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EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
“Look,Corazón,”Esme said to her husband. “I think he has your red hair.”
“I think you’re right.” Junior pressed a kiss to his grandson’s head.
Nestled against her hospital bed, tired but happy after nearly twelve hours of labor, Emma couldn’t stop smiling as her husband held their son, Noah Preston Whitlow IV.
“My mom had red hair, too,” Emma said dreamily. “Mine has some red, so I was hoping for at least one ginger baby.”
“He’s breathtaking no matter what color his hair ends up being,” said Noah.
“Beautifully said,Papá,” Esme replied.
The past year had been simply amazing. She and Noah had married in a small ceremony in his garden oasis not long after announcing their engagement. It had been a lovely September wedding, the weather on the cusp between summer and fall, and she’d learned of her pregnancy on their honeymoon. When she’d told Noah that he would be a father, she’d never seen anyone smile so hugely. They’d both done a lot of that since their engagement: smiling.
As they’d dealt with trial preparations for what was shaping up to be a nasty legal battle against Phillip Whitlow, Noah and Ethan had grown close again; Ethan had even stood beside Noah at the wedding. The two men were guiding Whitlow Group into a new era, and each man now sat on the group’s four-member board of Directors. The new board’s first official vote had been to remove Philip Whitlow.
Research and Development had even made massive progress on the nanochip front. Noah had been pushing them hard, and Braydon seemed to think they’d made a breakthrough. Of course, it helped that Bishopandhis daughter had both accepted positions at Whitlow Group and joined the development team. It was amazing how emotions and motivations had changed after Reynolds, Clark & Morgan had come to Bishop’s legal defense. She’d worked with the family to show that Phillip Whitlow had been gaslighting Bishop’s daughter with multi-billion-dollar promises, all with the sole purpose of sabotaging the Lone-Star Tech deal.
Emma tried to stifle a yawn—and failed miserably. “Sorry,” she said. “Keep talking, but don’t judge me if I drift off.”
“Sleep,Mija.” Esme came to Emma’s side and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Rest, and we will go get you something to eat. Just name it, and it will be here when you wake.”
“A latte would be wonderful, but please make sure it’s decaf. Oh, something sweet, too, like fried ice cream from Isadora’s.”
“Consider it done.” Esme pressed another kiss to Emma’s forehead and then Noah’s. “I’ll bring both Isadora and her ice cream by later.”
“Thank you.”
“Ethan wanted you both to know that he’ll be by later, too,” Junior said before leaning down and pressing a kiss to the spot his wife had just kissed. “As is Andi and PJ.”
“PJ also asked me when he could come for another visit,” Esme added with a smile.
PJ had taken to Esme and Junior as quickly as they’d taken to him. They’d fallen in love with him the moment he’d called Esme “Abdula.” He’d been trying forAbuela. They might not be PJ’s biological grandparents, but over the past six months, as talk of the baby had consumed much of the family’s conversation, he’d simply assumed Esme and Junior were his grandparents, too, and neither Whitlow had corrected that assumption.
After the happy grandparents left, Emma returned the cap to Preston’s head. He scrunched up his sweet face and let out the wail of a warrior. Oh, how he hated that cap!
“You’re going to be a handful, aren’t you, sweet boy?” she crooned.
“Especially if he takes after hisabuela.”
“Don’t let her hear you talking about her like that. She’ll skin you alive.” She rested her head on Noah’s arm, sleep pulling relentlessly at her. “Noah, after the doctor clears Preston and me to travel, I want to go on a trip.”
“Sure. Did you have anywhere special in mind,Corazón?”
“Not really.” She yawned hugely and snuggled in for a nap. “It’s just, you still owe me a beach vacation.”
