Final Chapter #3
“—to make her dream come true,” finished Mrs. Finley as she found me in the crowd, and winked.
“And so, I did so in the name of her friend, and my son.” Stepping aside, Mrs. Finley gestured to the grand sign stamped bold and proud on the gates.
“Together we created Colin Finley’s Home for Everyone. ”
I brOKE OFF FROM THE tour group and caught the shuttle back to my car. Hopping in, I made the short drive home.
Sure, I didn’t need to visit on my off days.
Mrs. Finley was the best administrator ever.
She had everything in hand, along with a capable team, but still, every now and then I liked to see what we created together, and plant myself in the middle of a group of potential donors and do my best to sway them.
Soon, I was rolling up on our oceanfront mansion, the smile already on my lips.
The home I bought was night and day from the dusty, drafty haunted manor we left behind.
This beauty was an all-white, two-story luxury retreat with private cabanas by the pool, a tennis court, a firepit on our private stretch of beach, home theater, exercise room, game room, and a separate guesthouse with three bedrooms and four bathrooms for when Courtney, her husband formally known as Mr. Stevens, and their two kids, Taylor and Joey, came to stay for the summers.
With everything we could possibly need inside, we didn’t have much reason to leave our haven—which was good since my husbands were all legally dead.
After leaving Lantana behind for good, we lay low in Europe while the news repeated broadcasts of the burning of Kim Manor and the quadruple suicide of Kim Manor’s inhabitants.
As it happened, Sue’s body did wash ashore and they were able to bury her properly—but, as expected, finding her sealed the deal on Rhodes, Micah, and Alex.
They were officially declared dead, and the Lee family was born.
Sarang became Soo Min who officially became Sarah Lee. Rhodes became Elijah Lee. Micah traded his name in for Roman Lee, and Fritz Calloway went from that to Alexander Montgomery and finally to Brooks Lee. Then, there were the kids...
I pushed inside. “I’m home.”
“Mommy, Mommy!” Two torpedoes came at me from opposite sides, blocking my chance of escape.
I laughed as Ha-joon and Ji-ho tackled a leg each—trying to fell me like a tree. “Hello, my babies, have you been misbehaving while I was away?”
“Yes!” the twins cried, more than pleased with themselves.
I looked down at my boys, my heart bursting at the seams and overflowing with love. I still remembered the day the guys and I went back for our second IVF appointment and were told that we couldn’t proceed because I was already pregnant.
That news dropped me on my ass, but it was the news that I was having twins that crumpled Micah, and then we doubled the faints when Alex and Rhodes discovered our babies had two different fathers, and they were the two.
Naturally, between an Asian mother, Black father, and white father, we gave birth to fraternal twins that couldn’t look less alike.
All they shared were adorable cherub faces and big, calla lily eyes like their momma, but there was no telling the boys that they weren’t identical.
The three-year-olds were the most adorable goofballs who liked to change clothes, pretend to be the other, and then shriek with laughter when they “tricked” us.
But even sweeter than the innocence of babes was how much they loved each other.
I knew from day one that Ha-joon and Ji-ho would be nothing like me and Sue. They would always be there for each other and have the other’s back. Family would always be something safe to them.
“There you are, sweetheart.” Micah’s mother, Marsha, padded into the front room and kissed me warmly on the cheek. “How was the tour? Did we get any new donors?”
“We got all of them,” I said, making Marsha clap with excitement. “Which is worth celebrating with some... ice cream!”
“Yay!” The boys took off running for the kitchen, championing their coming victory of the icy treat.
“Where’s Lily?” I asked.
“Where else?” Marsha tossed an amused look over her shoulder. “Wreaking havoc on the beach with Taylor. I tell you, Sarah, it’s the biggest injustice of her life that Taylor has to leave at the end of every summer. The two are closer than sisters.”
I groaned. “Believe me, I’ve tried to get Courtney to move down here, but she’s opening up another location in New York, and she insists she needs to be close by to supervise everything. Florida to New York is too long a commute.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Well, you tell her that they love cookies and cupcakes just as much in Florida as they do in New York, so she can just as well open a location down here and do all her supervising right next to her best friend and godchildren.”
