Ophelia had no trouble finding the letter that Sullivan had written. He had posted it on his website, and it was a beautiful declaration of love from the family. It began by talking about how much the Richards family had been through and that some bitter, petty, and jealous people were hurting their family and themselves in the process. It talked about how Ophelia had been hired as a personal assistant to Reyna but had quickly become a part of the family who was cherished by them all. A daughter to Pops and Reyna, a sister to Sawyer and Shayne, and someone precious to Sullivan.

Ophelia's heart stopped at the word. It wasn't an outright declaration of love, but it did tell everyone that she was important to him, and for Sullivan, it was a big deal. He was never one to talk about emotions unless it was regarding a part in a film.

He had told the world that she was precious to him.

Ophelia looked at the clock and realized she didn't have long to get ready and get across town. She was no longer an employee of the Richards, so she didn't have to wear her usual business garb, and blue jeans seemed a little too casual, so she chose a wrap jersey dress in a peacock blue and paired it with black boots and a black dress coat. She also decided to wear her hair down but pulled it back with combs. It was a much different look than she usually went for, and maybe that was because she was trying to impress Sullivan a little. She had never outright tried to impress him with her appearance before.

Ophelia decided to take a taxi to Sullivan's apartment. Traffic was heavy, and she was late getting there. As the taxi pulled away from the curb and Ophelia looked up at the modern house, she wondered for a moment if she was in the wrong place, but Polly appeared to know where she was going as she started up the steps.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, holding tight to Polly's leash. It took a moment, but it was finally opened by a young twenty-something who was petite with a sleek, light brown bob cut. When she saw Ophelia, she eyed her suspiciously.

"May I help you?" she asked before she looked down and noticed Polly.

"Yes, my name is Ophelia Carter, and I'm here for dinner. Sullivan invited me." She gave the woman her sweetest smile.

"Yes, come in," she said, aware that Ophelia was expected.

As soon as they entered the house, Ophelia dropped Polly's leash, and she walked past the girl without a sniff or a glance, and that told Ophelia all she needed to know.

"They're all in the living room," the woman informed her as she closed the door behind them.

A modern front hall surrounded Ophelia. It was all marble and cold to look at and to make it even more unwelcoming. Every door was closed.

"Which one is that?" Ophelia asked, looking over her shoulder. She couldn't miss the young woman's smirk that Ophelia didn't know her way around.

Ophelia reminded herself that Sullivan had called her precious.

"It's through here." The still nameless woman walked over to a door on the left and opened it for her. She even entered the room before Ophelia did, probably hoping to catch a few negative reactions.

As she entered it, Pops jumped out in front of the young woman laughing maniacally, and the woman jumped so high she scared poor Polly. Pops startled Ophelia, but it didn't cause her concern like it did the young lady.

The awkward moment was finally broken by Shay, as she called Ophelia's name and rushed over to embrace her. Then she was passed to Reyna, who had tears in her eyes as she cupped Ophelia's face in her hands and told her how much she was missed. Pops came up behind her and tickled her with the same maniacal laugh before disappearing into the center hall.

Sawyer gave her a tender smile as he pulled her close. "We missed you so much, Phee. Don't ever do that again," he said before dropping a kiss on her forehead.

"Ophelia's here, Sullivan," Reyna told him as he entered from the door behind her.

"I see that Momma, thank you," he said as he welcomed Ophelia by dropping a light kiss on her cheek. Ophelia's heart skipped a beat at his nearness. He had showered and changed from when she had seen him earlier, and he looked handsome in his dress shirt and slacks.

"Oh, I am so sorry, Melanie!" Reyna turned to the woman who had answered the door. "Ophelia, this is Melanie, Melanie, this is our Ophelia." Reyna pulled on her right ear, letting Ophelia know that Melanie wasn't trusted.

Melanie nodded at Ophelia, then said something about checking dinner before leaving and closing the door behind her. "Don't worry about her, Phee. She has a thing for Sullen Sully." Sawyer said, moving to pour himself a drink.

"Sullen Sully?" Ophelia asked. That was a new one.

"Yes, since you left, he's been all sulky and gloomy." Sawyer held up his glass, offering Ophelia a drink.

Ophelia shook her head. She didn't want to drink. She wanted to remember every detail of her time spent with them.

"Are you going to offer me one?" Sullivan asked from where he was leaning against the wall by the door.

"Do you want one?" Sawyer asked with an attitude.

"No, thank you. You'd probably spit in it." Sullivan sounded amused.

"That's alright. The alcohol will kill all the germs." Sawyer insisted.

"It's not the germs. It's the point," Sullivan said as he eyed his brother.

"I love your hair like this!" Shay exclaimed as she reached up to tug at a strand. "It's beautiful."

"Thank you," Ophelia said as she allowed Shay to pull her to the couch. "Why is Pops randomly jumping out at people and laughing like that?"

"He's going to break poor Melanie. He's playing a psych patient." Reyna informed Ophelia with a long-suffering sigh. "You missed the clown with the rabbit that was always getting loose and the spitting flower."

"And don't forget the veterinarian. The house was full of animals for months. Polly was not happy." Sullivan added.

"Neither was the cleaning crew or poor Melanie," Reyna giggled.

Ophelia, who was sad to have missed those moments, took a moment to study a laughing Reyna and could see absolutely no ill effects from her head injury.

