, or what you look like. I love you because you’re you. You mean more to me than any book or mansion ever could.” She squeezed his hand gently. “And I want to write more stories with you. I want to write a happy ending for ours.”
Scott’s incandescent grin was ear to ear as he pointed at the grandfather clock. “Oh, would you look at the time? I believe Pavla has lost.” He wrapped his thick arms around Betty’s waist, tugging her close to him. “Happy New Year, Betty.”
She gave him a brilliant white smile of her own. “Happy New Year, Scott.”
When the light around Puppy subsided, a blue-eyed teenage girl with fluffy blonde curls in a black maid’s dress sat on one of the monsters, biting at his hand. She spat his hand out as the man changed into a normal human male wearing a slightly torn suit. “I’m sorry sir, but you were accosting me, my companions, and my employer! You weren’t being very nice!”
Mrs. Fox had jumped on the piano and was nudging Mr. Cat, who hadn’t stirred once during the entire scene in the ballroom. When the lights around them subsided, they revealed a tall, slender sixty-something woman with short copper curls and sharp dark eyes shaking an elderly man with thick white hair wearing a black sweater and slacks. “Tom? Tom Eldridge?” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, for the love of heaven! Would you get a move on? We need to tell the police what’s been going on around here!”
The old man’s owlish eyes blinked under his spectacles as he finally sat up on top of the piano and gave the lady a good hard stare. “Gertie Reece! Where the hell have you been?”
The man who emerged from Newspaper blinked owlishly. He looked exactly like the photo on the front cover in full color, sweater, mustache, and all. “Damn, it worked! They did it!”
He immediately went to the closest shocked police officer and shook his hand. “Gus Kahana, sir,” he said, singing in John McCormick’s ringing Irish baritone. “Sure as you’re a sight that would turn me mother to mint jelly in our old Irish home! I’ll be more than willin’ to state whatever evidence you’d like against that witch.” He shook his head vehemently at Pavla, who was now held by two cops and screaming at the top of her lungs. “Don’t let her be foolin’ ye. She’s a beguiling one, that lass. Evil incarnate, she is!”
“Foley!” The light around Miss Organ had subsided…revealing a small, slender man with a brown mustache too thin for his long face. “Mr. Foley! It’s your Eugenia!” Though the organ remained, Foley was now accompanied by a plump, sweetly beaming middle-aged blonde woman in a long lavender gown with a dainty lace collar. “Thank you for kissing me!” She threw her own thick arms around him, nearly sending him crashing to the floor. “Now we can get married!” He was too choked in her arms to reply.
Hilary blinked as C.J rushed in and the lights came back on…just in time to reveal her arms wrapped tightly around a slender, almond-eyed figure she knew even better than her own. “Jeff! Oh Jeff, it’s you!” It was him. His black-brown curls were matted to his head by sweat, and his shredded tuxedo could never again be referred to as his best one, but it was unmistakably him. He now filled out the shirt and jacket, those beautiful almond eyes gazing almost reverently into her own.
“Hilary!” He kissed her hungrily all around her neck. “Oh, thank god! Do you know how long I’ve been hoping you’d accept my proposal? I’ve been trying for a year, darling! If you hadn’t accepted, I’d…”
She gently pushed his head away from her neck before he got down into the bosom. “Hold that thought, dear. I’m glad to see you again too, but as you may recall, we do have an audience.”
He blushed, finally taking in her father with his jaw on the floor, C.J and the FBI agents snickering, and the cops staring with wide eyes. “Oh, right. Sorry, dear.”
“Gentlemen!” Maple gathered a pile of folders that sat next to the Victrola. “Feast your peepers on these!” She handed them to Victor. “I think you should be the one to give them out, Mr. Comstock. You did the research.”
“But they weren’t ready!” Betty turned to Scott. “You hadn’t finished decoding them yet!”
His grin was ear to ear. “Betty, I finished them this morning. My head hurt like hell for the entire afternoon, but I did finish them.”
“We all read them.” Jeff glared at Pavla as two cops handcuffed her. “You’ll want to have some long talks with her.’ He nodded behind him at the eight men, their suits and shirts in tatters, moaned and rubbed their heads. “She’s not only a spy for the Nazis, the Brown Shirts, and at least two other groups in Europe, she kidnapped and tortured those eight men, my two friends, my valet, and everyone in this household when we threatened to reveal her findings.”
