“You’ve got a five minute head start.” I kiss my promise against her cheek.
“Come get me.” Blair gets up, luring me with a flirty look. She crooks her finger as she backs toward the window. “Catch me if you can.”
“I’ll always chase you. Five minutes,” I remind her. “Then I’m coming to capture you again, little thief.”
Forty-Seven
Epilogue
BLAIR
2 Years Later
Ridgeview is blanketed in fluffy heaps of snow, frosting the boughs of pine trees as I drive up to Mom’s new house. It’s a cute little cottage in the mountains. Mom was able to buy it earlier this year, before my fall semester at Oak Ridge College started.
Thanks to Devlin’s financial advisor working pro bono with Mom and I in the second half of senior year, we created a plan to tackle the debt. Devlin offered to help, but it was something we both had to do for ourselves. We’re finally free of the burden Dad left us. It’s been liberating to have that weight lifted from our shoulders.
Mom is happy and healthy. At the end of summer before I went back to school with Gemma and Lucas, she found work as the manager of the new bakery in downtown Ridgeview. Her time at the clinic did her a world of good. Devlin’s parents might have a complicated relationship with him, but their medical expertise gave Mom her life back. I’m grateful to have her living her best life.
The stone chimney emits a curl of woodsmoke. Mom must have a fire going. I smile as I hop out of my car, inhaling the fresh mountain air and the scent of firewood. My boots crunch on the snow as I head for the front door.
I’m home for winter break and I plan to spend the first few days with Mom until Devlin’s break starts. We go to different colleges, but his is close to Oak Ridge. He’ll drive down to Ridgeview from the townhouse we live in between both campuses at the end of the week after his developmental psychology final finishes.
I love my life in a way I never knew was possible. More than that, I love sharing it with Devlin. The things we face, we grow through together. I always think of the glittering gold that fuses over our old, healed cracks, not forgetting them, but making them shine.
We’ve barely been separated since graduation. It made sense to live together in our spacious townhouse when we already lived together at Devlin’s house in Ridgeview. He picked it out specifically because it had plenty of room for my growing book collection. I tease him about it, since his library of books for his psychology degree rivals mine.
“Hey, Mom!” I call as I kick snow from my boots.
Her cottage is warm and inviting, the fire crackling in the stone fireplace filling the comfortable home with a drowsy sort of heat. I unwind my scarf and hang my coat up.
“In the kitchen! I’m making muffins.”
“Smells great.”
“How was the drive down?” Mom pokes her head out from the arched door to the kitchen. There’s a smudge of flour on her cheek and my heart expands with a bloom of happiness. She beams. “Good to see you, baby girl.”
I cross the room and envelop her in a hug. Our old tradition hasn’t died. I’ll always hug her when either of us walk in the door. She smells like sugary batter and cinnamon. Her arms close around me, squeezing me tight.
“Missed you! The video chats aren’t the same as the real deal.”
I laugh. “I know. I’m here now, though. The drive was good.”
“I hope Devlin’s dri
ve isn’t bad. They’re calling for another storm.”
“Oh, trust me, he’s hoping for it. He’s got a new addition.” It’s a BMW X1, perfect for driving in all terrains. Lucas has been by our townhouse to drool over it several times since Devlin bought it. I shake my head, affection lacing my tone. “He’s been dying for a good snowfall to see what it can do.”
Mom chuckles. “That boy and his cars.”
“I know, tell me about it.” I go about making tea on autopilot. “You should see what I rode here in. I was going to take my car, but he wasn’t having it and made me drive the Land Rover instead.”
The Corolla is no more. It died a pitiful, sputtering death days before our senior graduation, but Devlin had something waiting for me. He called the shiny red Audi Q7 a congratulations for getting a scholarship to Oak Ridge College present. I teased him that he wanted me to have my own red ride so I’d stop stealing his. Devlin’s mouth had curled up at the corners and he reminded me how great he thinks I look in red.
Mom checks on the muffins baking in the oven and accepts the mug of tea I hand her when it’s ready. “I like that he’s so protective of you. It gives him the Mom certified stamp of approval.”
I bite my lip around a fond smile. Secretly I like it, too. But it keeps him on his toes if I sass him with my independence.