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“Thank you,” Tyler said, his voice rough. “That means a lot.”
“I should have said it more when we were growing up. I should have done more—”
“Stop, man. We’re together now. The three of us. Our kids. That’s all that matters.”
“Hi, guys,” Savannah said, stepping into the room and right into the space between us. “Wow. It looks like Christmas exploded in here.”
“What are you doing up?” I asked, wrapping an arm around my sister. Savannah liked hugs, and I was making up for lost time.
“Checking on Margot.”
“How is she?” Tyler asked.
“Sleeping comfortably.”
We were silent, staring into the glitter and gleam of a holiday at The Manor. Maybe Margot’s last one. None of us said it, but the thought was there, as much a part of the holiday as the food and gifts. We’d returned the ruby to the casino anonymously last year, and three months later Margot had had a stroke.
And then another.
Zoe and I tried to come back to The Manor as often as we could. It was difficult with the baby and Zoe’s academy taking off like it was, but everyone was well aware that Margot didn’t have much longer to live.
Luckily, the foundation work I did for Lafayette Corp. I could do from anywhere.
“She’s had a good life,” Tyler said. “She’s eighty-five—”
“No, she’s not!” I said. “She’s like seventy.”
Savannah laughed. “You’re both wrong. Matt and I were looking for her will and we found her birth certificate. Margot’s ninety-two.”
“Shut. Up,” Tyler whispered, and shook his head. “What a woman.”
“What a mom,” Savannah said. “Good and bad. We couldn’t have had a better one.”
“No,” I agreed. “And I couldn’t have a better brother or sister.”
Savannah held my hand, and Tyler’s arm around my shoulder felt like the best kind of anchor, keeping me here, present and rooted in my life.
“We’re starting a new legacy,” I said. “For our kids.”
Savannah nodded. “Something they can be proud of. Part of Margot, but parts of us.”
“And hopefully a good portion of the people we married,” Tyler said, and we all nodded. “But I’m still teaching all our kids how to play hold-em.”
Savannah groaned.
“I’m not kidding,” Tyler said.
“I know,” she said. “That’s what scares me.”
My heart was huge in my chest, love like a balloon. But I suddenly needed Zoe and Amelia.
This love was like that. I’d be in the middle of a meeting and I would need them. Need Amelia’s sweet babble, or the touch of Zoe’s hand on mine. The weight of my girls in my arms.
“Good night, guys,” I said. “You should get some sleep—it’s going to be a short night.”
Tyler groaned, and we all went upstairs to our beds.
I opened the door to my old room. The light from the night-light in the hallway fell over Zoe’s sleeping face, the baby nestled against her in the middle of the bed.
It was no way to sleep—with a tornado baby in bed with you—but sometimes it was the best thing in the world.
I slid under the covers as quietly as I could, and Amelia sighed in her sleep, rolled over and flung out a hand, connecting with my face.
Zoe’s silent laugh shook the covers. “You okay?” she whispered, her green eyes aglow.
Okay? I thought, suddenly overwhelmed. The woman of my dreams was in my bed, the baby of my heart beside me. My family was asleep in the house around me. Every dream I had ever had for my life had been reborn and made better, because of this woman.
“Sweetie,” Zoe sighed, reaching forward and catching the tears that fell from my eyes.
I caught her hand and pressed a kiss to it.
Never in my wild imagination had I thought that being a Notorious O’Neill would make me so damn happy.