“I had to think of my career!” Pavla gave the FBI agent an integrating smile. “Now gentlemen, surely you don’t believe that a woman such as myself would be capable of committing such atrocities?”
The agent just rolled his eyes as Victor handed him the bulging folders. “Lady, it’s all here in black and white.” Maple ran over with the records and rolled-up maps as he inspected the folder’s contents. “You boys have been busy.” He nodded as she handed the evidence over to his partner. “We’ll be back tomorrow to question everyone in the household.”
Jeff nodded at the men rubbing their heads. “Officer, we won’t be pressing charges on any of those men. They were attacked by that woman in the same way we were.”
“Lady, you have been busy.” The biggest Irish cop rolled his eyes. “Ye be comin’ along quietly with us, lass. I think these nice gentlemen from the government want to be havin’ a long talk about your activities in the past few years.”
“No!” Pavla glared at them, struggling. “I’m an actress! I have a show opening in New York tomorrow and a part I’m going to read for in California! You’re obstructing my career!”
“Yeah, and me old lady is the Queen of Ireland, lass. Tell it to the judges.” Pavla was still screaming as two hulking cops led her out the door. Her screams and protests could still be heard reverberating through the house, making the chandelier shake and tinkle.
“This whole story is crazy. Monsters? Random gold lights? They’re never going to believe this at the office.” The agent in the overcoat shook Victor and Jeff’s hands. “I’m Agent Dawson, from London originally. Scotland Yard has been working with the FBI to track Miss Nemcova for years. Every time someone claimed to have information on her, either they or the information would mysteriously vanish without a trace. When Mr. Comstock called us last August and said you had information on her, I thought we finally had her.”
Victor nodded at the folders. “I believe, sir, that the knowledge my colleagues and I have uncovered here will be enough to place Miss Nemcova in a maximum federal prison or the Czechoslovackian equivalent for twenty to thirty years, and the testimony from the Bloom family, Miss Booth, my employer and colleagues, and the remaining men will likely get her sent away for the remainder of her life.”
T.J Hunnicut was still rubbing the side of his no-longer immaculately coiffed head as he joined them. “What in the hell was that? The last thing I remember, my sweetie Pavla was rubbin’ on my knee an’ chantin’ these weird words in my ear. She said it was a European love poem! How did I end up here?” He squinted at Hilary in Jeff’s arms. “Miss Booth? Where have you been? I’ve been meaning to call you?”
Jeff pushed him towards the agents before he could reach for Hilary’s knee again. “We’ll discuss roles for Miss Booth and me next week, Mr. Hunnicut, after we state evidence to these nice gentlemen.”
“You’ll have to talk to me, T.J.” Scott smirked. “I am their manager. I think we could negotiate.”
Agent Dawson put an arm around T.J as the other agents filed out with the men. “We’ll talk to you first thing tomorrow, Mr. Hunnicut. Right now, we’ll get you some hot coffee and see if we can contact the other men’s families and get them home.”
“We’d all be more than delighted to state evidence,” Enid added as she trotted next to C.J. “Everyone in this household witnessed her depravity. That’s why she transformed all of us. She didn’t want any witnesses to talk to the press.”
“I am, or was, Mr. Singer’s seamstress who has played music for his and Miss Booth’s shows.” Eugenia pulled Mr. Foley to her side with a blinding grin. “This is my fiancee! We’re going to get married this spring.” Foley, whose cheeks were covered in lipstick marks, just grinned and wiggled his fingers.
Agent Dawson put up a hand. “We’ll come back around noon tomorrow to question all of you. For right now, you’re all going to have to stay in Pittsburgh, but…” He shook Jeff’s hand, then kissed Hilary’s. “Happy New Year to all of you, and we appreciate everything you’ve done here tonight! You’ve brought a woman we’ve been after for years to justice. We owe you more than we can ever repay.”
“Put Pablum…Pavla away where she can never steal anyone’s roles or lives again.” Hilary smirked. “That’s more than enough pay for any of us.”
The Agent gave her a charming grin of his own. “We’ll see to it, miss. Happy New Year.” He finally followed the last of the cops out the door.
