Page 109 of Finding Gideon

She reached out, squeezed my arm. “You did good. Really good. I’ll take over the clinic again, but the sanctuary—I can see you’ve built something there. It needs you.”

Her words lodged somewhere deep in my chest. For a second, I couldn’t find the right response. Malcolm must’ve seen it, because he slipped an arm around my waist, pulled me close, and said simply, “Told you, babe. You belong here.”

Jess’s words stayed with me long after she turned to greet one of the attendees. That was when we heard some familiar voices.

Malcolm’s head tilted toward the sound, and his smile shifted, warmer, almost boyish. “Well. Brace yourself, babe,” he murmured, giving my waist a quick squeeze. “Family’s here.”

I turned just as his parents came up the side path—his mom carrying a bouquet of wildflowers, his dad and Camille not far behind.

Camille caught sight of me and grinned before sweeping me into a bear hug. “Gideon Raines, look at you. All cleaned up and respectable. Must be a special day.”

“You’re not wrong,” I said.

She released me only to nudge my arm affectionately. “Told you you’d stick.”

I didn’t say it out loud, but I felt it, deep in my bones.

Yeah. I stuck.

Malcolm’s mom pressed the flowers into my hands with a wink. “Figured you’d know what to do with these better than my son.”

“Hi to you too, Ma,” Malcolm said, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

His dad pulled him into a quick hug and clapped him on the shoulder, grinning. “Proud of you, son. Big day.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Malcolm’s voice held that quiet weight of meaning.

Then his dad turned to me and shook my hand with an easy, “Good to see you, Gideon,” while clapping me on the shoulder.

“I’m glad all of you came,” I said, a smile spreading across my face.

The Joneses treated me like family from the start, and somehow itstillcaught me off guard. Even months later, their warmth hit me deep—like sunlight in places I’d forgotten were cold. The way they claimed me without question, without condition, seeped into every hollow space inside me and made me feel whole.

Malcolm glanced toward the small speaker someone had set up. “I should get over there and kick things off before Evelyn decides she’s the master of ceremonies.”

That earned a laugh from Camille and a dramatic eye roll from his mom, which wasn’t surprising—Evelyn’s busybody, albeit harmless, ways weren’t a secret.

The crowd gathered into a loose semicircle. Camille shifted closer to me, lowering her voice with a teasing glint. “Get ready—my brother’s been looking forward to this for months. Today means the world to him.”

Before I could respond, Malcolm’s voice carried over the hum of conversation.

“When we dreamed up this place, it was about giving second chances. To animals that needed care, and to people who needed a reminder that kindness still matters. This sanctuary exists because you believed in that too, and we’re grateful.”

He spoke a little longer, thanking the volunteers and neighbors who’d helped in ways big and small. The applause that followed rolled warm and easy through the late-afternoon air. Malcolm smiled toward me.

Then he turned toward Junie, who stood in her sparkly dress, still fidgeting with the ribbon and scissors. “And since Junie’s the reason half of us are here,” he said, his voice still warm, buta little rough with feeling, “I think it’s only fair she does the honors. Ready, kiddo?”

Junie beamed. The crowd clapped and cheered. With dramatic flair, she snipped the red ribbon in one clean cut. A cheer rose up—whistles, applause, Zuri, Rachel and Nia yelling, “You go, Junie!” like she’d just won a race. Even Lila Dormer dabbed her eyes.

“She’s braver than most grown-ups I know,” Malcolm said fondly.

I smiled, my chest too full to speak.

Then he turned back to the crowd. “Now, one more surprise.” The glint in my boyfriend’s eyes made my pulse race. “Come up here, babe.”

Heat crept into my face. “Me?” I knew I was his babe, but what could be the surprise he had in store for me?

Camille gave me a gentle nudge.