She grinned at him.
“All we’ve ever wanted is for you to be happy, darling,” her mother said quietly.
“I’m so lucky to have you both.”
“No,we’rethe lucky ones.” Her mother squeezed her hand.
When her phone vibrated with a text, she looked down.
Jules: Hi, honey. I’m at the front door.
Addie glanced up, not sure why she was so nervous for Jules to meet her parents again. “Jules is here.”
Her mother nodded. “We’ll wait here.”
Addie cut across the yard and hurried through the house. When she opened the door, her pulse sped up. She’d only seen Jules once since finding out she was her birth mother, and she’d been nervous as heck that time too.
Jules had shared so much during that visit. The heartache of giving up her only child for adoption. The long road to stabilizing her mental health.
Jules’s lips curved. “Hi, Addie.” She lifted the tray in her hands. “I made chocolate chip cookies.”
Addie chuckled. “Jules, you know I’m going to have to try one of them before the main meal.”
“I won’t tell anyone.” She stepped inside. “How have you been?”
“Good. Great, actually. Noah’s really been looking after me. And my parents have made the drive here a few times. It’s been nice. It’s also nice to feel safe again. How areyou?”
Jules had trusted Toby. Not just trusted—he’d been like family to her.
She frowned. “The shock is still there. It will probably be there for a while. I knew him for eighteen months, and he seemed so genuine. He always said exactly what I needed to hear. He was my only friend for a long time. I never would have suspected that his motives were anything but genuine. But I’m trying to forgive myself for bringing him into your life.”
“Jules, there’s nothing to forgive. He knew how to deceive you because he’d done it before.”
Jesse’s team had done a lot of digging and learned that Toby had inherited huge sums of money from three different patients.Three. The man had been a skilled con artist.
“Still, I hate that he tried to hurt you,” Jules said quietly.
“He hurt you too. And I’m glad he’s gone.”
They were about to step out the back door when Jules touched her arm. “Wait, before we go out there, I want to say something.”
“Anything.”
“I don’t want you ever to feel like youhaveto have me in your life. If you ever want me to leave Amber Ridge—”
“Jules. I may not have looked for you, but I’m glad you found me. I am so grateful that you chose the best parents for me. You gave me a gift, and I have lived the happiest life. I want to get to know the woman who gave me that life.”
Tears gathered in Jules’s eyes, then she wrapped Addie in a hug. “Oh, that makes me happy.”
When they separated, Jules scrubbed her eyes and headed into the yard. Addie watched her parents walk straight up to the woman and embrace her. For a moment, Addie didn’t move. She just watched as the woman who’d given her life hugged the parents who’d raised her.
She blinked back her own tears before shifting her gaze and finding Noah across the lawn. He was already looking at her, his eyes dark and intense. Then he started toward her. Her heart beat a little faster with each step he took. Because she loved him. He’d become her safety. He’d become home.
Noah watchedas Addie embraced her parents. The old strain around her eyes was gone. The visible tension in her muscles. All because the asshole who’d been gunning for her was gone.
When she started toward the back door, he was about to follow her when a hand touched his shoulder.
“You look happy.”
