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Josef is the first person I see. His eyes are misty, and his smile is gigantic. Next to him is my father. How did he get here?
He hugs me harder than ever before.
A gaggle of women surround Simona before I can warn them off. The baby shouldn’t be around a crowd yet.
Liam sees my distress and makes a hole in the crowd. “Come on, let them pass. They’ve got to move along.”
The flock of friends and family follow us out to the truck which is decorated with blue streamers and congratulations written with window chalk. “You guys!”
Savannah grabs my arm. “Hey, before you bail, you two have to tell us this handsome baby’s name.”
Squeezing Simona’s shoulder, I nod for her to make the big reveal. The crowd goes quiet, Simona lifts our baby to her cheek and nuzzles him. Her voice rings clear and proud. “Josef Thomas Scott.”
My father’s hand goes to his heart when he hears his own name as my son’s middle name. Marshall clasps a laughing Josef on the shoulder. The ladies clap.
Simona looks at me over her shoulder. “I love you.”
I can’t speak. I nod and steal a kiss with the most badass woman in the world, and I’m filled with happiness so big that I know I’m glowing like the sun.
Six Months Later
Czech Republic
“Be quiet, guys,” Simona hushes the team. “Look, this is what I found.”
Josef lifts the baby from the swinging thingy and waves goodbye as he and Simona’s sister Gilly head down the hallway toward the cabin’s kitchen. The house is much bigger now that we’ve finished the addition. There’s room now for us to have meetings, and store all the technology we need for running Agile’s European Operations.
I scoot my chair closer as Marshall leans over Simona’s laptop. “So this is our starting point?”
She nods.
I tell the team, “She was there just a few months ago.”
Marshall’s voice is confident. “Agreed. I’m sure we’ll find your sister. We’re close now.”
Mako’s voice, on the other hand, is full of his usual frustration. “I’ve been deep in the muck, looking at facial recognition data from five countries. It’s frustrating as hell. She’s like a ghost.”
The man likes for things to go fast. And this search has been anything but. Granted, we did have a baby in the middle of it, but he’s been diligently, with no small amount of grumbling, keeping the search going.
Simona makes some notes on a piece of paper. A crease in her brow. “She’s obviously good at running. There’s barely been a trace of her since I started looking.”
Mako thumps his fingers on the table. “When we find her, she and I are going to have words. Do you know how many hot blonde women I’ve had to stake out since we started this? I’m about to go mad. I’ve been dreaming about her at night for weeks. I’m Pavlovian now. Show me a woman that looks like your sister, and my heart starts racing, only to be let down again. So, yeah, when we do find her, I’m going to let her have it.”
“Poor baby,” Simona jokes.
“Careful what you wish for, mate.” Marshall laughs as he pushes back from the table. “If she’s anything like Simona, you might end up with a problem on your hands.”
Mako tosses a crumpled napkin across the room toward the trash, it swooshes perfectly in as he says, “I can handle it. Bring it on.” He picks up his backpack, looks around the room at us. “What are you guys waiting for? We’ve got work to do. I’ve got a date with one infuriating woman.”
