Forever After (Unrestrained 5)

“I did indeed,” came his reply, humor in his voice. “Drake and I have been conspiring for the past two weeks to pull this off.”

“You two,” I said and shook my head, smiling at the expression of pleasure on both my father’s and Drake’s faces.

“We’re so bad,” Drake said. “We’re plotters and planners of the highest skill.”

Elaine laughed and caught my eye. “You won’t believe how clandestine their activities have been since Drake decided to see if he could pull this off. The late-night telephone calls, the secret emails… You’d think they’d joined the CIA or something.”

I laughed, happy to be able to enjoy the morning instead of dreading it.

“Have you seen the place we’re renting?” I asked Elaine. “It has one of those horizon pools. Plus, a great view. It reminds me of our place when we were kids,” I said to my dad, who was smiling to himself.

“That’s what I thought,” he replied. “It’ll be perfect for you three. There’s an extra room for an office, in case you want to paint or work on your thesis.”

“There is,” I said. “Drake will be working on call, so his schedule will be erratic, but we’ll be close and I’ll be able to come by anytime Sophie and I want.”

“I can’t wait,” my father said, settling back in his seat for the drive to the airport. “It’s going to be perfect.”

“It will,” I said and sat back. Drake took my hand and we sat together, the five of us, and watched as the streets of Manhattan passed us by on the way to JFK.

We helped Elaine and my father through the baggage check and then sat in the comfy chairs before they entered the First-Class lounge. My father sat in a wheelchair, and would be one of the first to be boarded once the flight was ready.

“I was dreading this day for the past two weeks,” I said to my father.

“I know you were, dear,” he said. “Believe me, I was dreading it, too. But Drake called me up the next morning, after I called you with our departure date, laid out his plans and asked for my help and blessing. Of course, I said yes. We pulled a few strings here and there and voila. Teamwork paid off.”

“I’m so glad,” I said, bouncing Sophie on my knee. “If I didn’t know we were following in two weeks, I’d be really depressed about all this.”

“You had a spell of bad luck, but now that things have cleared up with the case, you three can move forward with your lives. You deserve it, given the past six months.”

“We do,” I said and reached out to take Drake’s hand.

He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.

Finally, they called my father’s flight and a customer service attendant came to help Elaine and my father board the plane.

We said our goodbyes, and I kissed Elaine and then leaned down and kissed my father goodbye. There were no tears in our eyes. Only happiness.

My father kissed Sophie when Drake held her down to him, and then Drake and my father shook hands.

“See you in a couple of weeks, Dad,” Drake said.

My father winked at him. “I expect it. Take care of my baby girl and my little granddaughter, will you?”

“I will,” Drake replied.

Then they were gone.

I waved at them as they went to the check in for the flight. Elaine smiled and waved and then my father did as well.

Finally, they disappeared down the ramp and Drake turned to me.

“That’ll be us soon,” he said and leaned down to kiss me.

“I can’t wait,” I said and smiled.

We sat by the window and watched the plane board, and then finally, taxi away from the terminal.

“Let’s go home,” Drake said.