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With an intense look in his eyes, he pauses and stares into mine. If at all possible, his smile turns wider. “Forever. I like the sound of that.”
Epilogue
Zoey
It’s May,and it’s absolutely beautiful here in Wyoming. The sun is out, the sky is blue, and there isn’t a cloud in the sky today. There’s a slight breeze that blows my hair into my face, cooling me. But today is absolutely perfect.
Since October, the last several months have been a whirlwind. I’ve run the gamut of emotions just in last fall alone.
The death of Mitch made a lot of things come out into the open. My adoption, or stolen at birth, as I call it. The FBI were involved, and I learned a lot of things about Allison Davis and the family that stole me.
My birth mother, Mindy Davis, was a druggie and a prostitute. But when she ended up pregnant with me, she turned her life around. She got help and ended up finding a job as a receptionist. She gave birth to me and thought she would be going home with me.
A little while after giving birth, she was tested for drugs. The hospital told her that I had drugs in my system. Mindy told them that wasn’t possible that she hadn’t touched a single drug during the pregnancy. The hospital disagreed. They told her I was being put in child protective services.
The reality was that the Moores needed a baby to replace the one they lost. They turned to the Wakefields, who used the people they had in their pocket to put me in their family. If my mom hadn’t gone into labor that day, I might not have ended up with the Moores. My mom was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Even after she lost custody of me, my birth mother stayed clear of drugs. She did all she could to fight to get me back, but the system kept her from getting me. Eventually she became so depressed that she returned to drugs and overdosed a few months after losing me. The depression and guilt led her back to the same thing that got me taken away.
When all that came to the surface, I struggled with that information. My mother lost her life because she lost me. If I hadn’t entered the world that day, I would’ve been loved by a woman who turned her life around for me. A woman who loved me unconditionally, a woman who fought with everything she could to get me back.
I spent days in bed crying, not eating or leaving the house when I did emerge from the bedroom. The sharp pains in my heart consumed me. I was cheated out of knowing my mother, knowing where I came from. My birthday is a reminder of all that I lost. I felt so guilty and yet there was nothing I could’ve done. All this time, I felt like I didn’t belong in the family I was a part of, and I was right to think that. I didn’t belong there. I was never supposed to be there.
It still hurts, knowing I will never get to meet my mother. She died never knowing me except for the brief few minutes after birth. The heartbreak she went through is unimaginable. She tried to stay strong for so long until her demons took back control of her. I still have days where I struggle to understand the domino effect that happened after the Moores’ lost their baby. All the lives they truly affected.
I did seek out therapy after some persuasion from Ryker, who has been so supportive through everything. He felt a doctor might be able to do more for me. Dr. Thorn, my therapist, has been helping me work through the bad days, helping me understand that the series of events that transpired, I had nothing to do with. I was an unwilling participant who knew nothing other than what was being told to me.
Everything was out of my control. Except for the small fact that I was the missing link in the FBI’s case and by them putting together what happened to me, they were able to take out all the key players and then some.
The Wakefields and all the people on their payroll have been caught and are being prosecuted. Some of those on their payroll chose lighter sentences in exchange for testimony. They realized that helping the FBI was favorable to not helping.
Ryker was never charged with killing Mitch; it was deemed self-defense. There was an investigation, but he was cleared pretty fast once all the evidence came in.
The Hollidays felt horrible once they learned that former Deputy Johnson was behind all the issues on the ranch. For weeks afterwards, Ryker’s mom would break into tears and try to apologize even when I told her it wasn’t necessary. The entire situation was fucked up and put a lot of good people in precarious positions.
Ryker’s family does all they can to try and make up for how they acted towards me, even with my protests. They’re good, wholesome people who just got caught up in a horrible situation.
Rachel at the bank was arrested, and the money was found locked up in a safe deposit box. Having my back turned the way I did when I deposited the money gave Rachel and Johnson the doubt they needed to frame me.
Joan hired me back as soon as they found out that I was set up. They even threw me a welcome back party at the diner once I was up to start working again. So, now I work full time there, only helping on the ranch when they need it. The plus side of working at the diner? Ryker. He comes in at least three times a day when I work, and I’m not complaining.
After the incident with Mitch, Ryker pretty much became attached to my hip. Again, not complaining. We do everything together. The more time I’m with him, the more I love him. I moved in after that night at the hospital. Well, more like I never left, ever again.
After that night, I had to figure out what to do about my name. I never knew Allison Davis, nor did I know my mother. But Nicole Moore was a lie. She didn’t really exist except for the benefit of the Moores.
In the end, I decided to keep the name Zoey but with the last name of Davis as tribute to my mother. Zoey was the one true thing I knew. It wasn’t stolen from me, and it wasn’t a lie; it was something I gave myself to get rid of the past. It was my choice, my name.
Zoey Davis.
My phone chirps, and I see that I have a text from Ryker.
Ryker: Hey, sweetheart. What’re you up to?
Me: Sitting at the lake. It’s beautiful outside. The sky’s so blue.
Ryker: Tonight’ll be a great night to look at the stars. You want to star gaze?
Me: You know I’ll never say no to that.