Page 160 of One Night with Number Nineteen

“We’ll order some tonight,” I promise. “Make sure that nothing like this ever happens again, that no one can get in if they’re not welcome.” Even if I have to get the guys together and we tear the fucking balcony off the house, install curtains on every window, pay for a security system that rivals Fort Knox. We’re going to make her feel safe again. I touch her cheek. “We’ll make your house yours again, Pages.”

She covers my hand with her own. “You’re right. We’ll figure it out together.”

“Damn right, we will.”

“I can give you some recommendations on security companies,” the detective says.

“Thank you,” I tell her.

She nods, and when her phone rings again, she excuses herself.

“Is it wrong I hope he goes away for a long time?”

“No, Pages. I think that makes you human.”

She exhales and we stand there for a minute, and maybe I should blame myself for pushing her to come to the game, for the way it all went down.

But the voice in my head that likes to scream at me for all the ways I’ve fucked up is quiet.

Because she’s okay.

Because my family helped make sure that was the case.

Because she fought for herself too.

So, no, it’s not blame I’m feeling as we hold each other. It’s relief and contentment and love. It’s the knowledge that I don’t have to do it alone as Ryan lifts Ollie onto his shoulders and bounces him around, teasing laughter out of him. It’s truth in my bones that our family is strong as Faye loops her arm through Lainey’s and teases her into a sip of hot chocolate—because hot cocoa has all the medicinal and healing properties. It’s the connection between us all that grows stronger every day as Bri appears, worry etched on her face, and Rip intercepts her, saying something I can’t hear, but it’s something that has her nodding and shifting a little closer to him.

And it’s love as we go home and Lainey and I tuck Ollie in together…right alongside his bevy of stuffed penguins.

But most importantly, when I hold Lainey as she finally breaks down and cries, it’s knowing she trusts me enough to believe in forever.

And that, at last, so do I.

Epilogue

Lainey, six months later

“Why did the picture go to jail, Saw-yur?”

A pause.

Then Sawyer’s rumbling voice reaches my ears. “Why?”

“He was framed!” Ollie exclaims.

Sawyer chuckles. “That’s a good one,” he says. “But remember we were going to hang out in the kitchen so your mom can work.”

“Does your neck hurt?” Ollie asks, his voice fading as Sawyer no doubt leads him back down the hall.

“A little. How do you know?”

“You’re rubbing it. Should I get Mr. Cricket?”

“That would be awesome, thanks, bud.”

Grinning, I type my favorite two words:

The End