“When they finally called back, not only did they agree, but apparently my notoriety doesn’t bother them anymore. Get this. They’re currently bidding against one another to get me to endorse their product.”
“That’s fantastic!” she said, genuinely pleased for him.
“My former agent’s on top of things while I’m out of the country. And my family is convinced they have you to thank.”
“For God’s sake, why?”
“They think you broke the curse when you gave them the diamonds.”
“Come on.” She raised an eyebrow, obviously not a believer.
“I’m serious! Look at the evidence, at least from their perspective. First Rusty gets nailed doing steroids…”
“I just saw the news on television. How was he dumb enough to get caught, knowing what happened to you?” she asked.
“Ready for this? I got a call from Kristina. She sweet-talked Rusty into getting back together just so she could set him up. She used the same tricks he’d put her up to for me. Then she called the IOC and tipped them off.” He shook his head. “She’s now off sunbathing on a secluded island waiting for the scandal to blow over.”
“I’m stunned.”
“Never underestimate a woman scorned.”
“Exactly.” Lauren gave him a pointed look.
“So back to why they think I ended the curse?” she prompted.
“Right. There are plenty of other reasons. For one thing, Uncle Edward proposed to Clara-”
“He what!” Lauren blinked. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
Jason shook his head. “Then the sponsorship opportunities came up-this after I’d been banned from boarding and dropped by every company known to sports.”
Lauren took one look at his pleased expression and couldn’t help but smile herself. “I guess the tides are turning.”
“Final boarding, flight six thirty-nine to Paris, France,” a voice said over the intercom.
Somehow they’d missed the row-by-row boarding announcements.
Jason stood. “So, are we going?”
She rose to her feet beside him. “I’m going. As for you…”
Uncertain of what to expect, Jason held his breath.
“You still haven’t told me your post-Paris plan.” She tapped her foot on the floor, glancing back and forth between Jason and the boarding gate.
He knew it was the time to lay it all on the line. “I was hoping we could take our share from the sale of the diamonds and use it as a down payment on a house,” he said, speaking quickly. “Somewhere close enough to the city so you can commute to Galliano or whatever smart label snatches you up.” As he spoke, he grabbed her bag along with his and started walking to the gate. “But also someplace where we can hop a flight or drive to the nearest ski lodge,” he said as he handed his ticket to the agent.
“Four C,” the woman said, scanning his paper and handing it back to him.
Lauren blinked in surprise, then slid her ticket across the counter.
“Four B,” the attendant said. “Have a nice flight.”
They started down the gateway and she turned to him. “How did you manage adjoining seats?”
He grinned. “I told you, ever since you handed over the diamonds, it’s been one lucky break after another.” And then he played his final hand.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a velvet box. He bent down on one knee and opened the box to reveal an emerald-cut diamond ring. “Marry me,” he said, rather than asked. “That’s my post-Paris plan.”
Lauren squealed and nodded, tears flowing. He placed the ring on her finger, grabbed her hand and together they made a mad dash for the plane.
ON TAKEOFF, Jason recalled Clara’s tarot reading, back when he’d been skeptical of ever finding happiness again.
“Ace of Cups reversed,” she’d said, telling him he had no hope of finding love. Informing him he feared being alone forever. She’d been right. She’d gone on to explain that he needed to stop hiding from his past. She’d been more right than she knew. He grasped Lauren’s hand, knowing that he now had everything Clara had dangled in front of him-the white picket fence and the happily ever after. With the woman he’d always loved.
Talk about a lucky break, he thought, happier than he’d ever been.
EPILOGUE
In the early twenty-first century, in the small village of Stewart, Massachusetts, 1.5 miles west of Salem, site of the now infamous Witch Trials, a brave, smart Perkins female broke the infamous Corwin Curse. And in case anyone dared to suggest otherwise, for good measure, she married the remaining young single Corwin man, uniting their families in blood and in love.
THE CURSE NOW LIFTED, even the older Corwin generation found love, including the starched, stuffy Thomas and the more cantankerous Hank. They married sisters, who happily moved into their joint home. Across town, Clara and Edward also married and lived happily, their home shared with Edward’s descented skunk.
For the younger generation of Corwin men, babies abounded, beginning with a girl for Derek and Gabrielle, followed by another girl for Mike and Amber. Jason and Lauren became the proud parents of triplet boys, destined to carry on the Corwin name.
And so it was that the Corwins, who had once lost everything, invested the money from the diamonds, and prospered.
Broken curse?
Coincidence?
Or was luck blessing them at last?
CARLY PHILLIPS
