Press Your Luck 50/Epilogue (Patreon)

Lucy sat on the bus, staring out of the window as she was carried away from the city and Daniel. Twisting the now real engagement ring on her finger she couldn’t believe how much her life had changed. If just four months ago someone had told her, had told Harlow, he would not only be engaged to his best friend but also be the bride he would have…he would have bet money against it. ‘Another lost bet.’ he thought with a bitter laugh. If he had made a few smarter plays he wouldn’t be here now. ‘If that stupid doctor hadn’t screwed up! Twice! I’d, like, be free and wouldn’t have to worry about Jefferson coming after me or Danny. I could have been gone a long time ago!’ He winced in pain as his painted nails dug into his palm. ‘But I wouldn’t have Daniel.’ Harlow frowned. Daniel usually was so reserved but that night he had heard the news of Harlow’s death…there had been so much pain in his eyes. And his mom’s wail at the news her son had been found dead would haunt him for the rest of his life.

‘Harlow’s plans always ended up hurting someone else.’ Lucy wiped a tear from her eye. She didn’t want to put the people she cared about through that much pain ever again. She had been a scared, scrawny little boy all her life and it may have protected him then but Harlow was dead and Lucy had a beautiful life just on the horizon.

A life she might have had sooner if Harlow hadn’t been so scared. But life had dealt her a new hand and she wasn’t going to throw it away. As scary and different as her future was from what she expected. She could be a wife if it meant Daniel was her husband. She could even be a mother, if it meant Daniel was the father.

Even as she smiled and visions of her and Daniel’s wedding day danced in her mind a cold chill began to envelop her, like a skeletal hand gripping her heart. Lucy crossed one leg over the other as she looked out the window, seeing a faint reflection of herself. "I’m playing this hand." She whispered to herself, half expecting a monologue or even a feeling of how wrong her choices were like she had heard far too many times before. But instead all was quiet in her mind and in her heart. “Good.” She said with a smile. “Ooh, I wonder if we can, like, get married on top of the Platinum hotel.” Lucy giggled and opened her phone before another happy thought interrupted her, ‘Ohmagod! What kind of dress am I going to wear?!’ She thought and began searching for bridal gowns as the bus drove on to her home.