Epilogue

NINE MONTHS LATER

Kira Douglas Payton stood hand in hand with Max as they watched the sign go up over the driveway into the Westerfield estate.

Westerfield Riding Camp, it read. The sign itself was made of wood with the words burned into it.

Kira smiled at Leigh, who stood in front of the sign, studying it from every angle before nodding her head.

The sign had taken the place of the forbidding gate that once regulated visitors. Now it welcomed them.

The camp would officially open in two weeks. It would offer day classes during much of the year and a weeklong camp experience during the summer, mostly for kids with disabilities. The Westerfield trust financed the expansion of the stables and renovation of the big house. The first floor had been transformed into rooms for the kids, as well as a kitchen, dining room, and physical therapy rooms. Katy Douglas had a suite of rooms above with her own kitchen. She’d claimed the title of House Mother.

The trust also would provide funds for staff as well as scholarships for kids who couldn’t afford the experience.

After the sign was up properly, the small group of attendees trooped inside Max’s house for lunch.

Congressman Seth Westerfield turned to Leigh. “Good job, Cous. But you should have let me notify the media.”

“I think we’ve had enough publicity, thank you,” Leigh said wryly.

Seth shrugged. “But this is good publicity.”

“No,” Leigh said sternly, then glanced at Kira.

Warmth filled Kira as her fingers tightened around Max’s. Leigh’s confidence had grown noticeably in the past months, and never more so than the day four weeks earlier when she’d married Chris, three months after Kira had wed Max.

Chris smiled down at his new wife. He hadn’t stopped smiling in the past months. The grief in his eyes had faded, though Kira knew Risa would always hold a place in his heart.

The relationship hadn’t been easy for Leigh in the beginning. It was hard for her to trust, to believe that he wouldn’t come to hate her scars, both physical and emotional. Leigh had surmounted far more obstacles than Kira. And now they were like sisters, the sister each had always wanted but never had.

Mrs. Baker was an invisible presence. She had been invited but declined. The prosecution had decided not to press charges after hearing all the facts, and she’d retired to her cottage.

Kira’s mother came into the room carrying a large casserole she’d made earlier, along with a bowl of salad. Max opened a bottle of champagne and another of sparkling cider. He poured the contents into flutes, then raised his own glass. “To Leigh’s dream.”

Kira took a sip and looked around. David and his wife were there. He raised his glass but his eyes were somber. His father had flown back after receiving a telegram about the events. He’d confessed to all of them that he’d been responsible for the switch.

It had been a momentary decision that had haunted him the rest of his life. His cousin, Karen, had already had three miscarriages and this had been a risky pregnancy. Michael had always loved Karen, and when he saw that her child had what he believed was a fatal illness and would live no longer than a few days, he made the decision to switch the child with one born at the same time to a very young girl who had no money and whose husband obviously didn’t want a child.

The young mother—Katy Douglas—would have other opportunities. His cousin wouldn’t. He made sure Katy Douglas and the ill baby had the best medical care possible, and he paid the costs.

When Karen and her husband died and Leigh was so badly injured, he stayed to make sure she had the best care, then joined Doctors Without Borders. He’d thought then about confessing his action, but he feared he would make everything worse.

Kira and Max, Leigh and Chris held a meeting. They’d already informed a grateful hospital administration they had no intention of suing. They didn’t need the money, and it would hurt the hospital’s spiraling insurance costs. They decided to let everyone to believe the switch was an accident rather than drag the Westerfield name through the papers for months, maybe years.

Then there was the trust. Kira said she would not contest her grandfather’s will. She had been the lucky one, not Leigh.

Max turned over control of the trust to Leigh, but she asked him to stay on and manage the funds as well as the stock. He’d concurred with her plans for the ranch and even joined enthusiastically in the planning. He’d suggested that they also save several weeks for inner-city kids.

It was also time for him to leave the Westerfield compound. With Kira’s enthusiastic approval, he’d donated his house to the project. Leigh and Chris would live there, while the big house would lodge Katy and the campers. Kira wanted Leigh to have time with their mother, and their mother was ecstatic about working with kids. She was always a natural-born caretaker.

And Kira and Max? He’d purchased land not far away, and the contractor was finishing a stone-and-glass home they’d designed together. A house of light and warmth. He had lived in the Westerfields’ pocket too long. He would continue to be Leigh’s attorney, but he would accept other clients as well.

He stood again. “Another toast,” he said, his eyes twinkling. They had been doing a lot of that lately.

Everyone looked toward him. He clasped Kira’s hand and drew her up next to him. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.

“We’re going to have a baby in exactly six months.”

Katy Douglas stood. Tears rolled down her face. “I never thought … to see …”

Kira bit her lip to stop her own tears. She hadn’t thought her mother would see a grandchild, either.

But as she looked at Leigh’s delighted face, and the way Chris pulled her to him, she knew it wouldn’t be long before there was another child in the family …

“To the family,” Chris said. “To our complicated, confused, and altogether wonderful family.”

And they all raised their glasses.