Epilogue

Hal balanced a large box on his hip as he fumbled with the handle for the side door.

“I’ll get it,” Anna said, holding the door open as he entered. “You don’t have to carry this stuff in. I’ve hired that muscle crew for the whole day.”

“This was sitting in the driveway. It says law books.”

Anna pointed to the small office off the family room. “It goes in there. Just drop it in the corner. Lily’s going to have to sort through all that.” She continued to hold the door when she saw her sister coming. “How are you feeling?”

“Like a bloated rhino,” Kim said.

“You look great.”

“You’re full of shit.”

Anna ignored her retort and greeted her with a hug. “Have you come to brag to everyone about how you found this lovely house?”

“Yes, and to thank you for paying full price. I made a huge commission.”

“So glad I could help.”

“I took a contract on your other house yesterday. They came in about eighteen thousand under your asking price, but if their finances check out, I think you should jump on it.”

“Whatever you say.”

Lily joined them in the family room. “Did George just run through here like his pants were on fire?”

Anna chuckled. “Now that you mention it, he said he was going out to get lunch for everyone. What did you do to him?”

“I found him wandering around upstairs and I offered to show him the master bedroom where you and I planned to sleep.”

Kim laughed evilly. “No wonder his tires were screeching when he pulled out. Where’s Mom?”

Lily tossed a thumb over her shoulder. “She’s setting up the kitchen.”

“Oh, right. Where would Anna be without her kitchen?”

Anna wrapped her arm around Lily’s neck and pulled her close. “Lily likes to cook.”

“And Anna likes to clean up,” Lily answered with a smirk, seeing from the corner of her eye that Anna was frowning and shaking her head.

“You two are going to be quite a pair,” Kim said, collapsing onto the couch. “Do you have any plans yet for all those extra bedrooms?”

“One of them will belong to my nephew when he runs away from home,” Anna said.

Hal emerged from the office and fell onto the couch beside Kim. “He’s been kicking like crazy these last few days.”

“Just three more months, big guy,” Kim said. “Then you can kiss your boat good-bye till he’s old enough to live with Anna.”

Lily took Anna’s hand and pulled her toward the foyer. “Can you come upstairs for a minute? I want to show you something.”

“Sure.” As they passed the front door, they saw the movers folding the protective blankets and stacking them in the now-empty truck. “Looks like they’re finished.”

Lily led the way upstairs, through the master bedroom and out onto the balcony. “Notice anything interesting?”

Two chairs and a small table had been arranged so they overlooked the pool and spa. “What am I looking for?”

“Turn around.”

“There’s a crack in the wall!”

“Now look closely.” Lily leaned against the rail while Anna located what she was talking about. Next to the small crack at the corner of the door, someone had scribbled the date of the Newport-Inglewood quake that struck Culver City.

“I’ll be damned.”

“Welcome home, Anna.”

Anna traced the crack with her finger. “You think it would be all right to leave it here?”

“We should probably keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t get bigger.”

“Yeah, I’d hate to have the whole house collapse on top of us.” She chucked Lily with her hip.

Lily grinned and chucked her back. “Whatever would we do?”