Chapter 12 - THE PLACE BESIDE HIM
A year later.
The lake house was completely rebuilt, its fresh white paint gleaming under the Michigan summer sun.
I stood on the wooden porch, holding a tray of lemonade.
A gentle breeze rolled off the water, carrying the scent of pine and freedom.
Down on the sandy beach, Matteo was chasing Isla. She was eleven now, taller, and laughing so hard her shoulders shook.
Elias Bellandi and Daniel Mercer were serving life sentences in a maximum-security federal prison. Meredith had taken a plea deal for five years.
The Bellandi empire had been completely restructured, with Nico overseeing a new charitable foundation in Olivia’s name.
And my father?
Arthur Price had finally come out of hiding. He was sitting on a lawn chair near the water, awkwardly but happily trying to learn sign language from my brother, Noah.
I smiled, stepping off the porch and walking down the sandy path toward them.
Isla saw me coming. She abandoned her father and ran to me, throwing her arms around my waist.
Hannah! she signed, her face glowing with joy.
I set the tray down on a picnic table and signed back. Are you winning the race?
She grinned. Daddy is too slow. He needs more potatoes.
Matteo jogged up, panting, his hair messy from the wind. He looked younger, lighter, the heavy shadows of the past completely erased from his eyes.
He looked at me, a soft, genuine smile spreading across his face.
“She’s cheating,” Matteo signed, his ASL flawless now.
Isla giggled. Then, she reached into her pocket.
She pulled out a small, folded piece of paper.
She looked at me, then handed it to her father.
Matteo opened it carefully.
I recognized it immediately. It was the other half of the torn card from the engagement dinner, carefully taped back together.
For Daddy. From Isla.
Matteo looked down at his daughter, his eyes shining.
Isla stepped back, raised her hands, and gave the toast she had waited an entire year to deliver.
Daddy... When Mommy died, I thought our family was broken.
Matteo knelt in the sand, watching her hands.
But you protected me. You protected Mommy’s house. And you found the truth.
She looked at me, then back at her father.
I know our family changed.
Isla stepped forward and gently took my hand, pulling me down to kneel beside her father in the sand.
But I’m glad we saved a place for Hannah beside us.
Matteo looked at me. His eyes were warm, filled with a promise of a future we were finally free to build together.
May you like
He reached out and closed his hand over mine and Isla’s.
Me too, sweetheart, he signed. Me too.
