Chapter 9
The next six months were the happiest of my life.
Clara got promoted to manager at the boutique. She made enough money to pay me back for the apartment and the lawyer, though I told her she never had to.
She insisted. Said I’d given her more than money—she’d given her and the kids their lives back.
Lily won first place in the school art contest. Her drawing was of our family—Clara, me, her, Milo—standing in front of a big house with a white picket fence.
It hung on our fridge, right in the middle.
Milo scored his first soccer goal. We all screamed so loud the other parents stared. He ran straight to me after, jumping into my arms, covered in grass and sweat, yelling “I did it, Aunt Lottie! I did it!”
My business grew. I hired two assistants, moved into a small office downtown.
I met Ethan.
He was Lily’s art teacher. Kind, soft-spoken, honest. He volunteered at the after-school program, loved kids, had never been married, no secrets, no ex-wives with hidden kids.
He asked me out for coffee three months after the trial.
I said yes.
Our first date was at a small café downtown. We talked for three hours, about art, about the kids, about our lives.
He didn’t flinch when I told him about Daniel, about the wedding, about everything.
He just held my hand across the table and said, “You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”
We took it slow.
He met the kids a month later, at their birthday party.
He brought Lily a set of professional watercolors. He brought Milo a new soccer ball.
Lily loved him immediately. Milo took a little longer, but by the end of the party, Ethan was giving him piggyback rides around the yard.
I was happy.
Really, truly happy.
But sometimes, late at night, I’d lie awake and wonder if it was real.
If Daniel would come back. If it would all fall apart again.
Then, one night, there was a knock on the door.
I froze.
Clara was at a work dinner. Ethan was with me, watching a movie. The kids were asleep.
I grabbed the baseball bat from behind the couch.
Ethan stood up, quiet, putting himself between me and the door.
“Who is it?” he called.
“Police,” a voice said. “We have a warrant for Daniel Reed. We think he may have been in the area.”
I relaxed, just a little. I opened the door, the bat still in my hand.
Two officers stood there.
“Ms. Carter?” one said. “We arrested Daniel Reed an hour ago, trying to cross the border into Mexico. He had a warrant out for violating his probation on the embezzlement charges. He’s going to prison for at least five years. You and your family are safe now.”
I stared at them.
For a long second, I couldn’t speak.
“Thank you,” I finally said, my voice thick.
They nodded and left.
I closed the door, locked it, leaned against it, and slid down to the floor.
Ethan knelt down next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
“He’s gone,” I said, crying, but they were happy tears. “He’s really gone.”
Ethan held me while I cried.
When I was done, I stood up, wiped my face, and walked to the kitchen.
I poured three glasses of champagne—one for me, one for Ethan, one for Clara when she got home.
I looked at Lily’s drawing on the fridge.
Our family.
It was real.
May you like
It was safe.
And nothing was ever going to take it away from us again.
