A/N This chapter bridges the gap between the past and the present.  It takes place in between but closer to the present.

As I was writing Shadows in The Dark, I didn't have a clear plan for Mason and Melissa's future. I knew I needed to give my readers an ending for our secret lovers.  I also figured out Melissa and Jeremy's marriage as I went along. Some of you may have as well. 

If you have read any of the Point stories then you know about some of the characters in this story. Bethany and Rose, we learned about in Cold Outside. Drew and Maddie who were caught by Judy we know about, especially from Resolutions (the oldest Harris boy, Jack too). We even know about Lorraine Blake from Designs of Love.

The next books 4 and 5 in The Point Series feature Heidi Pendergast's best friends and although she will be a character in the stories, I felt she deserved some words in her own POV. Look for Lana Drake in The Players  and Maribelle Hughes in Daughters. Because one Harris brother is not enough we will get to know Ryan better too. 

Heidi Pendergast woke with a smile. She couldn't help but smile because she was the luckiest girl in the world. Cameron was sleeping beside her, sputtering a little. Well, maybe not the luckiest she shrugged because Cam managed to take up most of the bed. That problem would be solved with a king-sized bed once they bought a new place together.

She looked at the diamond on her finger. She moved it to catch the morning light streaming in from the edge of the blinds. It made a golden dot dance around the eggshell walls. Not wanting to disturb Cam, she slid out of bed and went into the kitchen. She and Cam spent more nights than not together and most were spent at her condo. His condo was a longer commute to his office, so he didn't mind. He wouldn't be commuting today; it was Sunday. She began to make her tea. She never took to coffee even when she and her friends at the beach made it a goal to develop a taste for Rick's coffee the summer before they started college. The other three succeeded with her best friend Lana, becoming addicted to the putrid brown liquid. Heidi had headed to Boston to Emerson College to study communications. Lana had stayed in Maine to go to college with Erik. Bethany stayed as well and had become a physical therapist. Always ambitious, Mari went to Georgia Tech for engineering.

Cam didn't drink coffee either which made them a perfect match. They were perfect for so many reasons. He was calm and sweet and put up with her dramatics without getting flustered himself. It was common knowledge she was high maintenance, but the people who loved her had long since accepted it. She was more like her father than her mother in that respect. Her father cared more about his looks and clothes than she did. Part of it was because he was on television. He was on the news almost every evening as a White House correspondent and had been for years. He also was the host of a Sunday morning talk show where people in politics came on and lied to the American people. It had always been like that but was worse than ever. She was the only one of her friends to be able to say her father had been insulted by the president in a tweet and to his face.

Cam checked all her boxes, but he was so much more. He and his best friend had a wealth management firm which meant they made money investing rich people's money. He wore a suit every day and was really smart about finances. She could listen to him talk to her stepfather who was in banking for hours even though she had no idea what they were talking about. She loved his assuredness and how handsome it made him look.

Heidi worked in production at the local news affiliate and she wasn't ashamed to admit her father got her in the door. Opportunity was about who you know. She had been out with some co-workers the night she met Cam. Truthfully, it was his best friend Ryan the girls were attracted to, Heidi included but there was only one Ryan and four girls. She might not have been a math major, but she knew her odds weren't great. Instead, she talked to Ryan's wingman who was pretty cute too. He could carry on a conversation and when he grabbed her hand to stop her from paying for her drink, she felt a connection. He must have too, because it took what felt like forever for him to release her hand, so he could offer his own credit card. Platinum she noticed, because she was a self describe high maintenance girl and needed a man who could afford her. Her father couldn't continue to supplement her income forever.

At the end of the night after some sweaty full contact dancing that took all her willpower not to invite him home with her, she left with the memory of a kiss to keep her up at night and he left with her number in his phone. Her friends who had been competing for Ryan ended up with the memory of some three on one dancing and nothing else. She didn't get Ryan Harris that night, but she had him as her friend which was a blessing in disguise since Ryan was not really the long-term relationship type and Cam was which was what Heidi wanted.

The craziest thing about Ryan was she technically had known him for years, because both their families summered on The Point. She had some memory of him hanging out with Lucinda, Mari sister. Lucinda liked boys, so she was Ryan's type. According to Ryan, she never chose him. Apparently, he played wingman for his friend Dougie who Lucy pursued successfully. At The Point even if you didn't know someone, you would know of them or their family. She greeted Ryan's parents multiple times each summer and was anxious for her upcoming vacation weeks, because Cam was coming with her. Ryan wasn't interested in a trip north even after she begged. Oddly, Ryan was the only man in her life that her begging didn't work on and she had a nonproportional amount of men in her life.

