Harley reached across her to the glove compartment of the car and pulled out a small box that was instantly recognizable. He opened it and offered it to her, showcasing the sparking ring in its bed of navy velvet. It was beautiful. The center was a large princess-cut diamond set in platinum, and in the band were alternating round diamonds and dark blue sapphires. “As a navy vet, I thought perhaps some sapphires were appropriate.”
“When did you have time to get an engagement ring?” she asked. After everything that had happened, it was the last thing she’d expected.
“Before the party,” he said. “It was in my coat pocket the whole time. I was going to give it to you after we left the gala, but that didn’t really work out.”
She just stared at the ring, anxious to reach out and slip it on her finger, yet waiting on him to ask her the all-important question first.
“Jade Nolan...last night was the worst night of my life. I wanted to marry you before all this happened, but now I truly can’t imagine a day of my life without you. We’ve already lost over a decade and I don’t want to lose a minute more. Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Jade smiled and leaned in to give him a kiss. There was no question this time that she would follow her heart. “Yes,” she whispered against his lips. “A million times, yes.”
Epilogue
Jade never thought she’d see the moment that both sets of her parents would be sitting together, enjoying a warm spring day on the top deck of the Steeles’ luxury yacht, the License to Drill. But here they were, along with Harley, all her brothers and Morgan, to celebrate their engagement.
After weeks of working through the details, taking DNA tests and verifying the results to everyone’s satisfaction, the families had come together in the first of many events. It was a bittersweet moment for Jade, to realize she would now be sharing her parents with Morgan, but seeing the tears in her mother Carolyn’s eyes was worth it.
The two families were so different, and yet they were united in their desire to share Morgan and Jade, and build a relationship together. After all, they would always be tied together by the strange twist of fate that swapped their babies that day.
Jade sipped her mimosa and watched everyone with a smile on her face. Her old brother, Dean, and her new brother Finn, were deep-sea fishing. Her mothers were sharing stories about what the girls were like as babies. Her fathers were discussing the different virtues of Scotch while they stood at the bar. It had turned out better than she ever expected it to.
There were still loose ends, but she knew those would be resolved in time. Her kidnappers would be found, and maybe they would be able to find out if the thugs were involved in the original switch. They still didn’t know for sure, although the conversation Jade had overheard in the van certainly made it sound like the two crimes were connected. She had relayed all the information she could remember, but knew there were details she’d forgotten in all the chaos. Despite his initial disinterest, Harley was still working that angle of the case, this time with the Steeles fully cooperating and partially funding the investigation.
It was hard to think about all that, though. It was much more pleasant to focus on her upcoming wedding to Harley, and her newly expanding family.
“I had the sweetest nurse at St. Francis,” she heard her mother Carolyn say. “I’ve been trying to remember her name since all this started and it’s been making me crazy. Did you have her? She was a redhead. Big smile. Very chatty.”
“I think I do remember her,” Patricia said. “I wasn’t having the greatest labor and she kept talking. I wanted more than anything for her to shut up and go away. I want to say it was something like Noreen? Tracy? Nadine?”
“Nancy?” Harley interjected.
“That’s it!” both women said together.
“Nancy. Thank you,” Carolyn said. “That’s been driving me mad.”
The conversation continued, but Harley made his way across the deck to where Jade was sitting. “How did you know the name?” she asked.
“I have the personnel files from the hospital. There was a nurse named Nancy working that day. A nurse who just so happened to kill herself less than a week after you and Morgan were swapped.”
Jade’s sharp intake of breath was barely audible over the ocean breeze and the sound of the music playing through the deck speakers. “Do you think she was involved?”
“It had to be an inside job.”
“I wish I remembered more from the night of the kidnapping. I feel like they said something important, but the whole night has blurred together. Maybe if we find more information, it will jog my memory.”
“Maybe so. Let’s see what we can find.”
Harley didn’t hesitate to pick up his phone and dial Isaiah. While it rang, he leaned in and kissed Jade hard enough to make her blush.
“Hey,” he said into the phone, as he pulled away and gave her a wink that promised more, and soon. “I need you to find out everything you can about a former St. Francis labor and delivery nurse named Nancy.”
* * *
Why were Jade and Morgan switched at birth?
How will Morgan adjust to the surprise of her life
?