a dance of jubilation before landing soft and silent on the peaceful ground.
Epilogue
Five months later …
It had been one of those days. Meredith was on her high horse at the salon, and Noelle had worked as fast as she could go from the moment she got to work, taking care of her full schedule of clients in what little amount of time that she had. Noelle normally worked until six, but today she had to stop work early to pick up Aiden from school. Birdie was great about picking Aiden up on most days, but today, she was meeting with one of her suppliers at the boutique.
Noelle glanced in the rearview mirror at Aiden. “How was school today?”
“Great!” Aiden responded with a gigantic grin so infectious that Noelle felt herself smile. “I played with Doug and Cannon on the monkey bars.” Aiden rocked his car seat from side to side, bubbling enthusiasm.
“That’s awesome.”
“Can I go to the park with Doug and Cannon?”
“Sure. We could do that sometime. I’ll call their moms and arrange a play date.” It was good to see Aiden doing so well in school and making friends. The first few weeks after Aiden got shot were rough. However, as the doctors predicted, Aiden made a full recovery. To see him now, one would never know how close he came to losing his life. The experience taught Noelle to not take one single day for granted. She was grateful that Aiden was healthy and a bundle of energy.
Dottie had eased up tremendously, which was a huge relief. She did frequent video calls with Aiden. And Noelle made a point of taking Aiden to Georgia to visit his grandparents and Kyle every few weeks. Thankfully, there had been no more talk of Kyle trying to get custody of Aiden. It seemed that Trent had more control over Dottie’s behavior than Noelle realized.
Kyle’s fling with Tiffany Wade ended two months after Christmas, when Tiffany fell in love with her co-star of the movie she was making. Noelle always assumed that Kyle would eventually get tired of Tiffany and move on to the next shiny object. She never figured that Tiffany would beat Kyle to the punch. Predictably, Kyle tried to win Noelle back for a week or so, until he went gaga over a department store manager who also happened to be a former Miss Georgia Royal, having won the title a couple years after Noelle.
All in all, life was good … no, it was great, actually! Noelle was booking clients several weeks in advance, which was wonderful! Especially since Noelle was opening her own salon in two months. It was time for Noelle to branch out on her own. While it would be liberating to break away from Vivian and her horrible daughter, Noelle was trepidatious about owning a business. Birdie and Zoe were Noelle’s greatest cheerleaders, touting all of the benefits of being one’s own boss. Noelle considered renting a space, but Knox wouldn’t have it. He bought a building just off the main square of town. He was remodeling it to house Noelle’s new salon, as well as a few office spaces. Noelle argued that she didn’t expect him to give her partial treatment, but Knox replied with a hearty, If I can’t help my family, then what good am I?
Oh, how Noelle loved her aunt and uncle! It was fantastic being surrounded by family.
As Noelle turned into the parking lot of the grocery store, her phone buzzed. She fished it out of her purse, a grin curving her lips when she saw who was calling. “Hello.”
“Hey, babe,” Holden began. “Whatcha up to?”
“Just stopping by the store. Birdie asked me to pick up a few things for dinner tonight. You still coming over?”
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
The warmth in Holden’s tone wrapped Noelle in a silky cocoon of bliss as her smile widened. “I love you.”
“I love you back.” He paused. “How’s our boy doing?”
“Great,” she chimed, glancing back at Aiden. Holden treated Aiden like he was his own son. Likewise, Aiden was coming to think of Holden as a dad. Holden had effortlessly and seamlessly stepped into the gaping hole that Kyle had left, healing the broken parts, not only in Noelle, but also in Aiden.
“Can I talk to him?”
“Sure,” she said in surprise. “Holden’s on the phone, he wants to talk to you.” She handed Aiden the phone, watching him in the rearview mirror. Aiden nodded, his brown locks bobbing up and down in synch with