Chapter 10
Six months later.
August again.
One year to the day since Robert’s sentencing.
We were having a party at the estate.
A big one.
The whole backyard was decorated with string lights, the pool glowing blue, Maria cooking enough tacos and fajitas to feed an army.
There were over a hundred people there.
All the Carter Global employees.
My startup team.
Hale and Lila, who was now 9, running around with a new puppy we’d gotten her for her birthday.
Arthur and his wife.
Linda and her grandkids.
Emma’s whole family, who’d flown in from Chicago.
All the people who’d stood by us.
All the people who loved us.
I was standing by the pool, holding a beer, watching everyone laugh and talk, when Dad walked up, putting his arm around my shoulders.
Emma was next to me, her hand in mine, her engagement ring glinting in the string lights.
We were getting married in the fall, in the backyard, right where we were standing.
“Can you believe it?” Dad said, looking out over the crowd, a smile on his face. “A year ago today, we were in that hot courtroom, watching Robert get sent away for 250 years. And now look at this. All of this. It’s better than I ever dreamed.”
I nodded, squeezing Emma’s hand.
“I know,” I said. “I still wake up some days, half expecting to be back in that funeral home, everyone calling me crazy, thinking you’re gone.”
Dad squeezed my shoulder.
“But you’re not,” he said. “I’m here. We’re all here. And nothing’s ever going to take that away from us again.”
The DJ called for everyone’s attention, tapping the microphone.
“Alright, everyone,” he said, grinning. “We’ve got a few speeches tonight. First up, the man of the hour. Co-CEO of Carter Global. The guy who saved the whole damn company. Give it up for Daniel Carter!”
The crowd cheered, clapping, whooping.
I walked up to the small stage by the pool, taking the microphone, my hands a little shaky.
I looked out over the crowd.
At Emma, smiling up at me.
At Dad, standing next to her, proud as anything.
At Lila, waving wildly, holding her puppy up so I could see.
At all the faces of people I loved.
People who loved me back.
“Hi everyone,” I said, laughing a little. “I’m not very good at speeches. So I’ll keep this short. A year and a half ago, I was standing in a funeral home. Everyone was calling me crazy. My uncle had just tried to kill my dad. I thought I was going to lose everything. My dad. My family. The company. Everything that mattered.”
I paused, looking at Dad.
“But I didn’t,” I said. “Because I had something Robert never had. I had people who loved me. People who believed in me. My dad, who taught me to never give up, to always do the right thing, no matter how hard it is. Emma, who stood by me through every terrible day, who brought me coffee when I hadn’t slept in 48 hours, who told me I was going to win even when I was sure I was going to lose. Hale, who risked everything to do the right thing, even when he was scared for his daughter. Lila, who’s braver than any adult I know. Mike, who had my back at the airport. Maria, who fed me cookies when I was sad. All of you. Every single person here. You’re my family. And family isn’t just blood. It’s the people who show up. The people who stay. The people who love you even when you’re at your worst.”
I took a deep breath, smiling.
“Robert thought money and power were everything. He thought if he had enough of both, he could take whatever he wanted. But he was wrong. The most important thing in the world isn’t money. It’s not power. It’s this. Standing here, surrounded by people you love, who love you back. Knowing you’re safe. Knowing you’re not alone. That’s the real treasure. And I’m the richest man in the world, because I have all of you.”
The crowd cheered, clapping so loud my ears rang.
I looked down at Dad, who was wiping a tear from his eye, grinning like an idiot.
I held up my beer.
“So let’s make a toast,” I said. “To family. To love. To second chances. To never giving up. And to many, many more years of happiness, and tacos, and chocolate chip pancakes at midnight.”
“TO PANCAKES!” Lila yelled from the crowd, and everyone laughed, cheering, raising their glasses.
I walked off the stage, and Dad pulled me into a hug, tight.
“Best speech I ever heard,” he said, his voice thick.
Emma kissed me, soft, on the lips.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you too,” I said.
The party went on late into the night.
We danced. We ate. We laughed.
Lila fell asleep on the couch, her puppy curled up next to her.
Emma and I sat on the porch swing, watching the stars, talking about the wedding, about the kids we wanted to have someday, about the house we were going to build on the lake, right next to Dad’s.
At midnight, Dad came over, tapping me on the shoulder.
“Come on,” he said, grinning. “Time for the annual tradition.”
Emma laughed, standing up, grabbing my hand.
“I’m in,” she said. “I’ve heard all about the famous midnight pancakes.”
We walked into the big kitchen, the lights off except for the one over the stove.
Dad pulled out the old griddle, the same one he’d used for 20 years.
We pulled out the flour, the eggs, the milk, the chocolate chips.
We made a huge mess.
Flour on the floor. Chocolate chips in our hair. Batter on the counter.
Dad flipped a pancake too high, and it landed on the ceiling.
We all laughed so hard we could barely breathe.
The dog ran in, stealing a pancake off the counter, and ran out with it, Lila (who’d woken up) chasing after him, screaming with laughter.
When the pancakes were done, we piled them high on plates, covered them in syrup and whipped cream, and sat around the big kitchen table, eating them, still laughing, still making a mess.
Dad looked around the table—at me, at Emma, at Lila, who’d climbed into a chair, covered in syrup, at Hale, who’d wandered in to see what all the noise was about.
He smiled, a soft, happy smile, the kind I hadn’t seen on his face since Mom died.
“The eagle flies at midnight for chocolate chip pancakes,” he said, raising his pancake.
We all raised ours.
“To us,” I said.
“To us,” they all echoed.
I looked around the table.
At my dad, healthy and happy, alive and here.
At Emma, my future wife, the love of my life.
At Lila, our little honorary sister, brave and bright.
At Hale, our friend, our brother.
At the mess we’d made.
At the love that filled the room, warm and thick, like the smell of the pancakes.
I felt it then.
Deep in my bones.
Complete safety.
Complete love.
Complete confidence.
Justice had been served.
Robert was gone, never to hurt anyone again.
Sarah was paying for her mistakes.
The company was strong.
My family was whole.
Better than whole.
Bigger.
Brighter.
Full of more love than I’d ever thought possible.
I took a bite of my pancake, warm and sweet, and smiled.
This was the happy ending I’d always dreamed of.
The one I’d almost lost.
The one I’d fought for, with every fiber of my being.
And it was perfect.
Absolutely perfect.
Outside, the Texas stars shone bright over the house.
Inside, we laughed, and ate, and loved.
And for the first time in my life, I knew.
No matter what came next.
We’d face it together.
May you like
As a family.
And that was more than enough.
