Things We Left Behind

Two weeks later, Lucian moves Mary Louise to a new prison and places Allen under full-time security. Sloane stays late at the library to get ahead on social media and newsletters for the patrons while trying to distract herself from Lucian. Eventually, she begins looking at foster care options in case she is unable to have children by the time she finally settles down with someone. Her search is interrupted when the first floor of the library erupts in flames. Sloane calls 911 but collapses from smoke inhalation before she can exit the library.

Lucian receives a call from Knox about the fire and rushes to Knockemout. Nash informs him that Sloane is safe and has returned home for the evening. Lucian shows up on Sloane’s doorstep, and when she refuses to let him inside, he climbs the tree near the house and enters through her bedroom window. He holds her as she cries and vows to never leave her alone and vulnerable again. Lucian bathes Sloane and brings her to bed, arranging her pillows in a U-shape, the way she has always done.

Lucian wakes to find Sloane’s cat hissing at him. Lucian’s clothes have been ruined from the soot on Sloane the previous night, and they are also ripped from his climb up the cherry tree, so he dresses in one of her ex-boyfriend’s sweatshirts and a pair of her too-small pink sweatpants. He feeds the cat and is making Sloane breakfast when Nash and Lina arrive. Nash has reason to suspect that the fire was arson. Lucian finds out about the man who attacked Sloane in her car and realizes that the threats on her life have come from her case, not from Anthony Hugo. Knox and Naomi arrive with coffee and bagels, and Lucian pulls Sloane aside to discuss their relationship. After the scare of almost losing her last night, Lucian wants to be with her and is willing to have a large family with multiple kids if that’s what she wants. She’s vehemently opposed to it at first, but Lucian is resolute in his commitment.

Two days later, Sloane and Naomi begin working on getting the library up and running again. Meanwhile, Lucian supervises all the employees that he has brought into her home to install new security, dry clean her clothing, and reorganize her rooms to accommodate Lucian’s plans to move in. Lucian invites Sloane’s family over for dinner; he is committed to showing Sloane that he wants to be in a relationship. Kurt shows up to the family dinner to make a grand gesture of love to Maeve.

Lucian and Sloane share a house and a bed for the next five days, but she still doesn’t acknowledge that they’re dating. When Lucian and Sloane spend a day working in his Washington, DC, office, Lucian attends to business as usual while Sloane creates “a priority list of services the library could continue to offer even without a physical location” (501). Afterward, they attend dinner with Lucian’s mother, who introduces them to the man she’s been dating: Anthony Hugo.

Unbeknownst to Kayla, Hugo threatens the lives of both Sloane and Lucian’s mother if Lucian doesn’t convince the FBI to drop Hugo’s case. He orders Lucian to deliver the evidence, along with a few million dollars, within 48 hours. After the dinner, Lucian heightens his mother’s security and orders her to go no-contact with Anthony. She accuses him of humiliating her and being controlling, just like his father. When she slaps Lucian, Sloane jumps angrily to his defense.

Sloane is aroused by Lucian’s overprotectiveness at dinner, and they return to his condo and have sex. Lucian allows Sloane to engage in oral sex—something he has never allowed any other woman to do because he hates relinquishing control.

Lucian organizes a meeting with a few employees, including Lina and his security team, to discuss Anthony Hugo. Maureen Fitzgerald arrives with a large folder of incriminating information on Hugo’s shell corporations. Sloane wonders if the private prison in which Mary Louise was held is owned by one of Hugo’s corporations. She points out that Civic Group, owned by Rex Management, is responsible for other run-down correctional centers in the surrounding states. They discover that Anthony is part-owner of four private correctional facilities, which is illegal. By the 36-hour mark, Anthony Hugo is in prison. When Lucian visits him, Anthony continues to threaten everyone Lucian loves.

Sloane spends the next four days at Lucian’s luxurious Washington, D.C. condo before finally packing to head home to Knockemout. Lucian is bothered by the fact that Sloane still isn’t committing to a relationship with him, so he brings her to see his therapist friend, Emry. Lucian and Sloane finally confront their feelings about the past and apologize for the mutual hurt they’ve caused each other.

Lucian surprises Sloane by getting his vasectomy reversed the following day. They return to Sloane’s home in Knockemout, which has been decorated with cherry blossoms. Lucian boldly professes his love and proposes to Sloane while Knox films the event and Nash controls the Shania Twain music playing in the background. Sloane says yes.

Sloane and her friends are at Knox’s barbershop, Whisky Clippers, dressing up for Lina and Nash’s wedding rehearsal. Stef ungraciously suggests to his boyfriend, Jeremiah, that they move in together. Jeremiah not only agrees, but proposes that they get married and start a family as well.

On Sloane’s way home, Lucian calls to inform her that the judge who unjustly sentenced Mary Louise has frequently succumbed to Hugo’s bribes and has assigned a number of prisoners to the crime boss’s private prisons. Lucian hopes that Special Agent Idler will be able to have Mary Louise’s case overturned and get her released in time to witness her son graduate from law school. While informing Mary Louise of the news over a video call, Sloane recognizes former Police Chief Wylie Ogden’s name on her arrest record. Sloane wonders if Wylie is also involved with Hugo, as Tate Dilton had been.

Sloane’s call is cut off when her power goes out. Wylie and Atkins arrive on her doorstep, both armed with guns, and invade her house. Sloane shoves a library cart at Atkins, and Wylie uses the opportunity to fatally shoot Atkins. When Wylie aims both guns on Sloane once again, he reveals his anger toward Nash for taking the police chief position from him. Sloane realizes that Wylie is the person who put Nash’s name on the hit list for Hugo, and she also realizes that he killed Tate Dilton to protect himself, not Nash. Sloane throws a book at him and runs upstairs while he fires blindly.

As he pulls into Sloane’s driveway, Lucian hears gunshots and sneaks inside. He intercepts Sloane on the top floor and pulls her into her bedroom. Sloane climbs down the cherry tree while Lucian confronts and incapacitates Wylie, sustaining a nonlethal gunshot wound in the process. Nash arrives with reinforcements to apprehend Wylie as a crowd of townspeople gathers.

After celebrating Nash and Lina as newlyweds, Lucian and Sloane decide that they will have a Christmas Eve wedding.

Sloane and Lucian have a Christmas Eve wedding with an aisle “blanketed in cherry blossoms” (570) and have their first dance to a Shania Twain song. While they do plan to have children of their own, they have also decided to become foster parents and are working on opening a Simon Walton Foundation.