prison but—and this is a chilling thought—he’s scheduled to get out next year.”
“I can’t say I’m looking forward to knowing he’s out there, walking around. Will either of you go see him?”
“Not me,” Reagan said.
Serenity shook her head. “I have nothing to say to him, either.”
“What about your father?” Reagan asked. “Will you try to find him?”
She took a moment to mull it over, to imagine what it might be like to locate Mitch Ryan. Would it even be possible? Was he still in Canada? Would he be happy to hear from her? He’d been part of her life for such a short time. But he might be able to tell her more about Sarah, and her thirst for answers was still strong. “I might.”
“Maybe he’ll give you information if nothing else,” Serenity said as though reading her mind.
“Yes.” The smell of the food finally registered, and Lorelei stuffed a French fry in her mouth. “It’s good to know all this,” she said once she’d swallowed. “What you’ve both done—and your father, too, Serenity. That you’d all go to so much trouble and expense is beyond generous.” Although her voice softened with emotion, she tried to keep it as strident as possible. “Thank you.”
Reagan’s eyes grew glassy from unshed tears. “You’re worth it,” she mumbled.
“I’m just sorry we couldn’t learn more,” Serenity added. “But at least this is a start.”
Reagan pulled her burger in front of her. “There’s one more thing...”
Lorelei, hungrier than she’d realized, grabbed her burger, too. “What is it?”
“Do you want to tell her?” Reagan asked Serenity.
Serenity took a drink of her shake before meeting Lorelei’s eyes. “With your permission, I’d like to write our story.”
“Seriously? You mean like...it’ll be your next book?”
“If you’re okay with that. I already talked to my editor, and she was very interested, because I’d have such a unique perspective.”
“And since you just turned in All Gone, you’re available.”
“Exactly.”
“That’s wonderful! Of course it’s fine with me. Maybe...maybe you’ll be able to dig up more.” The few details she’d learned answered questions she’d had her whole life, but they also raised more.
“That’s what I’m hoping, too. I know how much you must want to know what really happened to your mother. I can’t promise my involvement will amount to a whole lot, but I’ll do everything I can to convince the police to reopen the file. Who knows? Maybe with the advances they’ve made in DNA testing, they’ll be able to find your adoptive mother’s killer one day.”
Although Lorelei was happy, she was also close to tears. “Just hearing you say that gives me goose bumps.”
epilogue
reagan
IT WAS A COLD, snowy day in New York when Reagan’s water broke. The baby was coming, but she was ready. She had her nursery all prepared, and both Serenity and Lorelei had come to town for the birth—Serenity from Berkeley, although she’d sold her house there and now lived with Sawyer, and Lorelei from Florida. Mark had Lucy this week, so Reagan wouldn’t get to see her little niece, whom she missed so much, but she figured that was for the best since it would’ve been hard to have Lucy at the hospital.
“Are you doing okay?” Serenity fed her ice chips. The doctor wouldn’t allow her to have anything else.
“No,” she said bluntly. The labor pains were getting stronger. She was beginning to understand just how difficult this process was going to be. “Tell me again that it’ll all be over soon,” she said to Lorelei.
Lorelei stood on the other side of the bed and held her hand. “It will all be over soon,” she repeated dutifully. “You’re doing great.”
“I’m not doing anything but suffering,” she said. “Can I really take credit for that?”
“It’s just one of the encouraging things people say,” Lorelei told her. “But now that you mention it, that does sound pretty lame. The truth is it’s going to be rough for a little while, but then you’ll have your beautiful baby in your arms and all the pain will be forgotten. Is