The End

     Rebecca stared at the beautiful cake dumbfounded. She could smell the delight when a piece was set in front of her. That first bite was delicate and delicious. She just wanted to melt and become one with this dessert.  “This is homemade?”

     Evie blushed. “Yes. Mom would roll over in her grave if I made something from a box.”

     As the fork left her mouth, Rebecca sighed, “I have hated you for so long and it wasn’t you that I hated.” She laid her fork on the saucer. The hole she could feel being bore through her was all consuming. “Me being in Sunshine Valley was God’s will. I was such a mess. Honestly, I threw a dart at a map.” She made the throwing motion, giving a nervous laugh. “You and I never met but I thought I knew you. You were the greedy bitch that wouldn’t come up off the rest of the money Doug and Ante needed as seed. Doug thought that selling your horse would be enough. But it wasn’t.” She gave a weak smile. “That’s when Ante started selling off all we had. I hated it. I LOVED my life. I wanted more. And you were the reason I wasn’t getting it. Ante and I lived like homeless people. I couldn’t stand it. Our divorce got ugly in a hurry.” She poked at the cake with the fork. “I didn’t know. Didn’t want to believe that you were truly a victim in all this. I didn’t want to compete with ‘who was the worse injured spouse’.” She sighed, “think you won that prize.” She took a deep breath, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to believe that the Doug I knew was a colossal asshole. Which meant, Ante was an even bigger asshole.” She sighed, “I can’t believe you are forgiving me.”

     “Jesus forgave me. I can forgive you. But this doesn’t mean that you and I will become besties anytime soon.”

     She sniffed, “I deserve that.”

     “And so much more.” Evie stood, making a motion with her hand. 

     While Evie waited, Rebecca asked, “how’s Simon?”

     “Sad but good.” 

     The guard poked his head in the door. “Mrs. Pace.”

     Evie handed him the rest of the cake. “Can she have one more piece tomorrow? Simon said tomorrow is your actual birthday. The rest y’all can have.”

     “I think that can be arranged.” The guard smiled. 

     “Bradley’s daughter Sarah started Capra’s Bounty on the farm. I had to leave it with the guards but you should have enough stuff to do you for a while.”

    Rebecca started crying, “thank you. Everything in here cost money and I have none at the moment. Will you send Simon a message for me?” She asked, “I love him.” Crying turned to sobbing, “I’m so sorry.”

*I would like to thank everyone for their love reading Sunshine Valley. 💕 Just a reminder; in honor of poetry awareness month, I’m gonna finish April out with poetry and start a new story in May.

Thank you 💕