Chapter 8 - The Final Twist on Seat 18BSix months later.
The morning sun flooded through the massive windows of a beach house on the coast of North Carolina. The sound of gentle waves crashing against the shore filled the quiet home.
Brooke stood in the kitchen, pouring fresh coffee into two mugs. On the counter lay the morning edition of the Wall Street Journal.
The front cover featured a photo of Trevor Madsen in an orange prison jumpsuit being led out of a federal courthouse, sentenced to twenty-two years without parole. Next to it was an article praising the Brooke Ellery Foundation, which had already rescued over two hundred women from financial exploitation.
A pair of strong arms wrapped gently around Brooke’s waist from behind. Reid rested his chin on her shoulder, breathing in the scent of her hair.
"Good morning," Reid murmured softly.
"Morning," Brooke smiled, leaning back against his chest. "Lily is still sleeping. She played so hard at the beach yesterday."
"She’s getting so big," Reid said softly, turning her around in his arms so she was facing him. He looked at her with an intensity that still took her breath away every single day.
"I have a surprise for you," Reid said, pulling a tiny black velvet box from his pocket.
Brooke gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
Reid didn't get down on one knee with a grand corporate speech. He simply opened the box, revealing a breathtaking diamond ring that caught the morning sunlight, sparkling like the ocean.
"Brooke Ellery," Reid said, his voice filled with sincere, deep love. "Six months ago, you fell asleep on my shoulder when my whole world was falling apart. You brought truth back into my life. Will you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?"
Tears of pure joy spilled down Brooke’s cheeks. "Yes! Yes, Reid! A thousand times yes!"
He slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her into a deep, lingering kiss that erased every lingering shadow of her painful past.
As they pulled away, laughing and holding each other close, Reid pulled two folded pieces of paper from his back pocket.
"What are those?" Brooke asked, wiping a happy tear from her cheek.
"Our tickets for our honeymoon," Reid grinned playfully. "I booked the entire first-class cabin to Paris."
Brooke looked down at the boarding passes in her hand. Her eyes widened as she read the seat assignment printed in bold black ink:
May you like
PASSENGER: BROOKE ELLERY SEAT: 18B
Brooke burst into laughter, resting her head right back onto the shoulder where her second life had begun—never again to be locked out, never again to be silenced, and forever loved.
