Casteel 04 Gates of Paradise (35 page)

though he had been abruptly woken from a deep
sleep.
"What . . . what are you saying?"
"I'm saying you are my daughter, Annie; my
daughter, not Logan's. I'm saying you and Luke are
not blood related. Fanny and Heaven were not sisters
and Logan was not your father, although I'm sure he
loved you as much as any father could love a daughter, even though deep in his heart he might have
known.
"Believe me, I agonized over telling you all
this, for I feared you would think less of your mother
because of it, but I finally concluded Heaven would
have wanted me to tell you so that you and Luke
would not lose one another as she and I did. "If there is truly a curse on the Tattertons, it is
born out of our refusal to be honest with our hearts,
and I will not let that happen to you.
"Lift the dark shadows from Farthy; shine a
light of life over it, Annie. Understand and forgive
people who were turned and twisted by cruel Fate,
whose only fault was they longed too hard and too
much for love."
He lowered his head, exhausted from his
revelations. For a long moment neither Luke nor I
spoke. Then I reached forward and slowly took my
father's hand. He looked up to meet my eyes, and in
his eyes I saw Mommy's face. I saw her smiling,
beautiful face. I felt her comfort and her love, and I
knew that everything Troy had told us was born of
love, words from the heart.
I hated no one; I faulted no one. Actions taken
long ago had determined that two families as different
as night and day would cross paths and destinies. The turmoil that resulted swept up both houses, kept them forever in the midst of winds of passion and hate, driving some mad, shaking the very foundations of
both families.
Now Luke and I stood alone in this confusion.
Now my true father had decided it was time to end it.
He showed us the way out of the maze.
"We don't hate and there is no one to forgive."
He smiled through his tears.
"There is so much of Heaven in you. I believe
what you have of her will be strong enough to
overcome any melancholy you have inherited from
me.
"For a long time, I lived in shame, regretting
that night of love Heaven and I shared, but when I
saw how beautiful you were and realized what your
life could be if you were free of all the lies and
deceptions, I decided to give you the best, the only
gift I could . . . the truth."
"It's the most beautiful gift of all. Thank you . .
. Father." I stood up to embrace him. We held each
other tightly, and when we parted, he kissed me on the
cheek.
"Go now and live, free of all the shadows." He
shook Luke's hand.
"Love and cherish her as your father came to
love and cherish Heaven,"
"I will."
"Good-bye."
"But we'll come to see you, again and again," I
cried.
"I'd like that. It won't be hard to find me. I'll
always be here. My flight from life is over now." He escorted us out and we kissed and embraced
once more. Then Luke and I got into his car. I looked
back once to wave good-bye. The melancholy part of
me made me worry that I would never see him again,
projected me forward to a time when I would return to
a cottage empty but for the unfinished toys. But my
happier, and hopefully stronger, side, shoved the dark
pictures away and replaced them with images of an
older Troy, still working on his toys, greeting me and
Luke and our children.
Luke reached across the seat to squeeze my
hand. "Stop at the cemetery one more time, please,
Luke."
"Of course."
After he did, I got out and he and I went to the
monuments. We stood before them silently, holding
hands.
In the distance the great stone house loomed as
majestic and tall as ever. Sunlight found an opening in
the clouds and widened and widened it until bright
rays washed over the grounds and the building. Luke and I looked at each other. In my memory
our fantasy words replayed themselves: ". . . maybe it
becomes whatever you want it to become . . . if I want
it to be made of sugar and maple, it will be." "And if I want it to be a magnificent castle with
lords and ladies-in-waiting and a sad prince moping
about, longing for his princess to come, it will be." "Be my princess, Annie," Luke said suddenly,
as if he heard my thoughts.
"Forever and ever?"
"Forever and ever."
"Oh yes, Luke. Yes."
He put his arm around my waist and then we
turned away and went back to the car.
I smiled to myself, positive that back in the
cottage, Troy was listening to the tinkle of a Chopin
melody.