Epilogue
Unable to quit smiling, Lorelei shaded her eyes against the sunlight glinting off the sea as she watched Finn and Lucy playing down the beach, in the surf.
She’d just gotten a series of nasty texts from her ex—Mark was furious that Finn was staying at the house—but she was so love-drunk she didn’t care.
Maybe it’d be different if Lucy didn’t like Finn.
But she was almost as excited to have Finn around as Lorelei was.
When her phone went off yet again, Lorelei ignored it.
No doubt it was Mark, sending her another hateful message.
She wasn’t going to allow him the opportunity to ruin this magical afternoon or any of the time she had to spend with Finn.
Mark was living with her former best friend.
Certainly, she had the right to move on, too.
She’d been trying to rebuild her life ever since the divorce; she just hadn’t been able to get to a place where she felt whole, complete and happy.
Until now.
Finn made all the difference.
“Come out with us!” he called, waving for her to join them.
She got up, but when she bent to slide her phone under her chair to protect it from the hot Florida sun, she saw that the message she’d received was from Serenity, not Mark, and it’d been sent to the group text she and Serenity had going with Reagan.
Can’t wait to see you both in a few weeks. Sawyer and I are at the cabin now, and being in Tahoe is making me look forward to our reunion even more.
Lorelei paused to send a response. I can’t wait.
Mark has a family trip planned at the same time and is demanding to take Lucy.
I know how much you both wanted to see her, and I’d rather bring her, but I think I’ll let her go with him this time.
I have her way more than he does, and it might help keep the peace.
A reply appeared from Reagan. Totally understand. We’ll have to plan a sisters’ trip to Florida this fall so we can spend some time with her.
Serenity: I’d be down with that.
Reagan: What about Finn? He still coming?
Lorelei glanced over her shoulder, where she could see Finn helping Lucy come closer to shore, so she wouldn’t get too tumbled by the waves. He is.
How are things going between you? Serenity asked.
There was so much Lorelei had to tell them both, but she didn’t have the time or the privacy to go into it right now. So she sent them a simple emoticon that summed it all up anyway.
Reagan: LOL! A smiley face is good. Is he still in Florida with you?
It’d been two weeks since he arrived, but he hadn’t mentioned leaving. Lorelei was beginning to wonder if he might stay until they were supposed to go to California. His job allowed him to be that flexible. Yeah.
Is he thinking of moving there? Reagan asked.
Lucy’s voice interrupted. “Are you coming, Mommy?”
“One second, honey,” Lorelei called back. I think so, she wrote. Eventually.
Reagan: Whoa! Seriously?
Serenity: OMG!
Last night when they were making love, he’d told her that he loved her for the first time. She sort of wanted to tell her sisters about that, but it was too intimate a moment to share, even with them.
“Mo-om!” Lucy yelled, her voice full of complaint. “You’re taking forever!”
Lorelei sent her sisters a heart, but before she could set her phone down again, another text came in, and this one wasn’t from Reagan or Serenity—or even Mark. She was so stunned by what it said that she didn’t hear Finn or Lucy rushing up the beach to get her until they were right beside her.
Lucy reached up to take her hand and pull her toward the water, but Finn recognized that something was going on and muttered, “Just sec, Luce.” And then, to Lorelei, “What is it?”
She blinked several times, almost afraid to believe what she was seeing.
“Lorelei?” he prompted.
“I have a message from that investigator I told you about.”
“The one you hired to find out what happened…in the past?”
He could’ve stated it more directly, but she knew by that pause in the middle that he was trying to be sensitive of Lucy, didn’t want to say, “The person who probably murdered your mother?”
“Yes.”
His eyebrows shot up expectantly. “And?”
“The police have just arrested Mitch Ryan. They’re going to charge him.”
“For what happened to your mother?”
“No. For the wife that went missing in Chicago.”
“I thought they hadn’t found what they needed to make the charges stick?”
“What are you talking about?” Lucy asked, wrinkling her nose as she looked up at them, but Lorelei was too stunned to answer that question.
“She still hasn’t been found. But Rutledge has located a neighbor who has since moved but was having an affair with him at the time. Rutledge says that this woman has incriminating testimony against him that should even lead to hard evidence.”
“That’s almost too good to be true,” he said.
“It is.” She felt tears well up as she threw her arms around his neck. “Mitch will never be able to hurt anyone else again.”
“I know how much this means to you, and I’m so glad it’s finally happened,” he murmured and they both laughed in happiness and relief as he picked her up and swung her around.
“I love you,” she whispered before he put her down. Then she grabbed her daughter’s hand and the three of them raced toward the ocean.