17. June
JUNE
Three months later
June sat at her desk at her law firm, her cellphone propped up against a stack of files, the bright, eager faces of her grandchildren filling the screen.
“School is so much harder this year, Grandma,” Grace was informing her. “I’ve got three AP classes and the college applications to finish, and Mom keeps reminding me about scholarships.”
“Well, Grace, you’ve always been a brilliant student,” June told her warmly. “You’ll handle all of it in your sleep. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks, Grandma.” Grace beamed at her.
Tyler leaned into the frame from the left.
“Grandma, guess what? I made the soccer team.” Tyler beamed proudly. “I didn’t even know I’d like soccer until I started playing it here in Sandpiper Shores.”
“Tyler, that’s wonderful,” June replied, her heart warming again in the way it always did now when Tyler called her Grandma.
It had only been a few months, but the word had settled in easily.
Holt’s grandson had become her grandson the way Willa’s children had always been, without any fanfare at all.
“Andy, are you and Tyler in the same class this year?”
“Yes, Grandma,” Andy confirmed, his face appearing beside Tyler’s. “And I got into space camp next summer.”
“Space camp!” June pretended complete astonishment. “I’ll have to send you a little astronaut.”
“Don’t,” Andy laughed. “Becky will steal it.”
“I would not,” Becky declared with dignity, her face pushing into frame. “Grandma, Miss Pippen is back in town, and she’s starting ballet again. Zoe and I are going to be in a Christmas pageant for the whole town.”
“A Christmas pageant?” June gasped. “Oh, my goodness, I want to see that.”
“You have to come, Grandma,” Becky insisted. “You have to. Promise me you’ll come.”
“Becky, sweetheart, that’s still two months away. I’ll see what I can do. I would love to see you in the pageant. I’ll do my absolute best,” June promised.
“You have to come, Mom,” Willa added from somewhere off-screen. “It’s strange having Aunt Carmen here without you.”
June smiled. Her relationship with Willa had been carefully rebuilding for months now.
They weren’t quite where they’d been before that terrible night in Willa’s house, but they were moving forward with a gentleness neither of them had quite managed to find in the first few weeks after.
Willa had forgiven her. June was slowly learning how to forgive herself.
“How is the renovation going on Carmen and Zane’s new house?” June asked. “Is it starting to look like a home yet?”
“Oh, it’s gorgeous, Mom,” Willa replied, her face appearing in the corner of the screen as the kids shuffled around. “They’ve opened up the whole back wall to give Zane his view of the water. Aunt Carmen is thrilled. She’s already started setting up her kitchen.”
“I’m so happy for them,” June said softly.
The engagements in Sandpiper Shores had come one after another over the past three months.
Tom and Lucy had been the first. Then Dean and Lacey.
Then Carmen and Zane. Then Margo and Rad.
And just two weeks ago, right in June’s living room in Miami, Ace had quietly dropped to one knee in front of Willa while Rad and the four children looked on with their phones already recording.
Willa had said yes before Ace had even finished the question, and June had watched her daughter cry happy tears in her fiancé’s arms. She had felt something old and bruised inside her chest finally start to heal.
June had taken the visit as an olive branch. Willa chose to get engaged in Miami, so her mother could be there. It had meant everything.
“How is Rad enjoying having his father as his police chief?” June asked, steering the conversation around the one name she still avoided when she could.
“I think he’s loving it,” Willa replied. “Mina is moving here, too, actually. She’s selling up her place in Miami. Rad is building a cottage extension onto the side of the lighthouse for her.”
“That’s wonderful, Willa. She’ll love being close to the family.” June smiled, thinking of Mina.
“She will.” Willa paused. “Rad and Ace have actually gone somewhere together, Mom. They didn’t tell me where. Just that they had something to sort out and they’d be back in a day or two.”
June’s brows lifted slightly. “That sounds mysterious.”
“I know. Rad said not to ask too many questions, so I’m not asking.” Willa sighed and shrugged.
June glanced at her wristwatch, and her eyes widened.
“Oh, goodness. I have to go, sweetheart. I’ll call you all back tomorrow, I promise.” June started sliding her office chair back.
“Are you taking Victoria today?” Willa asked.
“Yes, today is the day. I can’t be late.” June picked up the phone.
“Send her all our love. Tell her we’re thinking of her. And take videos of everything, Mom,” Willa said.
