Zoe held Tommy in her arms, and Sam opened the door to Park Tavern. Cheers broke out as they entered the restaurant. A banner reading Happy Gotcha Day spanned the entire bar. Blue balloons filled the space. The Moreheads, the Cobbledicks, and the Paynes sat with Conrad Henshaw and his boyfriend, Darren. Everywhere she looked, she saw smiling faces. It seemed all of Langley Park had come to celebrate Tommy’s adoption with them.
“It’s official! Zoe and I are Thomas Jackson Sinclair’s parents!” Sam called out, holding up the adoption decree to another round of cheers.
They’d decided to make Tessa’s last name, Jackson, Tommy’s middle name. They wanted him to grow up with a piece of his birth mother that would always be with him.
“Take a glass! Take a glass!” Monica said, handing them flutes of champagne as their friends and family gathered around them.
Michael stepped forward and addressed the group with a wide grin. “As Zoe and Sam’s attorney and witness to the event, I can tell you that yes, a judge deemed these two people appropriate parents. Em,” he said, looking to his wife, the smile morphing into a wry grin. “Now we don’t have to worry about Billy being the first kid on the block to drop the f-bomb.”
The group chuckled.
“We’ve all been trying to decide what Tommy’s first words will be,” Gabe said.
Em nodded. “I said douche canoe.”
Lindsey shook her head. “Nick and I think it’ll be fartknocker.”
“I was thinking wedgie nugget had a nice ring to it,” Jenna added.
Zoe laughed. “You’re all wedgie nuggets. And even if my son’s first word is asshat, I’ll make sure to teach him how to use it correctly. Like, these people in Langley Park are a bunch of asshats.” She paused and looked around the group. “But on a serious note, I know I can speak for Sam when I say we are so glad to have you all here to celebrate with us.”
“We couldn’t have gotten here without you. Thank you, everybody.” Sam added.
“And that brings us to the toast,” her mother said, coming along with her father to stand next to her.
Neil Stein blotted his eyes with a handkerchief. “Zoe Christine Stein Sinclair, I’m not an especially emotional man but to see you become a mother is one of the happiest days of my life.”
Kathy Stein swiped at her cheeks. “We could not be prouder of the woman you’ve become, and we could not be any happier than to not only to have Sam as our son-in-law but to also have Tommy as our grandson.”
“Oh, Mom,” Zoe said, tears in her eyes.
“And I promise,” Kathy added with a teary smile. “There are only one or two Buddha’s hidden in the baby’s room.”
Zoe shared a look with her husband. “What did I tell you?”
“There may be another one in your pantry,” her mom added.
Zoe zeroed in on Ben and Jenna. “Speaking of pantries. I found Cheerios on the floor when we moved into the house you flipped and sold to us. Do I need mom to burn some sage in there?”
Ben looked at his wife who had gone pink. “Not sure how those got there.”
Zoe cocked her head to the side. “That’s your story?”
Jenna smiled. “It’s a very nice pantry.”
Sam glanced down and lowered his voice. “What’s wrong with our pantry? It’s great! It’s got a ladder.”
Zoe shook her head. “I’ll tell you later.”
Her father stepped forward and tapped his champagne flute with a spoon to get the group’s attention. “We couldn’t agree on just one toast, so we thought we’d let everyone share a bit.”
“I’d like to start.” Mrs. G, Langley Park’s beloved retired school teacher and the current office manager of Ben’s architecture firm, raised her glass. “I’ve known Zoe and Sam since before they were in kindergarten. Sam, even at a young age you were always the protector, always the one standing up for the little guy, always the one trying to calm a dispute. I know Tommy is going to learn the meaning of devotion and kindness from you.”
“Thanks, Mrs. G,” Sam said, voice thick with emotion.
“And you, Zoe. It will surprise no one when I say you were my student with the most creative language abilities. In the third grade, when you called Harold Henderson a sphincter squeegee, I had to remind you to use appropriate language, but I still laugh about that.”
“What’s Harold doing these days?” Zoe asked.
Mrs. G bit back a laugh. “I believe he’s a proctologist in Ohio.”
Zoe smirked. “He should really thank me for the career advice.”
Mrs. G smiled. “Zoe, you have one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. You have always cared fiercely for the people you love. By your example, I’m sure your son will have that quality, too.”
Zoe blinked back tears. “Thank you, Mrs. G.”
Gabe raised his glass. “Zoe, I’ve known you my entire life, and Sam, a guy couldn’t ask for a better big brother. The two of you were there for me and Monica. I don’t know what we would have done without you.”
Monica’s German grandmother, Oma, to everyone in town, stepped forward. “Zoe and Sam, you both helped make my dream of a Langley Park Oktoberfest a reality. You both care deeply for this community. You will make wonderful parents. But you must promise me one thing.”
“Anything, Oma,” Sam answered.
