Page 147 of Run While You Can

She let out a gasp. “Dad?”

He was here. In Vegas.

He crossed the distance in three long steps, arms already opening.

Andi rushed into them. “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“Duke asked me to come,” he murmured.

“I’ve missed you,” she said into his shoulder, her voice thick with emotion.

“I wasn’t missing this show for anything.”

Andi laughed, tears slipping free now without resistance.

“I brought some energy drinks to celebrate!” Mariella announced. “I even bedazzled the cans!”

Everyone let out a groan then laughed.

For a moment—just one—the noise of Vegas faded. The past loosened its grip. The future opened wide and bright.

And standing there beneath a borrowed Parisian skyline, with Duke’s hand warm in hers, Andi let herself relax as all the world felt perfect.

~~~