Page 129 of Silent Partner (Pine Falls 3)

I kissed Eleanor’s smooth cheek before admiring her drawing. I had to press my lips together before I spat out a laugh. Precious Eleanor had drawn her grandpa in jail. I mean, he had been in prison for the last eighteen months, after it was all said and done. He hadn’t even tried to appeal the sentence. I believed it eased his conscience to serve time. On the other hand, Edward would probably never see the light of day. He had been sentenced to forty years on sixteen felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the government. But we tried to never think of the Copelands. They were the past. Even Jill had fallen off the face of the earth. We were too busy living and loving our own lives to worry about their miserable ones.

“You did a great job drawing Grandpa. He’s going to love this.”

Brant kissed my cheek and placed his hand on my abdomen. He loved to admire his handiwork. “The place looks great.”

“I had help.” Jai and the crew had all come in early this morning to help me decorate and make the food. We were keeping the restaurant closed today for a private party. I say private, but there were a lot of people in the community who wanted to welcome John home. Mom had a lot to do with that. During this whole ordeal, she’d written a book, A Real Love Story. It was the story of her and John, from the beginning through the events of the last five years. She hadn’t sugarcoated any of it. She’d written about her journey to forgiveness and even how she’d almost left him. It was heartbreakingly beautiful. She had wanted the truth to be known, not the story the media told. The book had hit the New York Times bestsellers list and stayed there for several weeks. All the proceeds had been donated to the military families affected by Edward’s traitorous act so long ago. Some of those families were coming today to welcome John home.

“You’re amazing,” Brant added.

“I’m amazing too, Daddy,” Eleanor reminded him.

“Yes, you are.” He ran his hand over her lovely locks. He then kissed Ava on the head. “And you’re amazing too.”

“We think you’re pretty amazing too.” I winked at my handsome husband, who still made the butterflies erupt with just a glance, and especially when I saw him treat our daughters so tenderly. He was the best dad, husband, and partner around. In fact, those were currently his primary roles in life. He worked only as a consultant now so that he could spend as much time with the girls and me as possible. He was in high demand after his performance during his dad’s criminal trial, but he preferred changing diapers and singing lullabies.

Brant pulled us all together and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

He tickled Eleanor, making her giggle. It was the best sound ever. “For giving me all these cookie monsters.”

Ava repeated the word, “Cookie.” She was a girl after her mother’s heart.

We all giggled before walking out to the growing crowd. We held the girls close as we weaved in and out of people on the way to our family. I smiled as I walked through the place—it looked much different now. Brant had helped make my dreams a reality. Those plans Mom had drawn several years ago were now alive and well. Business was so good we were considering buying the property next to us and expanding. Jai was all for it since he ran the place more than I did now. Disappointing to Jai, Priyanka never had come calling, but he’d found true love in the Priyanka fan club he’d started. Amrita loved Priyanka almost as much as Jai did, and that mutual interest had sparked a real-life love story. They would be married this summer.

Our family was toward the front, anxiously awaiting Mom and Dad’s arrival. We had quite the crew now. Dani and Brock not only had Gemma, who was the sassiest, most beautiful eight-year-old, but they had added Christian, now four years old. And they hadn’t stopped there. As Dani had feared, donors weren’t too keen on John’s dealings, so Dani had painfully decided it was best to step down from Children to Love. As difficult as it had been, she’d done it with grace. Then she’d found new purpose in raising her brood. All seven of them so far. They had adopted twin boys, Oliver and Adrian who were now ten. And two years ago, they welcomed another baby, Hudson. They also had two foster girls, Anna and Sophia, sixteen and seventeen, respectively. The girls reminded me a lot of Dani and myself. Dani thought so too. In them we saw two snow angels holding hands, trying to get through this crazy life together. I had a feeling they were going to make it. Just like Dani, Ariana, and I had.

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