I looked around the bedroom Mary Ellen, Elizabeth and I had shared growing up. Elizabeth and I had shared that room alone for the last ten years. It was going to be hard leaving it. I saw her desk and bed as well as the chest and our closet. I sat on the bed as I put linens and other things into the wooden chest that Ashley and I would take to New York City. We spent the night in Rockfish, and then came back to the mountain so I could pack up and say goodbye. As I was packing, Mary Ellen walked into the room.

"Erin?"

I looked over at her, "yes?"

"Before you leave, I just wanted to tell you that I'm happy for you and Ashley. If you can be happy together, I'm happy for you."

I nodded, "I'm happy Mary Ellen. I'm glad that everything's over and I married the man I love and we're moving to New York."

Mary Ellen looked down at the bed and picked at the quilt, "say hello to John Boy for us," she paused. "I can't believe you're going so far away. We're going to miss you around here."

"I'll be back," I assured her.

"But it won't be like we have now. Ashley's going to have you traveling all over the world. You might have children before you come back."

"That won't happen. I'll make sure we see Mama and Daddy and come see you and John Curtis," I smiled, "I'll be back to be in you and Jonesy's wedding."

She blushed, "we don't know if or when that'll happen."

"You love him Mary Ellen, and he loves you and John Curtis," I said and Elizabeth walked into the room.

"Do you need any help Erin?"

I shook my head, "no I think I have everything, but thank you." She looked around the room and Mary Ellen touched her arm.

"You'll have this whole room to yourself, what do you think?"

"It's going to be different," Elizabeth replied looking around, "I've always had one of you here with me."

I hugged them both, "I'm going to miss you, but I'll always be here."

"We know, it's just like when I got married and left home several years ago, you were sixteen Erin and remember what that was like."

I nodded again. It was different when Mary Ellen got married and it was just me and Elizabeth in our room. Then a few years later, when Rose, Jeffrey and Serena came to stay with us, we shared our room with her; although they didn't stay with us long at all. As I stood there, all I could think of was Ashley. I was eager to see him again, I wanted to feel his hand in mine and be together and see him smile at me once again. I took the final trunk downstairs and saw Daddy sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee.

"Hi Daddy." I said and walked around the table.

"Erin," he hugged me. "You are a married woman now and a New York City lady. You've already talked to J.D. Pickett about your job?"

I nodded in response to his question. "I talked to J.D. a while ago and told him I was going to have to quit. Ashley doesn't want me to have to work when we go."

"You went to the business school, remember that. You can use that education."

"I know Daddy. Ashley doesn't want me to feel like I have to work. He can take care of us and everything will be okay." I paused, looked at him and then hugged him. "We're going to come see you and Mama really soon."

"Your Mama would really like that."

I smiled and walked outside and sat on the swing getting some air. Ashley was in Charlottesville getting the train tickets for us to go back to New York, so I was enjoying the last bit of mountain air before it was gone. While I was sitting there, Ben came up the side steps and saw me sitting there. "Ben," I greeted him.

"Hi Erin." He replied and stood there for a minute before leaning against the railing. "I'm sorry."

"Oh Ben," I shook him off, "I do understand why you were upset. But I don't think I could have been happy with Paul. Things worked out for the best with us."

He looked down at the ground and kicked his foot in the dirt with his hands in his pockets, "I guess I was looking more at what was best for me and the mill than I was for you." Finally he looked up at me, "I'm glad you're happy. We do like Ashley." Ben leaned over and hugged me, "we're going to miss you around here Erin."

"I'll be back. We're going to spend some time in New York, and then go see John Boy and see Mama for a few days."

"She'll be happy to see you."

I nodded with a smile, "Mama hasn't seen Ashley since the last time he was here and we tried to get married. I'm sure Mama and Daddy are both happier that we decided to wait."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to miss you Ben. You'll have to send me pictures of you, Cindy and Ginny with that camera you got Cindy, okay?" I could tell Ben was trying not to tear up as he nodded.

"I'll do that," he said slightly choked up. I never realized that it would affect my brothers this way. I thought it would be hard leaving Mary Ellen, Cindy and Elizabeth; but Jim-Bob, Jason and Ben aren't like that.

