Chapter 49
“Fine. I don’t hate all surprises.”
-Celia
Two months later
The car swerved. My stomach lurched. I was in danger of flipping my wig or possibly the bird at my driver.
I reached for the blindfold. “I swear to God. How many times have I told you to take it easy on those turns?”
Flint’s big hand gently removed my fingers from the blindfold. “Lalelei, they want to surprise you.”
“I don’t like surprises,” I gritted my teeth. “How many times do I have to say it to get it through your thick skulls?”
“You made us this way, Mama,” Logan chirped from the front seat.
“Yeah - this one’s on you,” Lance agreed.
Well, fart fire and save matches.It was never good when those two ganged up on me. But this time, I had backup.
My fiancé, Flint.
“How much further?” I whined.
Flint kissed my neck below my ear, then whispered. “Just a few more blocks,lalelei. Hold tight.”
When the car finally came to a halt, I briefly considered getting out and kissing the ground but thought better of it when I removed the blindfold. A smile spread over my face.
“I thought this wasn’t going to be ready for another month?” I gave the boys my best Momzilla Glare.
Both of them laughed and took off into the building.
Cowards.
“They wanted to surprise you,” Flint purred into my ear again. His voice was giving me all the feels.
And since the doctor cleared me for “strenuous duty,” I had lots of feels planned for tonight. We simply needed to get through this surprise… party… first.
While I recovered in the hospital, I had plenty of time to think about the future. And plenty of time to read over my boys… mysons’proposal for their “inheritance.”
The real surprise was the joint proposal.
They developed an idea for a community center that would house a daycare, legal assistance, job training, interview prep, and after-school programs for the neighborhood around the Flamingo Cove Baptist Church. Eventually, there’d even be a test kitchen where neighbors could learn new recipes in free cooking classes.
Logan was about to graduate from law school. Phyllis Golde hired him, and he somehow talked her into offering pro-bono legal services for the community center.
Lance finished his MBA online while overseeing the work on the center, often doing manual labor with the help of Flint and Luke. When it opened, which I guess wasright freaking now, Lance would serve as the Director - and take a small salary.
It shocked the heck out of me too. Which is why I agreed to the plan and designed a trust to fund the center for years to come.
An older man stepped in front of me. “Ms. Saber?”
“That’s me.”
He shook my hand. “Jayden Newkirk. Flamingo Cove Baptist Church. Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for our community!”
I smiled and patted his arm. “I didn’t do a thing.”
