Epilogue
JUDE
One month later…
The building looks insane.
Three stories, all glass and clean lines and a mural of painted animals stretching across the south wall.
A dog mid-leap. A cat curled in sunlight.
A rabbit with ears that look bigger than its body.
Nora picked every animal. Dina picked the colors.
I paid the artist double to finish it in two weeks.
Worth it.
The crowd's bigger than I expected. Local news. Donors. People who heard about the expansion and wanted to see what happens when you throw Ashford money at a dream and let it grow.
Inside, the animals are settled—custom kennels, climate control, a medical suite that could rival most human hospitals. Nora cried when she saw it. Dina screamed. I took about forty photos and sent them to the family group chat with a single message: nailed it.
Cade texted back: You're an idiot.
Rhett sent a thumbs-up emoji.
Mom sent a heart.
I'll take it.
Nora's standing near the ribbon, holding oversized scissors like she's not sure what to do with them.
She's wearing a sundress—blue, fitted at the waist, freckles everywhere the fabric doesn't cover.
Her hair's pulled back in a braid, and she's glowing.
Smiling. Laughing at something Dina says. She looks happy.
But I've been watching her all morning, and I know better.
She checked her phone twice in the last ten minutes. Her smile dims every time she scans the crowd and comes up empty. She hasn't said a word about it. Hasn't mentioned him once. But I know who she's looking for.
David.
One month. Radio silence. Vivienne told us he needed time.
Nora told us she understood. But standing here, watching her try to pretend she's not disappointed, I want to grab my phone and call the man myself.
Tell him to get his ass down here before I drive to his house and drag him out by his boring teacher tie.
Then I see him.
David. Vivienne beside him. Walking toward us from the parking lot.
Nora sees them at the same time. Her hand goes to her mouth. The scissors clatter to the ground.
She doesn't run. Just stands there, frozen, like she's afraid if she moves, they'll disappear.
David walks faster. Closes the distance. Pulls her into a hug that makes my chest hurt.
"I'm so proud of you, sweetheart." His voice cracks. "I've always been proud of you. And I'm sorry it took me a while."
"I love you, Dad."
"And I love you, kiddo. Just don't go around giving me mini heart attacks. I'm not as young as I used to be."
Nora sobs into his shoulder. Full-body, shaking sobs. Dina's crying. Half the crowd's crying. I'm not crying. I'm just—okay, my eyes are wet. Whatever.
Cade's hand lands on my shoulder. Rhett's on my other side. We don't say anything. Don't need to.
David pulls back, cups Nora's face, smiles at her like she hung the moon. Vivienne steps forward and squeezes Nora's hand. Brief. Restrained. But she's here. That counts.
Someone—probably Dina—shouts, "Photo! Everyone get in the photo!"
We line up. Nora in the center, flanked by me, Cade, and Rhett on one side. David in the other. Vivienne next to David. The six of us, standing in front of a building that shouldn't exist and does because Nora wanted it and we made it happen.
The camera clicks.
Nora leans into me, her head against my shoulder. She's still crying. Still smiling.
I kiss the top of her head and think, This. Right here. This is everything.