Page 38 of Dead Serious

“We should also make time to stop in and see Mandy Patterson,” Ten said. “Between little Mickey and baby Bronson, we’re certainly getting our share of baby time.

Ronan laughed. “Enough so that you’ve sworn off having another baby completely?”

“Ronan,” Ten sighed. “We’ve got our hands full with Everly and Ezra. Another baby would mean one of them is sharing a bedroom, and I don’t want to move out of our house. I love it and our neighborhood.”

“Me too,” Ronan agreed. After Mandy Westlake agreed to testify against her husband, Simon, the charges against her had been dropped. Simon had his second-degree murder charges downgraded to manslaughter in exchange for him pleading guilty. He’d been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison withthe possibility of parole. With his clean record, Ronan had no doubt the son of a bitch would be out of jail in fifteen years, tops.

Paul Stark had agreed with the prosecutor’s deal. All he’d wanted was for his son’s killer to be brought to justice, and he had. Paul had bigger fish to fry in rehab and his plans for his future. He would spend two more months at Hope by the Sea and then would work on his passion project, starting the Sebastian Stark Memorial Fund. It would offer scholarships to deserving kids. Jace and Fitz had already promised a sizable donation.

After Simon Westlake pled guilty, Mandy divorced her husband and, with her parents’ help, was focused on raising her son to be the kind of man who would help rather than hurt the people around him.

As for Ronan, he agreed with Tennyson that their family was perfect just the way it was. Although, maybe it was time to get Everly the baby goats she’d been asking for.

THE END