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“I liked you, Marigold!” said Father Reilly. “But you’d already arranged that date with Alec, and when he told me I told him how I felt about you—only he didn’t want to stand you up, so he decided to go through with it, but then halfway through the meal, he discovered that he liked you,too, and he didn’t want to do that to me, so he decided the best thing would be to simply leave. And so he did.”

Marigold was speechless for a moment, a rare occurrence.“So… you walked out on our date because you liked me too much?”

“I’ve always had a thing for you, Marigold,” Uncle Alec grumbled. “But I could see how you were crazy about Francis, and he was crazy about you, and I didn’t want to stand in your way.”

“I was crazy about Francis, but he was unavailable—obviously.”

“Yeah, well, he might have been unavailable, but he still asked me not to date you—said he couldn’t stop me, of course, but…”

“I was still wrestling with my feelings back then,” said Father Reilly with a smile. “But when Alec and you went on that date, I realized that if I didn’t act then, I would lose my chance forever, and that I’d be miserable for the rest of my life. So Alec did what he thought was right, and I decided that I’d been given a second chance, and this time I grabbed it with both hands.”

“I came to you after Alec stood me up,” said Marigold. “And you comforted me.”

“And then one thing led to another and…”

“When was this?” asked Angel.

“Well, now, let me think” said Francis.

“Nineteen years, nine months ago,” said Alec with a flicker of mirth in his eyes as he regarded Angel.

Angel blinked a couple of times.“You mean…”

“Yeah, you were born nine months later,” said Marigold as she studied the tips of her toes for a moment, then glanced up at Alec and said, “If you’d told me this sooner…”

“You wouldn’t let me!”

“And then you made that crack about my bed or Francis’s bed…”

“I was jealous, all right—couldn’t help it!”

“Oh, come here, you big lug,” she said, and then they shared a long-overdue hug. She placed a smacking kiss on his cheek, and the Chief’s face flushed a pretty pink, his grin something to behold.

“Finally,” said Angel with an eyeroll. She rubbed her dad’s back. “See what a nice little kidnapping is good for, eh… Dad?”

Father Reilly winced, but then rallied and said,“Absolutely… daughter.”

And then the three of them hugged it out.

“Aww, isn’t this nice?” said Harriet. “Just like in a movie!”

“Yeah, only Father Reilly won’t be a priest anymore,” said Shanille, “so where will we live?”

“You can live with us if you want,” Dooley suggested. “We have lots of space.”

Harriet looked up in alarm.“We don’t havethat much space, Dooley.”

“Oh, don’t get your knickers in a twist, Harriet,” said Shanille. “I’m sure we’ll find something.” But she didn’t look entirely happy about this unexpected turn of events.

But then it was time to leave the cabin to the forensic investigators, and leave this latest adventure behind us. And so soon we were on our way home again.

Epilogue

“So what’s going to happen to Shanille now, Max?”

“I don’t know, Dooley, but I’m sure she’ll be fine.”

“But if Father Reilly isn’t a priest anymore, he can’t live in that big house next to the church, and so they’ll have to find another place to live.”

“They can go and live with Marigold and Angel,” Harriet suggested.

“Shanille said they live in a small apartment,” said Brutus. “I don’t think there’s enough space for three people and a cat.”

“Like I said, they’ll figure it out,” I said.

We were on the porch swing, while a barbecue was in full swing in the backyard. We’d all been fed to our satisfaction and now enjoyed that postprandial drowsiness that is so enjoyable.

“And if Father Reilly isn’t a priest anymore,” Dooley went on, “then how are they going to pay their bills? Because Marigold will be out of a job, too.”

“Why?” asked Brutus. “Marigold can keep her job, and they’ll still have an income.”

“But she can’t. She’ll fall in love with the new priest, and then what is Father Reilly going to do, and Shanille?”

“Marigold isn’t going to fall in love with the new priest,” I said, closing my eyes to enjoy a nice little nap.

“Yes, she will! That’s what she does. She falls in love with priests!”

“What are you talking about, Dooley?” asked Harriet.

“Well, Angel always falls in love with the boyfriends of her girlfriends, and Marigold always falls in love with priests. It’s something mother and daughter have in common: a fixed pattern for falling in love.”

“Have you been watching amateur psychology documentaries again?” asked Brutus.

“I’m just giving you my analysis of the situation as I see it.”

“Your psychoanalysis,” Brutus corrected him.

“Amateur psychoanalysis,” Harriet added.

“Well, I still think they should all come and live with us, until they decide what to do.”

“And I’m putting my paw down on that,” said Harriet. “Shanille living with us—what an idea!”