“Well.” Hilary squeezed Jeff’s hand. “All’s well that ends well, as Shakespeare would say. I’ve been waiting to see Pablum get her just desserts since she came to me with that letter from you last August, Pumpkin.”
“Letter?” Jeff frowned. “I did give Pavla a letter for you, but I was trying to tell you she couldn’t be trusted. She must have doctored it, made it look like I was leaving you. You know I’d never leave you, Mittens.”
She rolled her eyes. “Unless we start quarreling again.”
“Scott,” Betty turned towards him as Mr. Eldridge handed him the sheet from the piano. “What did Pavla do to your head to, well, block you like that? That’s what it was, wasn’t it? You kept moaning about a black light that hurt, like lightning.”
His face became a stone mask as he flung the sheet around his bare chest like a slightly dusty cape. “I don’t remember much about that night. Right after we got back from Europe, in late August, I think. I called you for a date. You said no, rather loudly. Something about your radio plays, and Doug was taking you out. You didn’t even want to talk to me.”
“I was working!” Betty made a face. “And anyway, I still thought at that point that you, well, that you weren’t trustworthy. I’ve heard about your cons, Scott. Yes, I liked you a lot, but you always seemed a little too smart for your own good.”
Doug frowned. “Late August? That’s right before Pavla turned up at my office, claiming she just married Jeff, and everything he owned belonged to her.”
He nodded, rubbing his head. “Yeah. She used me to make Jeff sign that contract. It was less than an hour after I called Betty. I had one…well, maybe five…too many beers, and I wasn’t thinking too well when Pavla and her walking Halloween masks ganged up on me in the alley behind that speakeasy downtown. They worked me over, then tossed me in a truck dragged me to the mansion.”
“We heard that part on the record.” Betty put a gentle hand on Scott’s shoulder. “You don’t have to tell us the rest if it’s too painful.”
Scott closed his eyes again as his breathing became rougher, his skin pale. “I was still kind of groggy at that point, but I did catch Pablum saying something about my not being smart enough to meddle with her anymore. Then…” He gulped, grasping Betty’s hand in his as his voice quivered. “She placed her fingers on either side of my temples, and she sent this bolt of black lightning. The pain was so sharp…” Sweat rolled down his forehead as Betty squeezed his hand. “Sharp, sizzling. She must have sent a hundred gigawatts or more of that black lightning into my head. It was like everything I ever knew, every light that was on my head was beaten and slashed into submission and locked away.”
“We can vouch for the lightning,” Victor added, unable to keep the horror or sadness out of his beautiful voice. “Jeff, Mr. Foley, and I all witnessed Pavla place her fingers to Sherwood’s temples and send that intense black lightning into his brain. From what I could see, the frequency was ten times stronger than any ordinary bolt of lightning from a thunder storm. He screamed in agony…”
Victor’s own voice paused, then darkened. “But then, the screams became growls. She chanted what I thought was an obscure poem in Czech, but I now believe was really the words of a black magic spell. It said something about sealing his mind away, bringing the bear to play.”
Maple leaned into him, wrapping her own hand harder around his. “I instructed Mr. Foley to evacuate the household, including the reporter and truck driver who had arrived earlier, asking about a story. None of them needed to be involved in an affair that did not concern them. I then swiftly absconded to the nearest exit to call the FBI and gain the aid we would require to vanquish Pavla and her powers.”
The dark brown brows narrowed in shame and fury. “After what we witnessed and what she did to Sherwood, I knew we would need more aid to deal with her malevolence.” He sighed, his deep voice catching in his throat. “I was a foot from the front door when three of Pavla’s brutish trolls cut me off. I did attempt to fight the creatures, but they worked me over the way they did Sherwood and dragged me back to the ballroom.”
“I saw her do it.” Now Jeff’s own rich tenor caught in his throat. “Pavla said she cursed them because of me. The more light she sent into Scott, the furrier he became. When she finally moved her fingers…there was a bear laying on the floor in his clothes.”