“I will, I promise. I love you all,” June called into her phone.
“We love you too, Grandma,” the children chorused.
June blew them a kiss and ended the call.
She grabbed her bag, threw on the soft blue dress jacket she’d been saving for the day, and hurried out of her office. Her assistant looked up as June passed her desk.
“June, I was just going to buzz you,” she said. “Mrs. Morrison is waiting in the town car outside.”
“Thank you, Beth,” June called back, already halfway down the hallway to the elevator.
The sleek black town car was idling at the curb as June rushed out of the tall glass building.
June still smiled every time she saw it. Victoria and Alfred had decided to keep the bulletproof car Dagwood had sold them months ago. Victoria had insisted that, after everything that had happened, she would never take chances again. The tinted windows were a particular source of pride for her.
Alfred stepped out of the driver’s seat as June approached, opened the back door for her with a warm smile, and gave her his customary small, dignified nod.
“Good morning, June. You look beautiful today.” He gave a small bow.
“Good morning, Alfred, and thank you,” June replied, sliding into the backseat.
Victoria was sitting with her hands folded carefully in her lap, a small bouquet of white roses resting on her knees.
She was wearing a soft ivory dress that caught the morning light, giving her skin a warm glow.
Her hair was pulled back simply. She wore very little makeup, and she had never looked more beautiful.
“Sorry, I’m late,” June apologized, pulling the door closed as Alfred returned to the driver’s seat. “I was on the phone with Willa and the children. They send their love. They’re all thinking of you today.”
“Thank you, June,” Victoria said softly. She reached out and squeezed June’s hand. “I know I’ve done this once before, but I’m so nervous I can barely breathe.”
“Victoria, you’re going to be absolutely fine.” June squeezed her hand back. “And you look gorgeous. Just right for today.”
Alfred pulled the car smoothly into the morning traffic.
The prison sat squat and grey against a flat Florida sky.
June had been here many times over the past three months.
She had negotiated, filed motions, sat through parole hearings, argued points of law with the state’s attorneys, and had built a careful, airtight case for Tony’s early release based on his decades of cooperation, his documented duress, and the full unraveling of the Sandpiper Shores investigation that had finally put the true culprits behind bars.
The day the parole board had approved Tony’s release, June had been the one to call Victoria.
Victoria had cried for twenty solid minutes before she’d been able to speak a coherent sentence.
Today was the day.
Alfred pulled the car into the visitors’ parking area and shut off the engine.
“Are you ready, Mrs. Morrison?” Alfred asked gently.
Victoria let out a long, shaky breath. “More than I’ve ever been.”
“Then let’s not keep the gentleman waiting.” Alfred grinned.
They sat in the car for a few more minutes while the formalities were finalized inside.
Then the main doors opened, and a tall, lean man in a dark grey suit stepped out into the morning light.
His hair was silver at the temples. He paused for a moment on the steps, squinting slightly in the sun, until his eyes found the black town car.
Then Tony Vincent smiled.
Victoria was out of the car before June could draw breath.
“Isn’t that bad luck?” Alfred asked, laughing as he watched Victoria running across the parking lot with her bouquet of white roses in one hand and the skirt of her ivory dress hitched up in the other.
“Let her have this, Alfred,” June told him, her eyes brimming. “She’s been waiting since she was seventeen.”
“Yes, she has.” Alfred agreed, giving the couple a few moments.
They got out of the car and watched Victoria reach Tony and throw her arms around his neck. Tony caught her easily and held her tight and buried his face against her hair. For a long moment, neither of them moved.
When they finally walked back across the parking lot together, Tony had his arm linked firmly with Victoria’s, and Victoria was glowing in a way June had never seen on her.
Tony was a striking man, June thought. He’d aged well despite the years inside.
His eyes were warm and steady and carried the quiet gratitude of a man who had just walked into the first good day of the rest of his life.
“June,” Tony greeted her, pulling her gently into a careful hug. “I cannot thank you enough. For my freedom. For everything you’ve done. For bringing my son back to me.”
“Tony, you’ve thanked me enough already,” June told him warmly. “And I barely had to do anything for Harvey. He was ready to come to you. I just got him through the door.”
“Alfred,” Tony said, turning and pulling Alfred into a firm embrace. “It’s good to see you, my friend.”
“It’s good to see you too, Tony.” Alfred’s eyes misted over for a few seconds before he composed himself.