Andrew’s shoulders slumped. “That’s on her. Not you, and not me. I’m just sorry you had to carry it for so long.”
Nolan worked his jaw like he was trying not to get emotional. “Can’t change the past. All we can do is move forward.”
“Yeah.” Andew managed something in the ballpark of a smile. “Guess that’s true.” He turned to me and came closer, extending his hand. “Thanks for having my brother’s back, Riley. I’m glad he had someone in his corner.”
I rose and accepted the handshake. “Don’t mention it.”
He nodded, and as he released my hand, he rolled his shoulders. “I, um… I should get going. My babysitter charges a fortune, and… Anyway. Thanks for talking to me. I’ll be in touch about everything with the lawyers.”
“Sounds good,” Nolan said.
The brothers shared one more quick embrace, and Andrew shook my hand again. Then he left and Nolan and I sat in silence in his parents’ living room for a long time. After a while, I touched his hand. “You okay?”
“Yeah. It’s… It’s a lot.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Like…alot.”
“No kidding.”
“I definitely feel vindicated, though. It’s bothered me all this time, thinking he really thought I’d either lied about what his wife did, or that I—” He made a disgusted face. “That I’d ever hurt her or anyone else.”
“Sounds like a big weight off your shoulders.” I nodded toward the door Andrew had gone through. “Do you think you’re going to stay in contact with him after this?”
Nolan chewed his lip as he seemed to think about it. “I don’t think my relationship with him will ever be the same, but I think we can fix it. It’ll take a lot of time and work, but I’d rather put in that time and work than lose my brother.” He laughed softly.“Guess I have a lot to talk about with my therapist when we get home.”
“Yeah, probably. But I’m sure she’ll help you.”
“She will.” He rubbed his eyes, then turned to me. “I’m sorry this put a damper on everything. We’re supposed to be celebrating getting engaged.”
My heart fluttered at the reminder. Had that really been last night?
Sliding my hand into his, I said, “We got engaged, you’re finally getting some justice for what she did to you, and you’re getting your brother back. Plus now you know your niece isn’t your kid.” I squeezed his hand. “Seems like we have a lot to celebrate, even if some of it’s heavy.”
He searched my eyes, and after a moment, the smile I loved so much cracked through. “Yeah.” He brought our hands up and kissed the inside of my wrist. “I guess we do.”
“We do. Including the heavy stuff, you know? Because no matter what happens now, no one’s ever going to forget what she did. And they’re never going to letherforget it.”
He nodded, pushing out a breath through his nose. “I know. I wish I could believe she’ll get some insane sentence in prison, but just knowing she’ll never escape the stink of what she did is… it helps, you know?”
“I bet it does. It’s not as much justice as you deserve, but it’ssomething.”
“It’s more than I ever thought I’d get.” He rolled his shoulders. “Andrew’s sending me the information to talk to that intern’s lawyer. I’ll deal with that tomorrow.” He cupped my face in both hands and kissed me softly. “Right now, all I want to think about is my new fiancé.”
I grinned just before he kissed me again. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too.” He ran the pads of his thumbs over my cheekbones. “I love you, baby. And—thank you. For the millionth time. For having my back.” He swallowed. “And believing me.”
“Always,” I whispered. “And I love you too.”
“I would hope so.” He grinned. “You’re kinda stuck with me now.”
I laughed and pulled him all the way to me. “Goes both ways, baby.”
He chuckled, holding me close and burying his face against my neck. “Did you think any of this would happen when you suggested we fake being boyfriends?”
“Oh, wow. That seems like forever ago.” I smiled and stroked my fingertips along the shaved side of his head. “And no, it’s not what I thought would happen.” I pressed a kiss to his temple, then added, “I’d say this was the best-case scenario.”
Nolan lifted his head, and his smile made my knees go weak. “Yeah.” He caressed my face. “Definitely the best-case scenario.”
Then he kissed me, and everything in my whole world felt right.
I knew a lot of this wouldn’t be far from his mind any time soon. It wouldn’t be far from mine, either. That was fine. As much as it had to suck having the past churned up again, it was for a good reason this time. It was forward motion.
Today, Nolan was a step closer to piecing back together everything his sister-in-law—ex-sister-in-law—had broken apart. Wheels were turning to bring Leann’s victims at least some kind of justice. Regardless of what happened to her, the family was on Nolan’s side now. People believed him. They supported him.
Nothing left to do but move forward. We had a wedding to plan and a future ahead of us.
And we had the rest of our lives to look forward to.