Hilary put her arm around her ex-soon-to-be-husband, pulling him close. “I told her I still wouldn’t marry her. Not in a million years. I wouldn’t marry her, and I wouldn’t give her the house. I wanted it for you, Mittens. This house was always for us.” Now his breathing quickened, and he turned pale. “She grabbed my arm, shoved me back into the piano. One of her monsters grabbed Victor by the throat and dangled him over the floor like a fish on a hook. Two more shoved Foley next to me, held him there. He screamed, but no one really heard him.” Foley nodded, his own eyes wide and sorrowful.
“I ran into the ballroom with Enid and Tom, just as she chanted…something.” Gertie made a face. “I didn’t understand it. I don’t speak Czech. But it sure sounded like a magic spell to me.”
Enid frowned. “I know some Czech. My grandparents originally immigrated from that country. Grandmama taught it to me. She said ‘Bind your souls, your voice, your minds, bind your hearts to mine. Animals you are, when the year has begun. Animals you will be, when the year is done. Young master, so fair, so kind, be seen as a monster in heart and mind.”
“That’s what she wanted, Mittens.” Jeff rubbed Hilary’s back. “She wanted to drive you - and anyone else who might try to break the curse - away. And she really didn’t want the cops or the FBI identifying us.”
Mackie smirked. “Oh, I get her game. She tried to make Scotty less smart, make it so Victor couldn’t talk or sound like an egghead, and make you less like a matinee idol, Jeff. She thought no one would recognize you guys if you didn’t look or act like you usually do.” He buffed his fingernails. “I saw through that curse all along. I knew it was Jeff the moment I set eyes on him back in January. I was just kind of playing along.”
Hilary chuckled as Jeff rolled his eyes. “Sure you did, Dad.” She just shook her head. “I distinctly remember you telling me that you thought he was a horrifying monster and you couldn’t get out of the mansion fast enough.”
“Well,” Mackie sputtered, “it was scary in that hot house, and I just picked one rose! You didn’t have to throw a fit over them, Jeff!”
“Those roses meant everything to me! I transferred them from our rooftop garden in New York before I sold the apartment. Hilary and I nurtured them from seedlings and twigs. They were like our own children.” He pulled Hilary closer and leaned into her. “And now they're yours, Hilary. And ours. I meant what I said. Will you marry me…for good, this time? No Mexican wedding. We’ll be married right here, in our own home.”
Hilary grinned. “No wonder I knew those roses. They’re our babies from the garden in New York? A mother does know her own children. That’s why you threw such a fit when Dad brought one home. Because those flowers mean a lot to both of us.” She rubbed his back. “And children should have their mother. Yes, Jeff, I’ll marry you again. No matter how often we fight, you really are the one for me.”
“Betty,” Scott squeezed her hand again, “I don’t have a mansion for you. I don’t even have an apartment for you. Not even a rose bush. I was living with Victor in his place in downtown Pittsburgh before all this happened. I can offer you love.”
“Oh, I accept your proposal.” She leaned on his shoulder. “But I do want to know why Jeff bullied you so much. You were a bear. He was a skeletal troll with practically no muscle. You were three times his size! You could have knocked his block off.”
“He couldn’t.” Jeff’s face fell at the same time as Scott’s. “Nor could Victor, or anyone else in the house. It was part of the curse. I bought the house. I was its master…and they were all under my control.” He signed as Scott rubbed his head again and Victor rubbed his neck. “I had no idea what to do with Scott after he finally woke up. I felt so guilty about causing all this and being the reason he’d been damaged. He couldn’t manage anything with his mind like that, so I told him he was a servant and could do simple household chores.”
Gertie sighed. “I’d known Jeff’s mother and father for years, and Scott’s aunt, too. They brought Victor in after Jeff hired him. I’d always helped to take care of them. It nearly killed me to see how they all blamed themselves for what Pavla did to them.”
“We could only regain our human shape at night, in dreams.” Victor rubbed his neck. “And Miss Nemcova demanded conditions on even that ability. Scott and I usually spoke for Jeff, allowing him to focus on his career with Hilary. Pavla wished to confuse you, to keep you from achieving full recognition of our personas. This is why Scott and I were silent and forced into the shadows during the night.” He gently laced his fingers through Maple’s. “You don’t know how badly I wished to reveal everything to you. I have never seen a woman fight to reclaim her lover the way you do. But the curse…”
“It’s ok, Victor.” She leaned into him, smiling. “You’re my Prince Charmin’. You were worth fightin’ for.”
