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love like this. Not even in my wildest dreams.”
Daniel sighed. “I did. But I never thought it would be for the likes of me. Until you, Lorelei. Until you.”
**
On the day of the parole hearing, Lorelei walked in to the building with her head held high. Daniel was at her side, along with Olga and Bethany. The parole board had agreed to take her testimony without James Ellis being present, despite objections from his attorney. It made sense, according to Daniel, for his attorney to object to it, since it was all about intimidation of a witness. It was much easier to control things if you could sit there and stare a witness down.
Lorelei was able to have Daniel present in the room and, although she had written a statement, she decided to speak from the heart. She didn’t need a script to convey to the parole board all of the reasons why her attacker needed to stay in prison for as long as he could be held there. As she ended her speech, Lorelei said, “Nobody deserves to be victimized and held at knifepoint. Nobody deserves that terror and to be under the belief that your life is going to be taken away from you due to someone else’s hate and obsession. He had a choice. I didn’t. My nightmare isn’t over. I still live with it every single day of my life. And through the grace of God and the people who love me, I’m learning to live each day to the fullest. I implore you not to grant parole to James Ellis because I truly believe he would harm someone else.”
Throughout it all, Daniel was there—holding her hand, praying with her and drying her tears. There was power in stepping out on a limb of faith and doing whatever necessary to make sure her voice was heard. And truly, that’s what it was all about. She was a victim of a crime, and although she couldn’t decide Ellis’s fate, she could certainly weigh in and give her victim impact statement and implore the parole board to do what was right. And she prayed they would.
Bethany, Olga and Daniel had showered her with praise after the hearing was over. Even though she had been shaking like a leaf the entire time, Lorelei felt triumphant. To celebrate, Daniel and Lorelei had taken Bethany and Olga to the Silver Spoon. Jude and Penelope had been there to share in their triumph. Lorelei felt supported and loved.
A few days later Lorelei heard from the parole board. There would be no parole granted for James Ellis. Good had triumphed over evil. Lorelei’s happiness was complete. She had faced her fears head-on thanks to Daniel’s wisdom. She had found the love of her life the day she’d met Daniel. Nothing else mattered to Lorelei but loving him and supporting him in all facets of his life. She knew without a shadow of a doubt Daniel would return her love purely and without a shred of selfishness in his heart.
Lorelei felt incredibly blessed! Suddenly, all the shadows were gone. The future looked as radiant as a summer day in Pelican Bay.
EPILOGUE:
Micah and Faith’s wedding day dawned with a rain shower, followed by blue skies and a brilliant sun shining down upon Pelican Bay. Lorelei arrived at the church by herself. Since Daniel was one of the groomsmen, he had been scheduled to arrive early along with his brothers and the honorary groomswoman, Shayla. Lorelei smiled at the thought of what Shayla would wear walking down the aisle. She wouldn’t be surprised if she sported a female tuxedo. Either way she would look gorgeous.
Lorelei walked up the church steps and let out a sigh as she walked inside. All of the pews were beautifully decorated with white bows with pink flowers. It was simple yet beautiful and it reminded her so much of the bride. Faith was a humble and sweet-natured woman who would make Micah a wonderful wife. And he in turn would be a devoted, loving husband. Lorelei felt so overjoyed to be a part of this magnificent day and to be Daniel’s date, as well as a part of the Donahue family. They had welcomed her with open arms and told her that based on Daniel’s love for her, she was now an official part of their family.
Because of her own family’s deficits, hearing those words had made Lorelei the happiest woman on earth. In the past weeks she had grown closer to the Donahue brood. They had gone to church together, prayed together, cooked out as a family and supported Parker in his recovery. And they had easily forgiven her for breaking up with Daniel once she’d explained her reasons for doing so. She couldn’t imagine her life without all of them. It would be like going back to a vanilla world when at the moment she had thirty flavors of wonderful.
Daniel was standing at the front of the church with Micah and the rest of the groomsmen, along with Shayla, who was wearing a beautiful sleeveless black tuxedo dress. The moment Daniel spotted her he came walking down the aisle with a brilliant smile etched on his face. He was dressed in a black tuxedo with a blue cummerbund. He looked absolutely divine. Dashing!
“You look amazing,” Daniel said. “You know blue is my favorite color.”
“I do know that,” she said with a smile. “It could be why I’m wearing it.”
He nodded his head as he gave her an approving look. “I really want to kiss you, but I don’t want to upstage the bride and groom.”
She chuckled. “I don’t think that’s possible. Micah and Faith are going to shine today. I’m so thrilled to be a part of their special day.”
He held out his arm to her and said, “May I escort you to your seat?”
“Absolutely.” She looped her arm through his, knowing she was the luckiest girl in all the world to be on Daniel’s arm. And the way he was looking at her lifted her up to the stratosphere. His love for her was palpable. She could see it radiating from him like a beacon.
“There’s no bride side or groom side. Faith and Micah didn’t want any distinctions made. It’s not his side or her side, it’s their side. They said that all of their guests are going to be witnesses to their marriage and there can’t be any sides.”
“I think that’s perfect,” Lorelei said, overwhelmed by what Faith and Micah shared. It had inspired her to love with all her heart and soul. Knowing Faith’s back story made their love even more meaningful. Micah belonged to the modeling world and Lorelei knew more than anyone that their profession could be shallow. Faith’s burn scars had held her back in many ways until Micah’s love and her own convictions set her free from those chains.
In truth, Daniel’s entire family had shown her love in the most beautiful way imaginable. Addie and Caleb loved each other so much and they were stalwart and faithful in their hopes for their cherished baby. Parker and Cadence had been put through the ringer throughout their relationship, and with Parker’s recent accident, they had shown that their love was through sickness and in health, till death do us part. Bella and Heath were so over the moon in love and cherishing their baby girl, Chelsea. She knew Jason, Nash and Shayla would also find their happily ever afters. She had a feeling Shayla was already in love with Micah’s best friend, Rafferty. There was just something about the way Shayla looked at him as if he’d hung the moon. Lorelei hadn’t said a word about her suspicions to Daniel. There were just certain things that fell under the girl code. And she wasn’t going to rat Shayla out to Daniel or any of his brothers. She had the feeling Rafferty had no clue about Shayla’s feelings. Sadly, he seemed to regard her like a sister. And from what Faith had told her, he was still broken up about the end of his engagement to Faith’s cousin, Pamela.
Lorelei felt incredibly inspired by Penelope and Jude. They still loved one another and were doing the hard work to repair their marriage and reconcile. Parker’s accident had brought them back together and they were trying to get back on track. Above all else, Lorelei had found the love of her life in Daniel, the sweetest, smartest, most loyal man in the world. Lorelei had no doubt their future was together. Frankly, nothing else made sense to her.
Lorelei couldn’t help but notice the abundance of children at the ceremony. She thought it was sweet that Faith had invited her entire classroom to be guests at the church.
When the ceremony began, Lorelei watched with tears in her eyes as Faith, escorted by Jude, walked down the aisle toward the man of her dreams. Faith walked toward Micah with such conviction it made Lorelei tear up. And the emotion etched on Micah’s face as he awaited his bride was heartwarming.
There wasn’t a dry eye in the church.
When the ceremony ended, Daniel walked out of the church with her, his hand entwined with hers. He had such a steady, loving presence. For the first time in her life, Lorelei felt surrounded by love. Everyone waved and cheered as Micah and Faith drove away in a vintage white Rolls Royce. They were heading to an estate overlooking the beautiful waters of Pelican Bay where the reception would take place.
As Lorelei and Daniel set off in his convertible, Daniel suggested they take a short detour along the scenic route.
