“Really?” I draw in a sharp breath.
“That guy’s been calling you every fucking day for week since we met him at the closing. There’s nothing about that deal, that is already closed, that is so important he needs to talk to you on New Year’s Eve.”
“Hey, you’re the one that said I have a knack for reading people and getting them to do what we want. I want him to sell me that office building on Fifth Avenue. It’s a good investment, between the other two you own already.”
“You are good. Way better than me even, but baby, it’s New Year’s.”
I let out a sigh, knowing he’s right. It’s just been such a rush finding something I’m good at that I actually enjoy. It wasn’t modeling or piano that ended up being my calling.
It’s the art of the deal.
Although, playing piano and singing is still a favorite pastime, I just realized doing it professionally took the joy from it.
“Come on.” Damon jerks his head and I stand from my chair and follow him out into the great room of our new house in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. We came here to visit when I was pregnant with Evangeline for a real estate deal we were working on for a client, and we fell in love with the place instantly.
A month later, we broke ground on our home. Six hundred and seventy-two acres of the most beautiful land I’ve ever seen, and a place we both could see as a base for raising our family.
We still keep the penthouse in New York of course, and business takes us there more often than we are here, but our plan is in the next five years to retire.
Damon is already working to get another baby inside of me, and once our first was born it was as though the heavens opened up and being parents felt like we’d both found our true purpose. We haven’t talked so much about how many children we will have, but for the moment we are excited for the next, and the sooner the better.
Growing up as only children, we both want our kids to have that crazy chaos that comes from lots of siblings, and the bonds and friendships only family can provide.
Damon has taken to cooking like a master chef. I’m working back to a weight that feels comfortable and it’s about fifty pounds heavier than I was when I got pregnant.
But that’s okay. Damon loves my curves and I have to say, I do too.
After we left Dove’s Point and came back to the city, we dealt with my father and Melany.
Damon had enough evidence that Melany lost her license to practice. She could have gone to prison if we pushed things, which Damon said I should consider, especially after everything his investigators turned up about her, but I just wanted her out of my life.
Besides, a lot of what he found out was no more than hearsay, and as much as she deserves prison it wouldn’t have been for the worst of her crimes. There was a reason she wanted me out of the way in Europe, but it’s difficult to prove a conspiracy to murder without a dead body, and that’s something I’m glad we never had. See, Tibet was the end game for her. She was going to marry my father, then return without him after some accident. With me away in Europe, and every indication that I was nothing more than a hysterical, half-crazy lunatic, it would have been easy for her to get her hands on everything. No doubt she had some master plan for taking over the conservatorship on my trust fund too.
Still, whatever her plans were, they came to nothing, and she’s out of my life now. And hopefully, without her license to practice, she’ll be unable to hurt anyone else. I also have no doubt that Damon is keeping tabs on her, just in case.
As for my father, it turns out he was on more meds than me, which were dulling his senses. I’m not sure how I’ll forgive him for everything that happened, but he’s been into rehab and he’s trying, so I’m trying too. We’ve been working on repairing our relationship since he got clean, and he came out to spend Christmas with us last week. He’s stronger now than I’ve seen him in years, but he’s ready to retire and I respect that. We came to a settlement with the trust, my conservatorship revoked, that will set him up for the rest of his life whatever he chooses to do with it.
“Can you hold her while I finish the sauce?” Damon brings me Evangeline and I take the tiny bundle and cuddle her against my chest.
She fusses a bit, her little blue eyes opening, and she starts her little crowing cry she does when she’s hungry.