Scott winced as he rubbed his throbbing temple. “Yeah, that’s why they kept attacking Victor’s neck and my head. Pavla didn’t want us giving the game away. I’d already tried to tell you what was going on with those stories, Betty. That’s why I looked forward to them. That locked-away part of me was screaming to make you see the truth.” He let out an angry bear growl. “Pavla knew that, too. That’s why Vic couldn’t talk, why none of us could write, why Jeff and the household couldn’t explain what was going on. She really wanted to erase the truth…and she almost did it.”
“How about you?” Doug Thompson raised an eyebrow at Gus Kahana. “You seem a little out of place here. What’s your involvement? You’re a reporter, not a servant.”
“Yeah, a reporter and a truck driver, see,” said the voice of Edward G. Robinson. Gus laughed at Doug’s raised eyebrows. “I’m pretty good at that. I work for a small-time paper here in town, when I’m not hauling melons from Sarasota or doing local vaudeville. I caught wind of a scheming European actress who married a big-time Broadway star, only for him to vanish. Sounded like a story to me.” He made a face. “The little lady caught wind, see. Last August, she told me to come to the mansion, and she’d give me the story. I came in just as she was making Sherwood’s head light up like Coney Island. She didn’t want no witnesses, see?”
Doug’s eyes had been on Betty gazing lovingly at Scott. He sighed and finally put an arm around Gus. “Why don’t we get you to the cops? I don’t imagine either the truckers or your newspaper office are open at this time of night.” He shook Betty. “I’ll call you tomorrow, ok?”
Her eyes barely left Scott’s. “Hmm? Oh.” She finally smiled at him. “All right, Doug. We owe you so much.” She gave him a kiss on his cheek. “Happy New Year.”
“Yes, Doug.” Hilary grinned and also gave him a kiss on the cheek. “That’s for finally getting through to City Hall. You’ll be seeing a bigger bonus from us when we talk to you next week about joint ownership of the mansion.”
Gus chuckled as Doug turned six shades of red and everyone laughed. “Happy New Year, everyone!” He shook Jeff’s hand. “I’ll call you for an exclusive interview after I finish hauling this load of bananas to Philly.”
“I hope you make the front page, Gus.” Jeff grinned. “Or at least, get better vaudeville bookings. That’s quite a talent you have.”
“Oh, this?” Gus laughed as he went back into W.C Fields mode, then put an arm around Doug. “I do believe, my good man, that a night like this calls for a drink. Why don’t we see if there’s still a bar open at this ungodly hour and perhaps indulge in more than a little liquid libation?”
“Sounds good to me.” Doug chuckled and followed him out the door.
Mackie grinned. “Yeah, it’s New Year’s Day! We need to celebrate my adding three son-in-laws to the family.” He put an arm around Mr. Eldridge. “How about we take your lovely older lady into the kitchen and see what we can dig out of the wine cellar? Bet an old place like this must have some doozies hidden away in ancient caskets.”
“I don’t know about that, sir.” The gentle old man shrugged. “I do know we have spirits in the basement, and even a few bottles of wine. We can go get those.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” Gertie rolled her eyes. “I know where the wine is. I’ll get it. You two dig into the icebox and heat up those appetizers I made this afternoon for New Year’s Eve. We can call it brunch, since it’s practically morning.”
“I like that even better!” Mackie flung his other arm around Mr. Foley, nearly knocking him to the floor. “How about we get some grub?” He grinned at Eugenia, who was chatting with Gertie. “And maybe we can get you from A to B with that plump little morsel you have over there. If you’re gonna get married, you’ll have to know what to do with her.” Mr. Foley nodded, grinning, his nose twitching as they followed Gertie, Eugenia, and Mr. Eldridge to the kitchen.
C.J turned to Enid, who gazed at him with adoring blue eyes. “Uh, um, you were really brave there, Miss. The way you bit that monster…well, it was really something.”
“Oh no, sir!” Enid barely breathed. “You were the true hero! You were the one who manipulated the electricity so we could confuse Pavla and her minions. You launched yourself bodily on the monsters to rescue your sisters. You were so brave!”
