ONE MONTH LATER
To say that having a baby changes your life is the understatement of the century.
And it’s more than I could have imagined.
I meant to throw in a load of laundry after I put Cormack down for his nap but instead accidentally took one of my own on the couch.
Whoops.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I yawn and pad into the kitchen in high socks, shorts, and Beau’s Wintervale Tree Farm sweatshirt.
And a nursing bra with pads because I learned the hard way that there’s noleaking a little milk—I’m a fountain and I definitely cried over spilled milk.
The door opens and Beau stomps his feet on the mat outside before stepping into the kitchen.
“You look as beautiful as the day I married you,” Beau says, making me narrow my eyes as I tap my fingers on the counter. He’s not intimidated by me…not even a little.
“Which one?”
“Well,” he says, circling his arms around my waist as he pulls me against him, “I like the first one because you were still trying to fight your undying love for me.” I snort, tilting my head back so I can look at him. “And I like the second because you finally admitted your undying love for me.”
“That’s extremely modest of you, Heartthrob. But it doesn’t answer the question.”
“You’re always beautiful; that’s what I’m saying.”
“Layin’ it on thick, aren’t you?” I tease, pressing myself against him as I kiss the corner of his mouth.
“Just you wait,” he grumbles, his smile full of promise. So much promise. “Here,” he says, stepping back and pulling an envelope from the pocket of his jeans. “It’s from Chicago.”
Swallowing hard, I take it from him, running my finger under the flap to rip the paper. Merrick’s cousin Roan had called us last week to tell us it would all be over soon. He’d worked closely with Jensen’s PI contact, someone named Tom Oakden and his nephew Royce.
It was a family affair.
The worst part was that Toni hadn’t gone far. I expected her to be on some island with my savings, but in reality she’d just moved farther across Montana and set up another salon with a fake name and my dreams of expansion.
Well, they had been my dreams.
“What’s it say?”
“We won,” I tell him, scanning the paper with the fancy logo and scrawled signature at the bottom. “She’ll be forced to pay the amount I gave her plus damages.”
I gulp at the number listed, becausewow.
It’s a lot of money and while I’m glad that it’s settled, it doesn’t feel like resolution. Tom, Roan, and Jensen had all agreed that I not engage with Toni if she were to reach out. And she did. They handled everything, keeping me informed withoutincluding me in the nitty-gritty as Beau and I navigated our last few weeks before Cormack was born.
“You don’t seem happy,” Beau states gently.
“I am; it’s just weird.”
“Weird?”
“I haven’t thought about her at all unless we were getting updates. I found my own happiness here. I have you and our son. Your family and mine. I’ll be involved with the therapy program at the sanctuary and I don’t know…” I hold up the letter before letting it fall to the counter. “This is great—truly. But if it hadn’t happened the way it did,”—I give him a shy smile—“we wouldn’t be here.”
And it’s true.
Toni’s deception broke me in ways I couldn’t have imagined, but Beau had put me back together. His family had welcomed me like one of their own and my battered heart had healed. And most important, I’d found love and happiness and a new path in life.
“You don’t think so?”
