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Whatever happened to me, I want you to let it go and remember me as I was with you, not who I became with him. Tell Lana I’m sorry. I loved her more than anything in this world. Tell her she was the best of me and that I never wanted to leave her. Teach her not to make the mistakes I made and that being in love doesn’t hurt, but losing it does, and there’s a difference between being loved by someone and being used by them. I know she’ll know the difference because you won’t settle for anything less than a pure and true love that is epic and she’ll want that for herself.
Tell her I’m sorry I stayed with someone who didn’t deserve us.
Find someone who deserves you, Cyn. I know that won’t be easy, because you’re the best person I know. Maybe that cop you’re always grumbling about. There was something fierce in his eyes when Rad hit you, like he couldn’t stand to see you hurt. And I could tell by the way you tried so hard not to look at him that you felt the sizzle between you, too. I really hope I’m around to see what comes of it, because I bet he’s the one for you. And if he is, or some other guy is, I know he’ll be the right one for Lana, too.
Be the mom I wanted to be. Make all the memories I wanted to have with her and know that I’ll know she had the best mom and life I could have given her because she’s yours now. I’ve made sure of it.
I wish “thank you” expressed how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me and all you’ll do for my precious Lana. I love you and I wish you and Lana a happy, healthy and beautiful life together.
You were my everything, Cyn. Now you’ll be hers. She’s so lucky!
I love you,
Angela
Hunt leaned in, kissed her on the head, then whispered in her ear, “I’m so lucky.”
Shelby hugged her from the side and said, “I’m so lucky.”
Cyn turned into Hunt’s embrace and let the tears fall.
“What did she mean... she’s yours and she made sure of it?” Mr. Wilde asked.
Cyn wiped her tears with a napkin Hunt handed her, then shifted the letter off the other pages below and revealed the documents her sister had drawn up before her death. “She made a will and gave me custody of Lana. She made her wishes known that she wants me to adopt Lana and the letter is her telling me not to be just Lana’s aunt, but to be her m-mom.” Cyn burst into tears again.
Hunt helped her up from her chair and into his arms. “You guys go ahead and order breakfast. I’m taking Cyn outside for a few minutes. Shelby...”
“I’ve got Lana,” she assured them.
Hunt grabbed the papers and led her out of the diner, where most of the patrons were watching them. She didn’t really care.
All she wanted to do was be with Hunt and take a minute to really feel and understand all her sister told her in the letter.
Hunt walked her to the back of his car, leaned against it and pulled her into his arms. He held her until her tears subsided and she caught her breath again. Then he simply waited until she was ready to talk.
She stayed right where she was, her head on his chest, his chin brushing against her hair and their arms locked around each other. “She knew he was going to kill her.”
“She was scared for herself and Lana. She wanted to be sure Lana would be safe and loved and she knew that would be with you.”
“And you, apparently.”
He moved his hand to her head and brushed his fingers through her hair. “It’s nice to know she thought we’d be good together and that whoever you picked would be good enough for Lana, too. It’s a comfort to me to know that.”
“It is to me, too. I’ve been struggling with how toproceed with Lana. She’s so little. She doesn’t know what’s happening around her. I will be the only mom she knows. But I’m her aunt. What do I have her call me? Aunt Cyn, or Mom? I don’t want her to ever think I took Angela’s place.”
“She won’t. Because we’ll tell her in ways that she can understand as she grows up that she was lucky enough to have two moms. One who gave birth to her and loved her dearly. And one who raised her as her own daughter, even though she’s her aunt. That’s what Angela wanted. When Lana is old enough, we’ll show her the letter and that Angela wanted you to adopt her and be her mom. It’s that simple, Cyn. Angela said it. Lana is yours now.”
“Angela wanted more than that for us.”
“I know. Did you look at the adoption papers she enclosed?”
“Not really.”
Hunt let her loose and held the papers up for her to see. “She handwrote my name next to yours and initialed and dated it.”
Cyn snatched the papers and stared at them. “That’s the day she died. How did she know?”
“I don’t know. Intuition. Clarity of thought in a time when she felt she was most vulnerable. Coincidence. Hope that you’d find happiness with me. Faith that everything would work out. Whatever it was, Angela believed you would choose what was best for you and Lana.”
