Sophia covered the distance between them and crushed him to her, her throat closing with emotion. “Oh, honey. I know that already.”
Zac’s arms wrapped around her, and he buried his face in the crook of her neck. “I don’t say it enough. I’m so lucky to have you and Dad as my parents.”
Sophia’s mind raced and spun to come up with a response.
But words kept failing her.
Slowly, Zac drew back to look at her, and his own eyes were misty. “I know having me away isn’t easy for you, and the first time I left, it wasn’t under the best of circumstances, but things are different now.”
Sophia’s stomach dipped. “They are different. I’m proud of you, Zac. Always.”
Zac let his hands fall to his sides and cleared his throat. “I know that. I didn’t want to leave the same way I did last time, and I wanted you to know that I heard what you said. This place, this town—it’ll always be my home. I shouldn’t have let myself forget that.”
Sophia’s heart fluttered inside of her chest. “I appreciate that, sweetheart. I love you so much.”
Zac coughed and cleared his throat. “I love you too, Mom.”
A quiet thrill went through her when Zac pulled her in for another hug. She lingered, not wanting to let her son go but knowing she had to eventually.
This time, when he pulled back, she was filled with bittersweet nostalgia and pride at the thought of him heading off again.
No matter what happened, she was glad Zac knew he could always come home to her.
In silence, Darren walked Zac outside and came back in with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He swept her off her feet and kissed her soundly. Then he sat down and pulled her back onto his lap.
Her head was swimming, and she never wanted to let go.
“As happy as I am that you two are finally back together, can you please get off his lap? I don’t want this burned into my memory for all of time.”
Darren pulled back first and gave Ian a meaningful look. “Can it wait?”
“It’s about Mom’s case.”
Sophia scrambled up and patted down her hair. “What happened? Did you find anything?”
“I got the captain to agree to reopen the case. It took a lot of groveling, and I had to pull a lot of strings, but it worked.”
Sophia’s hands flew to her mouth. “I can’t believe it.”
“This doesn’t mean we’ll find anything different,” Ian warned her before running a hand through his hair. “We might not even find anything at all, but either way, you were right. The coincidence is too big to ignore. We need to know, once and for all, if Mom’s murder was an accident or on purpose.”
Darren slipped his hand into Sophia’s and laced his fingers through hers. “Either way, we’ll figure it out together.”
Sophia blew out a breath and tucked herself into Darren’s side. “I just hope we like what we find out.”
Ian pressed his lips together and glanced between the two of them. “Me, too, because there’s no going back now.”
