lyssa sat in Noah and Claire’s den and looked through a scrapbook Walter Gaines had made several months before he’d died.

It was filled with school papers—one of them a terribly poignant and sensitive poem Sam must’ve written when he was about fourteen—and clippings from the local paper of Sam’s enlistment in the Navy, of his admittance to BUD/S training, of his acceptance first into the SEAL teams and then to Officers Training School when he made the leap from enlisted to officer.

There were photos in the book, too. Pictures of Sam when he was just a skinny little kid. There was one of him with Walter’s arms around him, where he had the traces of what looked like a terrible black eye. But both Walt and Sam—Ringo—were laughing, and the boy’s face was completely lit up.

There were photos of Ringo and Noah, and in some of them the expression on Ringo’s face was so totally Sam, Alyssa laughed aloud.

There was a picture of Sam, barely eighteen, holding Noah and Claire’s infant daughter, Dora.

And another picture had Sam in his Navy uniform, standing with his mother and Noah and Claire outside of a church. There was a caption under that one, reading: “Suellen Starrett gets her one-year chip.”

From Alcoholics Anonymous, Alyssa realized. Sam’s mother had finally dumped his father and gotten her life together.

The very last photo in the book was a picture of Sam and Noah, taken when Sam received his SEAL pin.

Wow, he’d been young when he first became a SEAL. Pride radiated from him with an intensity that was so strong it seemed to reach out in time to touch her through that photograph. He looked ready to take on the world, as one of the very best of the best.

SEAL Team Sixteen had lost a lot with Sam’s recent resignation.

But there was no way he could have stayed in, not after everything that had happened.

Still, Alyssa’s mother had been fond of saying, When someone shuts a door, a window always opens.

Tom Paoletti had called both Sam and Alyssa this morning, asking if they were interested in meeting with him to discuss potential opportunities working in the public sector.

Paoletti was legendary, and Alyssa suspected that even though Sam was no longer a Navy SEAL, his days of being the best of the best had not yet come to an end.

Beneath that final photo, in Walt’s own hand, was a message to Sam. “My two boys,” he’d written. “May they find the same joy and happiness in their lives that I found in mine, dear Lord. Guide them and let them be blessed with a life filled with love and adventure.”

“I wish you could have known him,” Sam had said to her about Walter Gaines.

Alyssa had the feeling that she did—just by knowing Sam.

As she put down the book, she realized that the house was extremely still. Claire was working up in her office, and Noah had taken Devin and Dora to the movies. The idea was to give Sam a little one-on-one time with Haley, who was spending her days with Noah and Claire until all of the endless questioning and interviews and debriefings ended.

It looked as if charges would not be filed against Mary Lou, which was a very good thing, for all their sakes.

Alyssa stood up and stretched. When she first came into this den, over two hours ago, Haley had Sam down on the living room floor, playing with a set of plastic dolls.

She went down the hall to the living room now, wondering if they’d gone outside. It was so quiet.

And then she saw why.

Sam was lying on his back on the floor. Haley was on his chest, and they were both fast asleep. He looked so at peace, so content. And Alyssa knew Roger/Ringo/Sam had finally found a name that was going to stick. Daddy.

She stood there, watching them, with so much love in her heart it nearly took her breath away.

Let them be blessed with a life filled with love—and adventure.

Between Alyssa and Haley, the love part was handled.

As for the adventure—well, the biggest adventure of all was only just beginning.