"Are you alright, dear?" Reyna asked when she caught Ophelia's look.

Ophelia started crying and stood, moving toward her, hugging her once more. "I'm so glad you're alright. I hated to leave you like that."

Reyna hugged her for a minute before pulling away and resting her head against Ophelia's. "I know, sweetie, but I did what I would do with any of my children. I let you go because I knew you would come back."

This made Ophelia cry harder, and then Shay joined both the crying and the hug. Next came Sawyer, who wrapped his arms around all three of them. The door opened, and Pops came in, followed by Melanie. When Pops saw a group hug with Ophelia in the middle, he too joined without saying a word.

After a moment, the hug broke apart, and Sullivan was still leaning against the wall where he had been, but Ophelia could see the muscle in his jaw working, which meant his emotions were high, so she gave him a gentle smile as she wiped her eyes. He looked almost cold to someone who didn't know him, but she knew he felt the moment as strongly as they all did.

Ophelia was beginning to understand him a little better. The more emotional he got, the colder he got to shield himself, and his family knew this.

Which made the fact that he was so willing to discuss his attraction with her and talk about love mean much more than she thought it had.

Melanie looked confused, not knowing what to do.

"Is dinner ready?" Sullivan asked, taking pity on her awkwardness.

Melanie shot him a thankful smile. "Yes."

However, when Sullivan held his hand out to Ophelia to lead her to the dining room, Melanie frowned. Everyone found a place to sit. Ophelia was placed between Reyna and Pops, with Sullivan at the head, while Sawyer sat on the other side between Melanie and Shay.

The table was set beautifully, and as soon as they were seated, a server brought out their food.

"We have catering, but we miss your delightful meals, Phee," Pops said as the caterer placed a bowl of soup in front of him, which he looked at with distrust.

They caught up on everything that had happened in the past year, asking Ophelia questions about her new life. She told them she was happy, even though she wasn't as happy as she had been when she lived with them.

"I have a business proposition for you," Reyna said as they were served dessert. "I no longer need a personal assistant since Melanie does such a fine job. I also happen to think you outgrew that job a long time ago, which was why I loaned you to Sullivan for the movie."

"Yeah, and he lost her!' Sawyer snorted.

"That's not helpful!" Shay elbowed him.

"But it's true!" he hissed in a not-so-subtle whisper as he eyed his brother.

Polly bumped Ophelia's hand, asking for a treat, and she slipped the dog a piece of cake, catching Sullivan's eyes as she did. "It's past her dinner time. You didn't leave me any food." Ophelia defended.

Sullivan didn't say anything as he returned to his dessert, but she swore she saw a smile.

"As I was saying," Reyna began again in a firm tone. "I would like you to take on the position of CEO of my new foundation."

Ophelia's mouth fell open in shock. "CEO, foundation?" she asked, unable to string a sentence together.

Reyna nodded. "I had a lot of time on my hands last year as I was recovering, and I felt the need to give back. I have established a non-profit to help build hospitals in third world countries where they are needed most." She paused. "I thought about what my recovery would have been like if I had been somewhere where healthcare is weak. Would I have even lived? I want to help create places where people can be healed as I was."

"It's a noble idea, Reyna, but the funding alone..." Ophelia shook her head at the thought.

Reyna named a sum that made everyone at the table pause. "That's how much I have been able to raise through private donations so far. It should be a good start."

"It should be, especially with Ophelia in charge. She probably won't even take a paycheck." Sullivan smiled at the thought.

"I'll pay for her salary myself. That's how much I want this to succeed." Reyna turned her attention back to Ophelia. "Would you consider it?"

Ophelia looked at all the expectant eyes watching her.

"I would consider it." Ophelia turned to Sullivan. "There are a few things I need to figure out first."

Sullivan's eyes held hers for a moment.

"Melanie, will you go get that envelope I asked you to hold onto for me?" Reyna asked, waiting until she was gone to continue. "I've already begun preparations for the first hospital. I've asked that nice helicopter pilot who saved my life to help."

Ophelia let her eyes bounce off Sawyer to see what his reaction was, but he had lifted his glass of wine to his face shielding his response.

Ophelia had the impression that he hadn't told anyone about her, despite her advice to share.

Melanie came back to the room quickly, afraid that she was going to miss something.

"Give it to Ophelia, please." Reyna insisted. "That's my offer, Ophelia. Look at it and think it over."

Ophelia nodded and pocketed the envelope.

After that, the discussion changed once again as they moved back into the living room, then Ophelia felt it was time to leave, and she was about to say that very thing when Sawyer stood and said it was time for him to go. At that point, they all stood and started to leave, and Ophelia got the impression that it was all planned.

"Do you need a ride?" Shay asked, giving Ophelia an out if she wanted it.

Ophelia looked at Sullivan, glaring at his sister, but Shay only lifted her chin to say that girls needed to stick together.

"I'll make sure that Ophelia gets home, Shay. She is my guest, after all." Sullivan's voice was even, but his eyes were shooting sparks at his sister.

"You don't deserver her," Shay hissed as she passed closely by her brother.

"I don't deny that Shay, but give a guy a chance." Sullivan's voice was soft, almost pleading.

Shay stopped at the tone in his voice and looked up at her brother. What she saw there must have meant something because she nodded, giving him and then Ophelia a quick hug before leaving.

Then they were alone.