I hugged him again, "it's going to be okay. Where's Jason and Jim-Bob?"

"Jim-Bob went down to his garage for something and Jason's around here somewhere." I nodded and walked away from him. I decided to go look for Jim-Bob first and walked down the dirt road towards the Godsey's store and Jim-Bob's garage. When I got there, I saw Jim-Bob closing up.

"Hey Jim-Bob."

"Erin," he looked shocked to see me, "what are you doing here? I thought you and Ashley were leaving for New York."

"He hasn't come back from Charlottesville yet. He went to get the tickets and we'll leave later on. You didn't think I'd leave without saying goodbye to my brothers and sisters did you?"

"Well no," he shook his head.

I hugged him and smiled, "goodbye Jim-Bob. You'll have to come see me and Ashley in New York sometime. When you become a pilot you can fly us around the city. I've seen the Statue of Liberty when I went to see John Boy, but I've never seen it from above before."

"I can do that," he smiled and we both looked around.

"Well, I should probably go see Ike and Corabeth before I leave," I said holding my handbag to my chest.

"Do you need a ride home?"

"No, I think I'd rather walk home, if it's my last time on the mountain. I'd like to soak up as much as I can to take with me to New York."

"Alright." Jim-Bob hopped into his car and went down the road as I went into the general store. It was quiet as I looked around.

"Oh Erin!" Corabeth exclaimed as she walked over and hugged me. "I thought you and Ashley Longworth would have left the mountain already."

I chuckled and shook my head, "he's not back from Charlottesville yet, but we are leaving soon. I wanted to come see you and Ike before I went to New York."

"We're glad to see you Erin." Ike stated as he walked over to me. "It's going to be different not having you on the mountain. I remember you coming into this store before you could even reach the counter."

I laughed, "we grew up coming to Ike's; Mama brought us in or sent us over here quite a bit."

"How is Olivia doing?" Corabeth asked.

I shook my head, "I'm really not sure. We're going to go see her in a month or so."

"Good. I'm sure she hated missing your wedding." She replied and I nodded.

"She sent me a telegram." I finished my conversation with Ike and Corabeth before leaving the store and walking on home. By the time I got there, I saw Jason sitting on the swing outside.

"Just the sister I was hoping to find," he said as I walked up the steps.

I walked over to him, "bye Jason."

He stood up and hugged me, "you can come see us any time you want to. New York is never too far away to come back to the mountain. We love you Erin."

I shook my head and tried to keep from crying, "I know. I grew up here and it's hard to leave, but Ashley wanted to go to the city. For me to stay with him, I have to go."

"It'll be okay. You'll have John Boy with you if you need him. I'm sure you can find him while you're there."

I nodded, "I talked to John Boy earlier. We're going to meet with him soon. Ashley and I want some time just us, but then we'll meet with him. We're going to do some traveling as well. We're going to London and Paris."

Jason smiled, "I was in both places during the war, they are beautiful. I'm sure even more so now because they've had time to repair everything after the damage the war caused."

"I'm sure." I hugged him again as Ashley pulled up. He got out of the car and took my suitcases off the front steps.

"It's time to go Erin," he said gently. I felt Jason squeeze my hand in comfort. I turned to him and smiled before I walked down the steps.

"Aunt Erin!" I heard behind me. I stood there as John Curtis and Ginny ran over to me. Leaning down, I hugged them at the same time and then hugged each of them individually and kissed the tops of their heads.

"I love you guys. I'll be back to see you. I'll write to you and you can write back alright? Ginny, Mama and Daddy are going to take lots of pictures and send them to me. I'm sure they'll get pictures of everybody so I can see you grow up; but I won't be gone forever."

"I know."

"Love you," Ginny said with a big smile.

"I love you too," I told her with tears in my eyes as I got into the car. Ashley took my left hand and gave it a squeeze as he turned and drove away from the house with all my brothers and sisters watching. I waved until we couldn't see them anymore. It was hard leaving home, but this was what I'd always wanted. For years I wanted to be Mrs. Ashley Longworth Junior and now I was. I could always come home, but the opportunity to love Ashley and marry him wouldn't always be available- I'd learned that once already. I was ready to start something new in my life; I just knew it.

The End