Page 74 of Jace

Charlotte winked at her and gave her a big grin.

And Eliza gave her a nod and an encouraging smile.

The three women had arrived on Han-2 together what felt like a lifetime ago.

Each had adopted a sweet baby, and each had fallen in love with the baby’s Invicta guard. What happened in between for each of them was so different that it almost didn’t bear comparing. But the one thing they all shared was a happiness beyond what any of them had ever hoped.

Now Eliza and her mate, Troy, ran a general store on the edge of a beautiful river.

And Charlotte and her mate, Luka, had started a farm that might change the universe.

And Susannah had found her path now, too. Ultimately, she had decided to accept her parents’ credits so that she could buy the whole mountain. She then had it designated as a preserved space, and placed the title in the name of her new friends, the community of the First People of Han-2.

They, in turn, had given Susannah’s family a lifetime leasehold of the little cabin and clearing. And more importantly, they had given her kindness, friendship, and community every day since.

At last, she felt at peace about her family’s history. She could not undo what her parents had done, but at least she could know she used those funds to do something good.

Buying the mountain had been easier than expected, mainly because Bard Wynyx got real trouble for his terrible plan. He had all his Han-2 properties auctioned off in order to pay for his legal fees.

Susannah sometimes liked to imagine his reaction when he found out that she had bought every single one.

If she ever saw him again, she had a feeling he would be extra mad at the woman he had thought he could take advantage of. When she refused to sell, he had clearly thought he could simply tear down the whole mountain and ask forgiveness, not permission, afterward.

And the amount he had wanted to offer her for her land to begin with turned out to be a paltry sum when the investigation uncovered that he was trying to turn the mountain into a plateau in order to lease it to an Armada military branch for a new command center. He would have taken more from them each cycle than what he had offered her for the land. And he would have been harboring aggressive forces on a neutral moon to boot.

But she was unlikely to see him again.

Because of the Armada’s involvement, his trial was being held in intergalactic court.

“Are you ready?” Eliza asked warmly.

Susannah nodded.

“Let’s go,” Charlotte crowed.

They linked arms and headed out of the cabin and into the clearing, where their families and the community were waiting.

The community had helped Susannah and Jace drag out the remaining trees from the clearing. When they were properly dried and aged, the timber could be used to build a community center, which she hoped might host weddings and celebrations for all of them one day.

For now, she was happy that the sun was shining and the breeze was light. It was a perfect day for an outdoor ceremony.

Seeing all her new friends and her old friends’ mates and babies all sitting on blankets in the grass chatting made her heart smile.

But when she looked up to see Jace waiting for her, holding baby Zeke beside the community elder, tears blurred her vision.

“You’ve got this,” Eliza whispered, leaning in to kiss her cheek before going to sit with Troy and baby Clementine.

“Good luck,” Charlotte murmured, squeezing her arm, and heading over to where Luka held a smiling baby Maybelle.

Stepping forward to join her mate and child, Susannah forgot to hold up the fabric of her long dress. She made it two steps before her right foot caught the hem and she felt herself falling.

The crowd gasped as one.

Susannah had stopped taking gymnastics classes when she was six, after her parents realized she was never going to be very good at it. But some part of it must have stuck with her, because she tucked her chin as she fell and did a textbook somersault, popping back up to her feet in one smooth motion and grabbing the fabric of her skirts in both hands.

“I’m okay,” she called out.

The group burst into spontaneous applause, and she gave a funny little bow of acknowledgement, which resulted in polite giggles.

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