Woman, 31, MARRIES her father-in-law, 60, who comforted her when her marriage to his stepson broke down

• Erica Quiggle, 31, from Kentucky, married stepfather-in-law Jeff Quiggle, 60
• Jeff offered her a shoulder to cry on after her marriage to Justin Towell faltered
• In 2017 after marriages ended Jeff confessed feelings and they made love public
• Erica said that her ex-husband Justin was very understanding after she told him 
• Jeff and Erica got married in August 2018 after finding out Erica was pregnant
• Their daughter Brexlee is now two and is half-sister to Erica and Justin’s son 

A woman has told how she married her husband’s stepfather and had a baby together after they were both divorced – despite a 29-year age gap. 

Erica Quiggle, 31, from Harrodsburg, Kentucky, carried a torch for her stepfather-in-law Jeff Quiggle, 60, while they were both still married.

And when her relationship with her first husband, factory worker Justin Towell, who is the father of her nine-year-old son, faltered in 2011, engineer Jeff offered her a shoulder to cry on. 

Stay-at-home mother Erica, who was just 19 when she married Justin, now 38, soon found her gratitude to Jeff blossoming into love. 

Erica Quiggle, 31, married her husband’s stepfather Jeff Quiggle, 60, in 2018 after their respective marriages ended 

Not wanting to hurt anyone and with an age gap of almost 30 years, she tried to fight her feelings but, in 2017, by which time their respective marriages had ended, Jeff had confessed to feeling the same and they made their love public. 

They then completed their family when their daughter, Brexlee, two, was born in 2018 after they were married in August that year. 

Erica, who had known Jeff through Justin’s sister since she was 16, said: ‘It sounds scandalous, but we had this love we could not deny. Despite everything, our relationship is now perfect. 

‘Jeff is the young soul and I’m the old soul. He laughs when I say that, but it all worked out – and Justin was the most understanding person.’ 

Jeff (left) had offered Erica (right) a shoulder to cry on after her marriage to his step-son Justin Towell ended and the couple now have a two-year-old daughter, Bexlee (centre), together (pictured at Christmas in 2019) 

Erica shares custody of her son with Justin, who has remarried and still lives in the same close-knit community – as does his mother – and now wishes the couple well. 

Justin said: ‘Everything’s all good now between us. There’s no hatred there anymore. We talk about our son and we’re both moving on with our lives.’ 

Meanwhile Jeff, who is not naming his ex-wife out of respect for her feelings, says he found his soul mate in Erica. 

He explained: ‘We really enjoy each other the way we are and we’re going to enjoy the time we have. 

Erica and Jeff grew closer together when as a newlywed Erica, who had always loved vintage clothes, began attending car shows and taking part in pin-up, or vintage fashion modelling competitions at local events and Jeff was one of the show organisers

‘We’ve never looked at the age difference – we just fell in love the way we are.’  

After leaving high school in 2008, Erica – then Erica Lane – who had grown up on a trailer park in Harrodsburg, left home to live with her then-boyfriend in nearby Lexington. 

But that relationship crumbled so, in 2010, she returned home, found a job in a department store and began dating Justin, then aged 27 – who was her school friend’s older brother – before marrying him when she was 19. 

She said: ‘I met up with him and we went on a date and for some reason getting married seemed like the right thing to do.

Jeff proposed to his now-wife just weeks after moving into their home and finding out that Erica was pregnant and in August 2018, they held their wedding in their new home and were married by Erica’s uncle

‘His family and my family said we needed to do it and that we were perfect for each other.’

Sadly, Erica said their relationship lacked sparkle and even the birth of their son in 2012, was not enough to keep them together. 

While she landed a job with a major make-up franchise in 2015 and longed for travel and adventure, Justin enjoyed being settled at home. As her ambitions grew, their differences became more pronounced.  

She said: ‘I was building a team and wanted to go on to be a director and travel and do something out of the ordinary. 

They began house hunting in 2017 and, while they were preparing to move into their house in 2018, Erica found out she was pregnant with Brexlee 

‘In a small town you don’t have that many people who dream. It’s not that he didn’t want me to do it – but he didn’t understand it. 

‘It was hard for us, as we couldn’t connect on that level.’  

As a newlywed, Erica, who had always loved vintage clothes, began attending car shows and taking part in pin-up, or vintage fashion modelling competitions at local events. 

Her stepfather-in-law Jeff was one of the show organisers, which drew them closer together. 

Jeff is delighted that Erica helped him to make his dream of becoming a father come true (pictured: Brexlee as a newborn) 

She said: ‘I had actually known him since I was 16 but, of course, we had no connection at that age.’ 

But soon they began to confide in each other – with Erica confessing that she had marital problems. 

Erica admitted: ‘There came a point when I broke down about Justin and said I couldn’t do it anymore. I felt like I was stuck.’ 

That was in late 2015, after which Jeff became her shoulder to cry on, until her marriage was finally over. Meanwhile, Jeff’s marriage to Justin’s mother also came to an end.

