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“I have something I need to give to you,” I declare once we are all seated on the blanket.
“You’ve already given me so much,” Sumner whines.
“That is nothing,” I brush her off. “This is not from me; this is something of your mother’s that I was asked to return to you.”
There is a look of shock on her face when I hand over her mother’s wedding ring. Her delicate hands shake, and it’s apparent she is holding back her tears so as not to cry.
“Where, how, why?”
Relaying the story, I admit where the ring came from. I expected anger in some form, yet surprisingly there is none. Not from her father holding on to it all those years, nor that I have held on to it for the past year. When her tears fall, she tells me they are happy ones and not to be concerned. Her mother promised that her wedding ring would be given to Sumner before her death, but after she’d passed, Sumner assumed her stepmother had claimed it.
“The day my parents were married, and the day I was born were the two happiest days of my mother’s life. I can vividly remember her telling me about them in her final days,” she recalls.
Twirling the ring on her finger, watching as Emily pushes Abi on the swing, Sumner admits she’d wondered what happened to it but was never brave enough to ask. Because her stepmother made such a big deal of her father removing all her mother’s things, she’d assumed they sold the ring for cash.
“Thank you,” she proclaims, looking directly at me. “It will mean the world to me having a piece of her with me on my wedding day.”
Hugging me tightly, she also thanks me for everything I have done and continue to do for her. Without my support, she doesn’t believe she would have the life she has today.
“I need to thank you as well,” I admit.
“For what?” I hear her ask.
“For helping me find my way and giving me a reason to live.”
When the tears fall from her eyes, she gently touches my arm, declaring they are still tears of happiness before reminding me that I’ve already thanked her for that.
It’s not been easy for me to be open about my feelings, and even now, I still struggle, but the joy I get having Emily, Sumner, and Abigail in my life has helped in ways I’ll never be able to explain.
“You’re just becoming soft in your old age,” she teases.
She may be right, but for the first time since Georgia and Christina died, I am feeling a sense of happiness I never believed I would again.
“Pop, pop, pop, pop,” a gurgling Abi repeats as she stumbles her way over to me.
Allowing her to fall into my arms, I turn her, so she sits on my legs facing her mother.
Since returning from rescuing Sean, I’ve felt useless and outdated. I realize most of the team was outsmarted by Patrick, yet for me, it was the wake-up call I needed. Until then, I still believed I was invincible and smarter than my enemy. Patrick proved I’m too old for the game and, as such, the chase. It’s time for me to sit on the bench and let the younger generation take over.
My time as a field agent may have passed me by, but I’m not quite ready to be put out to pasture. When I met with Jackson and Mark yesterday, I admitted that I’m keen to be a part of the team still, but it’s time for me to change my perspective on where I am most valuable. Both Mark and Jackson agreed when I told them that for the next few weeks, my focus and priority need to be on my family, and that’s precisely what I plan to do.
EPILOGUE
Emily
Tatum and Sumner’s Wedding
“I’m really nervous,” Sumner mumbles as the hairdresser places the dainty metal flower and sparkle crystal hairpiece in her hair.
“Of course, you are,” I gently reply. “It’s natural; everybody gets nervous.”
“But I’m shaking, Em; I mean, mom. What if I faint?” She begins to panic.
“Just relax, sweetie.” I try to calm her.
“Why would you faint?” I softly ask.
Resting my hand on her shoulder, I promise her nerves will disappear once she stands at the altar in front of Tatum. Placing her hand on mine, she smiles at me through the mirror, whispering thank you.
