Page 149 of Dial L for Lawyer
He stills, eyes searching my face. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." I smile up at him. "But let's just be us for a couple years first. It took us so long to get here, I'm not ready to share you yet."
His answering smile could power the entire city. "I can live with that."
"Good," I say, pulling him closer. "Because I love you, Caleb Kingsley. Just you. Just us. Just this."
"I love you too, Serena Morgan," he whispers, then he's kissing me right there on the dance floor, soft and sweet and full of promises.
And as the music swells around us and the lights of Chicago twinkle below, I know that this—this messy, imperfect, absolutely perfect love—is exactly what I want. I'm not going anywhere.
Finally.
Epilogue One
CALEB
Six months later
The Lake Forest house smells like sunscreen and charcoal, the way it always does in July. But this year, it's different. Michaela's doing her usual, running around the deck in her swimsuit, carrying a pool noodle like it's a sword, but this year adds Serena, chasing after her with a towel and what looks like half a bottle of SPF 50.
"You're going to burn to a crisp, monster," Serena calls, finally catching up and tackling my niece into a hug. "Hold still for two seconds."
"I'm part mermaid," Michaela announces, wiggling away. "Mermaids don't sunburn."
"This mermaid does," Serena says firmly, slathering sunscreen on Michaela's shoulders. "Unless she wants to look like a lobster tomorrow."
I watch from the patio table where David and I are nursing beers and pretending to read the weekend papers. It's been sixmonths since the ethics hearing, six months of Serena slowly taking over every corner of my life, and I still can't get used to how natural she looks here. Like she's always belonged in this house, with this family. And with me.
"She's good with kids," David observes, following my gaze.
"She claims she's terrible with them. Says she made a toddler cry once just by saying hello."
"Michaela adores her."
"Michaela has good taste."
David snorts. "Unlike your girlfriend."
I flip him off without looking away from Serena, who's now helping Michaela with the rope swing by the water.
"Speaking of good taste," I say, turning back to my brother, "how's Luminous treating you these days?"
"Same as always. Too many meetings, too many hours, not enough time with this one." He nods toward Michaela, who's finally escaped Serena's sunscreen attack and is launching herself, cannon-ball style, into the lake.
"You ever think about making a change?"
"Like what?"
I gesture toward Serena, who's now pulling back on the rope swing, ready to follow Michaela in. "Look at her. Six months ago she was unemployed and blacklisted. Now she's got three major clients and a waiting list."
"Crisis management suits her," David agrees. "She's got that perfect combination of empathy and ruthless efficiency."
"Exactly. She saw what she wanted and went for it. No safety net, no backup plan. Just fearless business building."
"And you think I should do that?" David looks thoughtful. "Starting over at forty-three isn't exactly appealing."
"Starting over, no. But building something new? That's different." I take a long pull from my beer, watching Serenasurface from the lake, laughing as Michaela splashes her. "Besides, you're not forty-three. You're forty-two."
