“Are you happy, nani?” Ransom asked with his chin on the top of my head and those fingers still running over my skin.
I looked around the room filled with the laughter of the people we loved most in the world—Mark and Johnny, their arms around each other, basking in the spectacle; Leann and Will, her husband, with their heads together laughing, sipping wine as they held hands on top of the table; Koa and Mack still engaged with their cousins, still laughing as though nothing could touch them; Lettie and Tristian’s date laughing at him as he and the barman laid bets, I guessed, that had something to do with the line of shot glasses laid out in front of him. And Keria and Kona, now sequestered away from the crowd, him leading her toward the courtyard in the back of the building, walking hand in hand. They stopped before they moved through the French doors, looking over at me and Ransom, two smiles of pride, of satisfaction shot our way before they disappeared into the crowd, likely trying to steal one of those precious, private moments that never seemed to come often enough for them.
Was I happy? Who wouldn’t be? This life? This man and the family we held together was a blessing I’d learned never to take for granted. Kona was right. Ohana had always been mine. It always would be so long as I had this man, our family to keep me safe, to remind me I was loved.
“Yeah, cheri.” I moved my cheek to his chest, loving the steady sound of his heartbeat and the secure feel of his hand along my back. “I’m happy.”
The End
Acknowledgements
And now it’s goodbye to Aly and Ransom. The Thin Love series started as one scene: a man seeing his first love across a crowded market, thinking of how fiercely he’d loved her, then how desperate his anger made him when he sees a boy, his boy, who looks just as he did at sixteen. I wanted to know how that couple had gotten to that day; what would force a woman to keep from her greatest love the child that he’d given her without even knowing it. I never expected Kona and Keira and then later, Aly and Ransom, to change my life. But they did, because they sent you to me. What a blessing they’ve been. What a cathartic experience this has been—exorcising the past.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have taken this journey with me. Especially Sharon Browning, my editor, who is as much a part of breathing life to the Riley-Hale clan as I am. Thank you to my fantastic Sweet Team: Jessica D. Hollyfield, Amy Bernstein-Feldman, Kayla Jagneaux, Heather McCorkle, Joy Jagneaux, Trish Finely Leger, Jennifer Jagneaux, Tina Jaworski, Naarah Scheiffler, Laura Agra, Betsy Gehring, Allyson Lavigne Wilson, Allison Coburn, Chanpreet Singh, Emily Lamphear, Sammy Jo Lle, Lorain Testaburger, Michelle Horstman, Christopher Ledbetter, and especially to Melanie Brunsch, Lori Westhaver, Judy Lovely, Carla Castro, Jazmine Ayala, Heather Weston-Confer and Joanna Holland for the lightning fast beta. As always thank you to Chelle Bliss, Lila Felix and Penelope Douglas for your constant friendship and support. Thank you to Steven Novack for the beautiful cover and to the brilliant Jessica Shamburger for the poetry assistance. Your support is astounding.
Thank you to all the reviewers, blogs and readers who have supported me throughout this process and to you, haters, who want me to quit so damn bad. Just wait. I’m not remotely done annoying you. Thank you to Ing Cruz, to our LitStack family and to my Manuscript Mixens who cheer so, so loud for me and to the lovely ladies of the Relentless Reviewers for always cheering me on.
To my Corporate Hell sisters—Barbara Blakes, Marie Anderson-Simmons, Kalpana Singh, Sarah Cooper, Sherry Jackson and Karen Chapman, thank you for the lunch breaks, the laughs and your unfailing support. I love you all!
Thank you to my girls, Trinity, Faith and Grace and to my Himself, Chris, who never once believe that I will fail. You make my life a true blessing.