Jeff said that he is going to have a ‘great retirement’ where he will do lots of things with his daughter

In September 2016, the couple were separated and, later that autumn, Erica and Justin split up, too.

Moving back in with her parents, Erica admitted she was devastated at breaking up her family.

She explained: ‘I loved my child so much and he was why I had stayed in my marriage. It was heartbreaking taking him away from his home with his dad.

‘I lived with my son and my parents for about a year – and it was hard.’

Brexlee has a half-brother, who Erica shares with her ex-husband Justin and who she wishes to stay anonymous (pictured: Jeff and Erica with baby Brexlee) 

Both newly single, Jeff also admitted to Erica that he had deep feelings for her.

Wanting to be honest with Justin, she told him what was happening and was amazed by his understanding response.

She said: ‘I had a deep conversation with him about how I did not want to hurt him, but I told him mine and Jeff’s love was so strong that we couldn’t give each other up.

‘He was being so supportive and said, ‘If you love somebody you love them and you can’t help who you love.’

Jeff said that he and Erica ‘had things in common’ as they would go to his car shows together and she ‘started doing pin-up at some of the car shows’

And in the summer of 2017, after both their divorces were finalised, Erica and Jeff felt it was time for them to go public and become a proper couple. Then, in the autumn, he asked her to move in with him.

She said: ‘Living together was the best thing ever. Everyone argues, but it was just peaceful. We spent all our time together, we went on trips, he took me places.’ 

Erica and Justin remained committed parents to their son, who to this day splits his time between their homes. 

She said: ‘My son never remembered anything about us splitting up, which is great.’

Erica is keen to scorch rumours that she divorced Justin because of Jeff (whose parents are pictured with baby Brexlee), saying that she divorced Justin because their marriage wasn’t working  

And in late 2017, Erica and Jeff began house-hunting – quickly finding their dream property, which they have been fixing up ever since.

But while preparing to move in in early 2018, Erica said: ‘We had a little surprise.

‘We knew we wanted to get married, but we didn’t know when.

‘We found the house of our dreams, which we’ve been fixing up for a few years – then I ended up getting pregnant with Brexlee.’

Brexlee’s (pictured) half-brother lives between Erica and Justin’s homes, and Justin said that the pair ‘have a pretty good relationship’ and ‘have to make it work’ because of their son

Jeff’s proposal, just weeks after moving into their home and finding out they were having a child, while it was not a grand romantic moment, was still everything Erica had dreamed of.

She said: ‘We were sitting out in the car one day and he was like, ‘Do you want to marry me?’ I was like, “Duh”.

‘It wasn’t some romantic proposal, but it was exactly what we both wanted.’

They then held their August 2018 wedding in their new home, which is already filled with special memories for them to treasure for a lifetime.

Erica said: ‘My uncle actually married us. I was dressed all pin-up, very vintage and Jeff wore cute suspenders and jeans with a white shirt and Van trainer shoes.

‘It was a very special moment.’

And while Erica is blissfully happy with Jeff, she is keen to scotch rumours that she divorced Justin because of him.

Erica said that the chemistry between her and Jeff ‘was instant’, while her marriage with Justin ‘lacked sparkle’ (Erica and Jeff are pictured with friends) 

She said: ‘When we made the decision to divorce our marriage just wasn’t working.’

But she admits that the chemistry between her and her second husband was instant.

She said: ‘He was very educated and wise. He was always learning and when he talked to me, I had all these butterflies. I’ve never had that before.

‘Seeing him live out his dreams, together with his success at work put everything into perspective for me.

‘I realised there was someone out there who did want more in life – it was just someone who was unexpected.’

Jeff admits his love for Erica soon grew as he got to know her well.

Erica said that when she spoke to Jeff, who was ‘very educated and wise’, she got ‘butterflies’ which she had never had before (Erica is pictured with friends in 2016) 

He said: ‘We had things in common. I show cars and we would go together as she started doing pin-up at some of the car shows.

‘We grew a lot closer to each other. We fit together really well.’

He also describes Erica as an ‘old soul’ which means he does not feel their age gap.

He said: ‘My relationship to Justin doesn’t feel that different than it was before. It was a little hard at the beginning, but he’s a really loving person and wants people to be happy.

‘He comes to the house for birthday parties for his son.’

Jeff is also delighted that Erica made his dream of becoming a father come true.

‘I’m going to have a great retirement doing all these things with my daughter,’ he said.

Erica said that while Jeff is a ‘young soul’, she is an ‘old soul’ and that they had a love she could not deny (Erica is pictured with a friend in 2019) 

‘The age difference between me and Erica doesn’t bother us. People mostly think I’m in my forties anyway!’

Justin has also given the couple his blessing. He said: ‘It’s been a few years now since all of this happened, and I’ve left it behind me and moved on.

‘Me and Erica have a kid together, and we think about him above everything else. We do what can to provide support for each other and keep things on the cool side.

‘We have a pretty good relationship – and we have to make it work regardless for our son.’ 

Source: Read Full Article