As the pair drives away in the guy’s fully tricked-out truck, I wrap my arms around my girls, holding them close. While the sadness of the scene lingers, it’s shown me how lucky I am to have these amazing women in my life.
“I need something to get rid of the foul taste, after that,” says Lily, her voice a mix of sadness and anger.
“Ice cream?” says Zoe, with anticipation.
My mom nods in agreement. “Yes, and we’ll need chocolate sauce on top. A lot.”
As we make our way to my truck, I feel a sense of hope that had been missing for so long. Despite the cruelty in the world, there is love and kindness to be found, and I know my future is bright with these wonderful women by my side.
EPILOGUE
LILY
Out in front of the latest flip, I marvel at how smoothly things are going. It’s a far cry from when I’d flipped that first place, the place Tyler, Zoe and I now call home.
And yes, of course, there’s a white picket fence out front.
After checking on the last delivery of the day and indeed the week, I make my way over to the Airstream, that now doubles as a staff break room. That’s when it’s not being used for family vacations.
Zoe loves going away in what she calls the shiny house. I love her so much. There are times I’m sure my heart will burst. Certainly, she’s as close to me as I imagine a child of my own would be.
I then bring myself up short. She is my child in every way that counts, with me at last able to understand adoption from my parents’ perspective. They had loved me wholeheartedly; I know that now.
This had gone a long way toward ridding me of the heartache I’d felt when Alice first broke the news of my adoption. Any retrospection disappears when I pop my head through the Airstream’s door.
Packed as it is with a half-dozen Lucky Break Construction crew, it’s a veritable bachelorette party in the making. Of course, I only have eyes for one of the gorgeous men enjoying a well-earned beer at the end of another busy week.
“The windows are here. I’m off to pick Zoe up from your mom’s. See you at home later?”
Rather than stay where he is, Tyler puts his beer down on the Formica table and lurches to his feet. He soon joins me outside, walking me out to my truck.
Long gone is my impractical car, replaced by a truck capable of carrying everything I need. It’s also fully kitted out to tow the trailer.
After I unlock my door, Tyler pulls me in for an embrace that belies the fact we’ll be seeing each other again in an hour. He’s kissing me like his life depends on it when my phone pings.
It’s not enough to break our kiss, although when his phone sounds almost immediately after, it is. For us both to get messages at the same time says that whatever it is, it’s important.
This has me rummaging through my purse, desperate to find my phone. If anything has happened to Zoe…
Next to me, Tyler has already grabbed his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and is scrolling through the message. Soon enough, I’m similarly engaged. For a second neither of us reacts, but soon enough we both break into broad grins.
It’s taken months of complete courses, training, and badgering social services, but finally, we’ve got the news we’ve been waiting for. Only on scrolling further down the email, do I think to check what the time is. It’s only three-thirty, with the boys always finishing early on a Friday.
My phone dumped back in my purse. I grab the front of Tyler’s t-shirt, pulling him toward me, all fired up. “We have to get him this afternoon. I don’t want that boy spending another night with that awful man.”
There’s no doubting Tyler agrees with him already running around to the passenger side. “You drive, I’ll ring mom and tell her what’s happening.”
We don’t have long to wait at social services for the waste of space foster dad to arrive with Lucas, the newest member of our little blended family. It’s amazing how quickly the authorities had pulled the boy after they caught the foster dad drunk and naked in the Founders Park fountain. I guess we owe Cole some beers for that stunt, because it’s got his fingerprints all over it.
That the guy is angry to be losing his meal ticket shows when he shoves the boy out of his truck while they’re still in the parking lot. A plastic bag of belongings follows, landing hard next to the kid. The deadbeat then drives off without a backward glance, leaving Tyler rigid with rage, and me not far behind him.
Unfortunately, as newly minted foster parents, we can’t act on our fury. All we can do is make sure Lucas has the best life, with it having let him down enough already.
TYLER
Inside, they usher the three of us into a small office, with Lily and I sitting on either side of an obviously nervous Lucas. And who can blame the boy? According to Marta, our case manager, the boy’s been through home after home since his mom died of an overdose.
I’m hoping us taking him on will put an end to that. The thing that gives us the best chance of success is that we’re not doing it for the money. We’re doing it for the kid and that makes a big difference.