Now C.J was the one turning red. Hilary chuckled as her brother scratched the back of his neck. He didn’t really know what to do with anything that didn’t involve electricity. “Um, yeah. Thanks. Why don’t we talk about this in the kitchen? Sounds like there’s going to be food there, anyway.”
“Oh, yes!” She took his arm. “You can tell me about your electrical work, and I can discuss my stories with you. I’m going to be a writer when I return to my schooling, just like your sister. You wouldn’t believe how much she’s helped me this year.” Enid was still prattling about writing and stories as she and C.J strolled to the kitchen.
Betty nearly doubled over laughing. “Poor C.J. I was wondering when some girl was going to finally drag my little brother away from his machines. Enid’s a sweetheart, and honestly not a bad writer. I think she might be good for him.”
“If he can get a word in edgewise!” Scott took her arm. “You know Betty, I’m not really hungry. Why don’t we take that wine to the library and talk about our future? We’ll need to find a place of our own. Somewhere near the Pittsburgh Public Library and KDKA. Maybe I could even get a job there along with managing Jeff.”
“I’d like that.” She kissed Scott gently on his lips. “Happy New Year, my sweet bear.”
“Happy New Year.” His voice was husky. “I love you.”
“Yeah.” Hers was a whisper. “I love you, too.” They headed towards the kitchen hand in hand.
“Maple,” Victor squeezed her hand. “Unlike Sherwood, I do have an apartment to offer you. I got Jeff to check, and yes, I do still own it. It’s a modest dwelling in downtown Pittsburgh, but it’s close enough to the mansion and your family’s home for both our needs. I am still Jeff’s secretary, as well as a broadcaster on KDKA. I am a man of far smaller means than my employer, but I do know I can offer you my heart and soul. I owe you more than I can ever repay, and…”
Maple just put a finger on his dry peach lips. “Shh. I’d fly anywhere with you, Victor. I love you.”
He squeezed her hand. “I love you too, Miss Bloom.” They followed the other two back to the kitchen, Maple leaning wistfully on Victor’s shoulder.
“You know, Jeff,” Hilary frowned. “There’s one last question that no one has answered. Why have you spent the last year asking me to marry you? You threw that question out every chance you got. It actually got a little annoying.”
“It was part of the curse!” Jeff bit back his troll growl. “Pavla said that if I could get you to marry me the way I was, looking like I did, it would break the curse. If I didn’t, I’d end up like Hunnicut and all those men she snared, just one of her goons. Everyone else in the household would be full animals, and Gus and Eugenia would just be an ordinary newspaper and organ. She wanted to sell Scott and Victor to zoos for humiliating her with that record.”
Hilary’s growls matched Jeff’s. “Oooh, that trollop! She was the real monster here! It wasn’t any of you. It was her all along! Not one of you deserved that, not even Scott.”
“Hilary, it wasn’t just the curse.” He rubbed her back. “I missed you. I missed caring for roses with you. I missed acting with you. I wanted this house to bring us together. I even had it decorated to our tastes. That’s why I destroyed my rooms. It was supposed to be our room, but then Pavla caught wind of our broadcasts in Europe, and what we found out. She followed us back here in late August and told me that if I married her, she wouldn’t hurt my friends or reveal that we’d been doing to her superiors.”
She nodded. “I missed you too, Jeff, but you leaving me like that…Jeff, you hurt me. Hurt me deeply. What Pavla told me hurt just as much as that bolt of lightning to Scott’s head. Maybe more. You were my world, Pumpkin, and when you left…I had nothing.”
“That’s not true.” He took her hand. “You’re the strongest woman I know, Hilary Booth. You’re a brilliant actress. Your family adores you. You’re a better woman than Pavla ten times over…and I think she knew that.”
“She did. She said she wanted everything I had.” She rubbed his hand in that same familiar way. “I didn’t really realize what I had until I lost it. Until I lost you.”
“Why don’t we start healing?” He rubbed her knuckle, making her moan. “I’m not really hungry or in the mood for libations. Let’s go to the hot house and check on our children.”
“I like that.” She gave him one last, deep kiss. “Happy New Year, Pumpkin.”
“Happy New Year, Mittens.” He gave her that warm smile that always turned her into mush as they made their way out of the now-silent ballroom and out the front door.
