“I love you too,” I blurt out. Grant's mouth comes down onto mine in a searing kiss that leaves me breathless. “This is crazy.” I smile up at him. My chest fills with warmth. All the broken pieces of me are starting to heal. The hollowness that’s been there since my mom died is fading away.
“No, it’s not crazy. Faith is my sister.” I gasp. Everything else begins to slide into place. The phone call makes much more sense now. They’d been talking about me. Grant is her brother. The one she wouldn’t shut up about that day I first met her and Whitney at the bar. He’s who I was supposed to meet this afternoon. “This is fate, little fox. You were always going to be mine. One way or another.”
He’s right. I can feel it. The universe has taken so much from me. I’ve gone through a lot, and finally I’ve reached the other side of that, where Grant is.
“I don’t need to catch up, Grant. I’m right here with you, and I’m not going anywhere.” A sexy smile spreads across his handsome face.
“You can try if you want, little fox, but know I’ll catch you every time.”
EPILOGUE
GRANT
Many years later…
Some things never change. Chasing my little fox is one of them. At times it might drive me crazy, but there is still a bit of a thrill to it. Even after all these years, she still can get me worked up. No one can ever get my blood pumping like my wife can. That woman owns me even if she claims I’m the bossy one.
“She’s with Mom,” my dad says, coming to stand next to me. He has a glass in each hand filled with an amber liquid inside, and I know it’s whiskey. He hands me one, and we clink them together before we shoot them back. “I think my daughter can do anything she puts her mind to.” I can hear the pride in his voice.
I’ve always loved my father. He’s taught me so many things in life. One being how to treat a woman you call your own. But when he refers to Remi as his daughter, it hits me right in the gut every damn time, and I’m damn thankful for it. He and Mom both gave her something I never could: parents that she can always count on. I know how much she values the relationship she’s built with them.
“That she can,” I say in agreement.
We are, after all, standing in her creation. A celebration is being thrown not only in her honor but also because tomorrow, thirty girls without a place to call their own will call this place home. Project In Between is now complete. Well, the getting it on its feet part at least. There’s a lot more work to be done, but this is a start. I couldn’t be prouder of Remi if I tried. She has poured her hard work, heart, and soul into this place in order for these women to have a better life.
“It was a brilliant idea. When she told me about it, I knew I had to be a part of it,” Dad says smugly.
“Are you done?” I glare over at him. He smirks. “You’re a bastard.” I shake my head.
“At least you know where you get it from.” He pokes me right back.
He was Remi’s first donor. He’ll never let me live it down either. It’s only because she told him first. I’m not going to lie; I was a bit jealous she shared something with someone else first, but it was a short-lived jealousy. I love how close she and Dad are. She’d merely told him about the idea in passing. He not only told her to run with it but that he wanted to help her get it started. And that’s how In Between started.
No one doubted that Remi could follow through with her idea. She is a brilliant woman who shines at Healing Homes. She slipped right in there with Faith and Whitney. She was a big contributor to making the place grow to be able to help more women in need, but In Between is where Remi belongs. It’s going to be a sister center to Healing Homes.
It’s a space for young girls to go when they lose their parents and they’re between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one. While they are close to being adults at that point, it doesn’t mean these girls are ready to be fully on their feet. It allows them the opportunity to continue their education and have a steady home.
“You’ve done good,” Mom says, walking over toward us with a proud smile on her face. I lean down so she can give me a kiss on the cheek. I give her one in return.