Epilogue

Charlie bustled by with an armful of clean laundry. Ten minutes later, she appeared in the living room with a bottle of Windex and a rag.

"Didn't you already clean the windows?"

She rubbed manically at a spot. "There's so much dust in here."

"Baby, it's fine."

My voice trailed off as she left the room trailing the scent of chemicals behind her. I shook my head but went back to work tightening the hinges on the kitchen cabinets. When I'd opened the cabinet this morning it had been so loose it almost hit me in the face. I figured I'd better tighten them all before Charlie got wind of it. She was nervous enough about her mom and sister visiting.

I heard Charlie singing softly to Meatball so I knew I had about fifteen minutes to work on my surprise. My toolbox was already upstairs in the small bedroom Charlie had originally used when she first moved here.She'd finally cleaned out her grandmother's room. That had been a long emotional day. But after carefully packing away the last mementos she wanted to keep, we'd moved in the king size bed we'd bought and changed the furniture around. Now she planned to put Billie into her old room.

Now painted a soft buttery lemon shade, Charlie's old room was decorated with filmy white lace curtains at the windows and a fluffy down comforter on the bed. My surprise was under the window, waiting to be assembled.

I knelt down and got to work, so I would be able to drill everything in place pretty quickly. Charlie (and Meatball) were used to noise at this point but I figured I'd have less than five minutes of privacy left once I turned the drill on.

True enough, about five minutes later I heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Don't come in yet," I called out.

The footsteps paused. "What are you doing?"

"It's a surprise."

I heard a soft little stomp and laughed. Charlie still wasn't great with surprises. Knowing that she was out there losing it made me work fast.

"I'm just putting the finishing touches on. Okay, now you can come in."

The door flew open and Charlie looked around curiously. Then her eyes settled on me and she grinned. I moved out of the way so she could get a better view.

"Oh, Rix. You built a window seat?" Her whole face softened as she took it in, walking closer to run her hand over the seat cushion. I'd gone with a yellow gingham print to match the color scheme in the room and it made the space look bright and airy.

"I figured when Billie gets here she might want a place to relax or read a book."

Charlie wrapped her arms around my middle. "This is perfect. Thank you."

We stood like that for a minute just taking in the finished room. Charlie had agonized over every little detail down to the type of lace on the curtains.

"I know you're worried about this visit since everything isn't done yet. But it doesn't matter if it's not perfect."

"It's not that. It's just that coming here when I was a kid was so amazing because of Gran Grace. I wish Billie could have that, too."

"She will. It'll be amazing because she gets to spend time with her sister."

"And don't forget Meatball. I think she's most excited about getting to spend time with him. The only reason she's not here already is because she wanted to finish out her summer camp. No more parkour luckily."

I laughed thinking of the spunky little girl who had immediately captured my heart the first time we'd spoken. Even though we'd only met through video calls, I felt like I knew her already. She reminded me a lot of her incredibly spunky, determined, older sister.

Charlie moved back suddenly and then pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Mom? Is everything okay?"

I waited anxiously watching her face for signs of trouble. Every time her mom called with updates about the custody case Charlie was so tense afterward. She was working hard on separating herself but I knew it would take time before she didn't feel the instinct to rush out and save them.

"So it's over? Just like that."

After a few more questions, Charlie hung up looking dazed.

"What happened? What's over?"

She sat on the edge of the bed. "The Delacourts dropped the lawsuit."

I whooped. Meatball came rushing in at the noise and added his contribution by barking madly.

"That's great news! So you don't have to worry about that anymore. I wonder what made them drop it. Did the lawyers threaten them with something?"

Charlie smiled sheepishly. "No, I threatened with something. I called them directly and said if they pursued this, I would be forced to file for custody of Billie myself. I told them I was getting married soon to my childhood sweetheart and since I'd been with Billie her whole life, the courts were probably far more likely to grant custody to me."

I let my mouth fall open in mock surprise. "Charlotte Monroe. You lied?"

Her shoulders shook with her laughter. "I figured it was worth a shot. I was hoping they really did just want to keep Billie close and wouldn't like the idea of me adopting her and moving her to Virginia. At least my Mom plans to stay in New York now."

"Diabolical. I like it." I smirked. "Also, getting married to your childhood sweetheart? Way to rewrite history."

She pinched my stomach. "I had to say something. Childhood nemesis who tormented me constantly probably wouldn't have had the same effect."

"Childhood sweetheart is actually accurate. I was sweet on you, even if I didn't know how to show it. I was talking about the married part."

Her cheeks flushed. "Well, I had to improvise. Courts aren't impressed by people shacking up."

"Well, that part will be accurate too. One day. Because I plan to marry the hell out of you, Charlotte Monroe."

"Is that right?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. You plan on giving me a hard time about it?" I looked down at her, loving the way her eyes sparkled while she was giving me hell.

"You bet I am."