“Yes, ma’am, I will tell her.”
Laughing, she took off for the kitchen. “Lunch will be ready in an hour. Micah took his father and Rhodes out on the boat, but they promised to be back by then. We’re all eating together now that the Stevens family is finally back home.”
Home.
Oh, how I loved that word. My home where I was surrounded by all the people I loved.
My home where I was finally safe to be myself with people who encouraged and supported me.
It was my guys who gave me the push I needed to go back to school and get my law degree.
Even when I thought I’d have to drop out to carry and care for the twins, they held on to me the whole way through, and became feeding, pampering, burping, rocking machines—completely taking on the care of our babies while I studied and passed the bar on my first try.
Now, I was one of the lawyers on retainer for Colin’s Home.
As for Micah, he was never going to fake his death and let his parents believe that they not only lost everything, they lost their only child too.
He let them in on the plan first thing, and then flew them over to live with us after the heat died down and the investigation was closed.
Now, Marsha and Arthur got to spend all day in a mansion with their grandbabies.
They both agreed this retirement was way better than the one my mother stole from them.
But Micah, Alex, and Rhodes were not retired. Even though they could’ve kicked back and cruised through life on my inherited millions, the good and kind men I married felt compelled to join the Colin’s Home family.
Rhodes now taught financial literacy and investment classes. When he wasn’t doing that, he was leading a support group for family members touched by gambling addiction.
Micah also followed his talents. He was officially the home’s football coach. There were a lot of kids to teach, so he held practices five afternoons a week, and taught business classes five mornings a week.
That just left my Alex, who’d finally gone for his dream and applied to med school. He wasn’t finished with that or his residency yet, but he already knew he planned to work for one of the Colin’s Home clinics.
I padded upstairs to my home, soaking in our beautiful, light, airy home for the millionth time.
Gone were the dark walls, pressing hallways, and dreary rooms. Everything was cream, light gray, and baby blue.
This home of a thousand windows always had them open and letting in the sunshine—making us all one with the sea and sand.
Topping the stairs, I made for my bedroom at the end of the hall.
I had a particularly tricky case brought to us by a man who came to Colin’s Home with his two children.
Because he didn’t have a steady job or live in a safe area, his ex-wife was given custody of the kids.
Unfortunately, said ex-wife was married to an unsafe man, and he simply refused to leave his children alone in a house with him.
Trapped and scared for his children, he picked the kids up from school and drove through four states to find safe haven here with us.
Dad was looking at some serious charges—kidnapping at the top of the list—but I chose this career path because I wanted to give a voice to all of those scared kids out there who aren’t believed.
And no matter what it took, I would make the system listen to these little kids, and their desire to stay with the parent who loved them so much, he’d give up his freedom to see them safe.
Walking inside, I found a surprise on my bed.
“Oh, hello,” I teased, grinning. “What brings you by?”
Alex grinned right back. “I’ve brought you a package.”
“What package?” I asked, peering around.
Alex shamelessly grabbed his unmentionables. “This package.”
“Wow.” Giggling, I crossed to my desk. “Did it take you all week to come up with that line?”
“Hey, go easy on me. I’m new to this seduction thing,” he cried. “I’ve spent the last five years shacking up with this hot-ass piece of tail.”
“Oh, have you?” I winked at him over my shoulder. “Tell me more about her.”
“Quadruple threat. Funny, smart, kind, and sexy. She wakes a mighty beast in my pants whenever I look at her.”
I could not contain myself. Alex had me blushing as hard as I was giggling.
“Problem is,” Alex continued, “I haven’t been inside of her in the past seventy-two hours, and that needs to be rectified immediately.”
“Oooh, agreed,” I purred.
Alex was pushing against his forties, and he was still one of the sexiest men around. He grew out his soft, dusky locks, so now they fell over his eyes—drawing my hands to them a dozen times a day to bring back those perfect, hazel orbs.
Thanks to daily runs on the beach, Alex was in even better shape than he was in high school. Every inch of him was hard, tanned, and muscled, and going three days without rubbing myself all over those muscles was torture.