Epilogue
ABBIE
ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS LATER
“Happy Fourth of July!”
Sophie and I pose together with our pregnant bellies touching as I hold up my phone and take a selfie of the two of us.
Jake and I are hosting a barbecue in the backyard of our beautiful two-story Victorian-style house.
We moved into it about six months ago, after spending some time fixing it up.
I love everything about it. The original, refinished woodwork, the large bay window in the kitchen, and the big backyard where Lilah can run around and play.
The best part, though, is that Sophie and Carter live just down the block.
“Let me see,” Sophie says, reaching for my phone to inspect our picture. “Oh! Look at us! We’re so cute. I can’t believe we’re both pregnant… God, it’s so nice to have someone to go through it with me this time.”
“Agreed.” I nod, rubbing a hand over my swollen belly. “It’s going to be so fun to watch all the kiddos growing up together.”
We look around the yard at all our friends gathered together.
Jake, Tom, and Carter are gathered around the grill, beers in hand, talking about the recent hockey season.
Jordan and his friends are keeping Lilah and Chase entertained, and little Hunter is asleep in his playpen under the shade of a large maple tree.
It’s so peaceful and idyllic, I can hardly believe this is my life.
I’m so lucky and so happy. It’s crazy to think how close I was to losing all this.
Thankfully, Westbrook’s trial is finally over and the asshole is locked away for a really long time.
Apparently, I wasn’t the first woman he stalked, so there was plenty of evidence to use to get him thrown in prison.
Having him behind bars is such a relief.
I feel like I can breathe freely for the first time in years.
Lilah’s laughter fills the air as Jordan runs around with her on his shoulders. Bodhi has Chase on his, and Theo is stomping around, growling and pretending to be a dragon chasing down Lilah, who is — of course — the princess.
“I can’t believe Lilah and Chase have those boys running around like that,” I chuckle, shaking my head.
“God, I hope Chase is that nice when he’s fourteen.” Sophie sighs.
“Oh, he’s going to be a sweetheart,” I assure her. “Lilah already has him wrapped around her finger.”
“They grow up so fast, don’t they?” Sophie’s voice is layered with emotion now. “Could you have imagined we’d be here four years ago?”
I shake my head. “No, not at all. It’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?”
At that moment, Jake makes his way over to Jordan and grabs Lilah, lifting her up into the air.
“I’m the king!” he yells, plopping her on his shoulders as she giggles wildly. “You’ll never get my precious daughter!”
The boys start chasing after him, all pretending to be dragons now and Lilah shrieks with laughter as she clings to her dad.
He’s so good with her. She’s brought out his silly side. His playful side. They regularly have tea parties and Jake lets her do his “makeup” with the washable toy makeup kit we bought her.
“I can’t wait to see Carter wrapped around our little girl’s finger the way Jake is wrapped around Lilah’s,” Sophie says with a soft grin, rubbing her belly.
“They’re going to be a great pair of girl dads,” I giggle.
The boys catch Jake and he pretends to let them defeat him. Jordan grabs Lilah and puts her back on his shoulders and they all run off while Jake makes his way over to me, panting softly.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he says, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Do you need anything? You okay?”
I give him a smile. “Everything is perfect.”
“Good.” He wraps an arm around my waist and kisses me again, this time on the forehead.
“Oh no, that’s terrible!” Startled, we turn toward Tom, who’s standing off to the side on his phone. His jaw has dropped and his eyes are wide. “O-okay… yeah. We’ll be there. Thanks.”
Everyone is looking at Tom now as he hangs up the phone and looks around at all of us with a stunned expression.
“What is it?” Carter asks. “What’s wrong?”
Tom swallows before answering, “Um, Benson Scott passed away last night.”
We all let out a collective gasp and Carter looks stricken, the color draining from his face.
“Oh, my God,” Sophie whimpers.
“Yeah,” Tom murmurs. “That’s not all, though.”
“What else?” Jake prompts.
“That was actually an attorney who just called. They’re reading his will soon, and … Carter, Sophie, and I are all invited to attend.”
Want to know how the Ivy Glen series started? Turn the page for a sneak peek of Left on Ice!