She and Cam were going to her mother's to discuss wedding plans with her male-dominated family. Thankfully they all got along. Her parents divorced when she was a senior in high school. It wasn't a traditional divorce nor had they had a traditional marriage. She sensed they were unique growing up but never quite understood until the day her mother and father sat her down to explain. Her parents never married for true love and although they loved each other, they were never in love. Her mother had been hurt in a relationship and her father thought marriage would help advance his career. His goal was to become the nightly anchor, but he never made it. At the same time, it had become clear to him the trend was for younger anchors and he missed the window. When he was young, they wanted an older experienced man and as unfair as it seemed he wasn't bitter. The anchor dream falling through was the catalyst for the divorce. Times were changing and he no longer had to be the man the nation wanted him to be.

Jeremy Pendergast was free to publicly love his one true love, her "uncle" Frankie. Growing up Frankie was around all the time and she thought nothing of her father going on golf trips with him. Her mother had her own friend who unbeknownst to Heidi had kept her happy for a number of years. Her mother's love for her father was so deep, she put off her own happiness until he was ready for a divorce. They had made unconventional vows and kept them. In their unique way, her parents taught her marriage was a commitment.

After the divorce and the coming out, her mother was free to marry the man she loved, When she married Mason, Heidi's friend Mari became her stepsister. Heidi never knew exactly when their relationship began, but it had to have been some time after Mason and his first wife Ruby divorced. They would see each other once a month in the winter when Mason traveled to Virginia and for a few weeks at The Point every summer. How they managed to keep their relationship a secret on The Point was one of life's greatest mysteries.

She was watching her father on the TV when Cam stumbled into the kitchen still half asleep. He leaned over and kissed her before grabbing the business section of The Post. His phone buzzed and he smirked.

"Who's that?"

"Ryan, he sent some laughing emojis. He had asked what we were doing today and I told him I was meeting with the future in-laws. You know Ryan, being my best man is going to give him hives. I just responded with a crying face."

Heidi laughed because Cam liked her parents and their partners. He was apprehensive at first because of her unconventional family and her father's fame.

She was the nervous one, because planning a wedding was stressful and too many opinions could be a problem. Somehow she suspected of the four, Mason would be the only one who was opinionless. She could hear him saying something like, tell me what to wear and what time to be there.

When she and Cam arrived at her mother's house, the four were already enjoying a bottle of wine. Her mother was discussing a large wedding party versus a small one with Frankie. It appeared as if they had differing opinions and her dad and Mason just looked on amused.

She interrupted them. "Hi everyone. The future bride and groom are here."

There were hugs and kisses from everyone for both her and Cam. She looked at her mother and said, "The one thing we know already is our wedding party. Cam is having Ryan as his best man and his brother as groomsmen. I'm having Lana as my matron of honor and Mari as my bridesmaid. Bethany declined even when I told her it wouldn't have to cost her a dime. The guy she's with is older and has money but I didn't push. I've never even met him. Her mother, Mason and her father all nodded because they had known Beth since she was a little girl, as she used to spend most of her summer with her grandmother, Rose.

Mason squeezed his wife's hand and said, "Rose would be proud of her."

Melissa said, "It seems like just yesterday you girls were running around on the beach with pails and shovels."

Mason added, "They were always barefoot."

Jeremy joined in. "And we were always on the porch drinking."

They all shared happy memories of their carefree years on The Point.

Melissa said, "Sweetheart, your dad and I were talking. He wants to pay for the wedding."

"That's right and nothing is too good for my only daughter," Jeremy added.

"And he agrees my wedding gift to you and Cam is perfect. I have decided to give you the cottage at The Point. I know you love it and Mason has his house, so it's yours."

Mason added, "We'll add some money too, because it needs some updating."

Heidi loved their cottage and The Point. She jumped up and hugged her mother and father and Mason and Frankie.

Cam thanked everyone and reminded them he had money to put into the cottage.

Mason said, "We know, son, but you'll need a house too."

Melissa added, "To fit my grandchildren."

Heidi just smiled as her three other parents said, "Our grandchildren."

A/N  Look for more characters from SID to appear in future novels, including a visit to The Point from someone who lives in England.