Page 110 of Countdown

“Oh my ... I don’t know what to say.” She swallowed. “Except that I’ve dreamed of this moment every day since you were carried out of my life.” She glanced at the two individuals looking on with love and a little bit of anxiety in their eyes.She went to them. “Thank you,” she whispered, the lump in her throat so big, she almost choked.

“No,” Michael’s mother said, gripping Raina’s hands, “we thankyou. You loved him so much you were willing to sacrifice watching him grow up to keep him safe. It’s because of that note that we believed what the marshal told us. That we were all in danger because Michael’s birth father had seen him on television.” She sniffed. “I can’t believe a simple interview led to all of this.”

Raina smiled. “I can’t either, but honestly, I’m glad. Justice has finally been achieved for all of Keith Baldridge’s victims and those of us who survived—and our families—are finally free.” She looked at Michael and ran her fingers through his hair before she could stop herself. Then clasped her hands in front of her. “Please don’t ever think I wanted to give you up or that I thought you weren’t worth keeping. I wanted you with every fiber in my young heart, but I also knew I couldn’t risk him finding you.”

“I understand. Especially now. And I’m very thankful you chose the parents you did for me.” He grinned. “You chose the best.”

Raina met his parents’ eyes. “Yes, I did. But God directed that choice.” She shared a smile with his mother, then turned back to Michael. “I look forward to watching you in the Olympics on television when the time comes.”

He turned shy all of a sudden. “I hope I’ll get to see you again sometime.”

She swallowed and kept her gaze on the parents who’d loved him and been there for him when she couldn’t. “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to play that by—”

“Yes, please,” Jan Harrison spoke up. “We want you to be in his life if you want to. We’ve talked about it and feel like this is something that’s important to Michael.”

“I’d love that. Thank you.” Raina’s heart beat faster andlighter, and she laughed—a breathy, joyous laugh. “I’d really love that.”

“Cool,” Michael said. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”

The sound of everyone’s laughter soothed her soul, and when Vince took her hand, she thought she might explode with joy. Sending up a silent prayer of thanks to the one who’d made this reunion—and the reunion to come with her parents—possible, she walked through the door of the restaurant to have breakfast with her son.

Epilogue

FEBRUARY

SUPER BOWL NIGHT

Raina had spent the last couple of hours working in her living room, and now she stepped back to take a look at the transformation. Yep. Just about perfect. She had wings, potato wedges, corn on the cob, celery, carrots, dip. The perfect food for her plan.

She’d asked Vince to make sure he had the time off and to be at her house in—she glanced at her phone—thirty minutes. Yikes! She raced to her bathroom and, twenty-three minutes later, exited to take a deep breath and a swig of water.

Nine minutes later—thank goodness he was a little late—her doorbell rang and she wiped sweaty palms on her denim-clad thighs. Second thoughts swirled. Would he hate it? Would it trigger bad memories instead of good? Had she made a horrible mistake?

Too late now.

She walked to the door and opened it. And swallowed hard while her heart picked up speed and her tongue searched forwords. Vince held a bouquet of wildflowers in his left hand, his right hand casually tucked into the front pocket of his jeans.

“Hi,” she finally managed.

“Hi.”

“Come on in.” He smiled and she stepped back. “Want to bring those in the kitchen and we’ll find a vase for them? They’re beautiful.”

“They looked like something you might enjoy.”

“Absolutely. Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “And I did something, but am having second thoughts about it.”

He raised a brow. “What’d you do?”

“I think it’s best just to show you. Follow me.” He’d see on their trek to the kitchen, so she might as well give him a heads-up. “I kind of made a living room fort for us. And I put the TV inside so we could watch cartoons—or a movie or something, but if you hate it—”

“Let me see.”

She led the way, and when they came into view of the living area, his jaw dropped slightly, and his eyes reddened while he stopped and stared.

“I’m sorry,” Raina rushed to say. “I’ll take it down. I just thought it would be a way to—”

“I love it.”