“The first strudel your son eats must come from my bakery.”
“That’s an easy promise to make. We would never go anywhere else for strudel,” Zoe answered.
The baby cooed, and everyone chuckled.
Oma lifted her chin. “See! Even babies know my strudel recipe is the best.”
With baby Skylar in the crook of one arm, Nick raised his glass. “Sam, we’ve known each other since we were young men, but I knew from the moment I met you, we’d be friends for life. After years of living out of a suitcase, you were the driving force in helping me decide to make Langley Park my home. And if it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t be married to the love of my life and raising our beautiful daughter.” Nick leaned in and kissed his wife then met Sam’s gaze. “I owe you everything, Sam.”
Lindsey brushed a tear from her cheek. “And Zoe, you were one of the first people I met in Langley Park. You’re someone who will drop everything to help a friend. I am so excited for our children to grow up together.”
“You guys are making me cry all over my baby,” Zoe said.
Em stepped forward. “Get ready to turn up the waterworks, sister. Z, we have been friends since we were tiny.” She looked around the room. “Sam and Ben used to take me, Michael, Gabe, and Zoe to the park to climb the trees when we were younger, and Zoe always went the highest. She was fearless even back then. And Sam, you are the kind, gentle giant of a big brother I never had.”
Michael put his arm around his wife and raised his glass. “We love you both and couldn’t be happier for you.”
Zoe looked up at Sam, and he pulled her in close, tears in his eyes.
“And that leaves us,” Ben said, standing with Jenna and Kate.
Jenna raised her glass. “Park Tavern was the first place I landed after returning to Langley Park. It was a difficult time in my life, but the warmth of this place drew me in. Sam, you didn’t know me, but you showed me kindness and then when Zoe came in, I think something inside me knew that somehow I was going to end up here. I don’t know where I’d be right now if it weren’t for you both.”
Ben raised his glass. “Zoe, you were always one mouthy, pipsqueak of a little sister.”
Everyone chuckled.
Zoe brushed a tear from her cheek. “And leave it to my brother to kill the sappy vibe.”
Her brother smiled. “I’m not done yet. I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you two properly for everything you did for Kate, and for me, especially in those years after Sara passed away. And then when I thought I’d lost Jenna forever, Zoe, you were the one who figured out where she’d gone.”
“It’s true, Zoe,” Jenna said. “Thanks to yo
u, I have a family and a real home.”
Ben took his wife’s hand and kissed it. “Like so many in this room, we owe our happiness to the both of you. I think it’s safe to say that Zoe and Sam are the heart of Langley Park, and your Tommy is one lucky boy to have two such loving, caring parents.”
The room was quiet for a beat and the air hummed with nostalgia, past and present blurring together with the promise of sweet memories yet to come.
Sam turned to her, those emerald eyes shining. “To my wife, I will never tire of saying that. I have wanted to build a life with you for so many years, but not in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be this happy and this blessed,” he added, letting Tommy wrap his tiny hand around his finger.
“I love you, too, you sappy, giant gin—”
With their son in her arms, he stopped her with a kiss. A kiss binding them together. A kiss infused with undying devotion. And while no life is ever perfect, this kiss said that whatever life threw their way, they’d tackle it together.
“To Zoe and Sam, the heart of Langley Park,” Ben said as everyone raised their glass.
Kate groaned and covered her eyes. “Ew, all this kissing! I hate all this mushy love stuff.”
Zoe shared a look with Sam and then met her niece’s gaze. “When you’re older, you may have a different opinion of love.”
The girl scrunched up her face. “Why, Aunt Zoe?”
Zoe glanced around Park Tavern and saw her friends and family, all smiling, all laughing. All of them home. She tapped Kate’s chest, right above her heart. “Because, sweet girl, love always wins in Langley Park.”
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About the Author
If there’s one thing Krista Sandor knows for sure, it’s that romance saved her. After she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2015, her world turned upside down. During those difficult first days, her dear friend sent her a romance novel. That kind gesture provided the escape she needed and ignited her love of the genre. Inspired by the strong heroines and happily ever afters, Krista decided to write her own romance series. Today, she is an MS Warrior and living life to the fullest. When she’s not writing, you can find her running 5Ks and chasing after her growing boys in her adopted home of Denver, Colorado.
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Also by Krista Sandor
The Langley Park Series
Book One: The Road Home
Book Two: The Sound of Home
Book Three: The Beginning of Home
Book Four: The Measure of Home
Book Five: The Story of Home
The Bergen Brothers Series
The Bergen Brothers is a steamy and sassy series that will have you laughing one minute and fanning yourself the next! Get ready to meet three toe-curlingly hot brothers who are heirs to a billion-dollar mountain sports empire.
You get mountains, money, and all the sexy times.
Book One: Man Fast
Book Two: Man Feast
Book Three: Man Find
The Complete Langley Park Series (Books 1-5) Page 133
