Olivia and I work our way down the street picking up after the block party while a handful of neighbors do the same. She carries a folding chair under one arm, talking to me over her shoulder as she walks toward the Hendersons' garage to drop it off. The whole block pitched in this morning and most of the heavy stuff is done, which leaves the two of us gathering the small things everyone else missed.
"You're quiet this morning," she says, leaning the chair against the garage wall and brushing her hands off. We missed the bulk of cleanup out here after sleeping in a little. It felt too incredible to wake up with her in my arms. I didn’t want to get out of bed. And when we did, we had a house to clean up first.
"I'm always quiet," I mumble, picking up a napkin that got lodged in Mr. Henderson's mulch.
"You're quieter than your usual quiet." She sets the garbage bag down and turns to look at me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm good, Olivia." I tie off my trash bag and set it next to hers and try to force a smile, but I'm not sure it works. "Just thinking."
"About what?"
"About how different things look from this side of it." I hook my thumbs through my belt and look down the street. "A few months ago, I moved into that house to do a job. Now I feel like this town is my home." I turn and look her full in the eye. "I feel like you're my home."
Olivia smiles and turns into me, splaying her hands on my chest as she smiles up at me. And it isn't her fake smile she puts on for the world to prove to herself that she can get through anything. This is the smile only I get. And I treasure it more than she'll ever know.
"That might be the most words you've ever said to me in one breath," she says playfully, grinning from ear to ear.
"Don't get used to it."
She rises up on her tiptoes and presses a kiss to my cheek, so I wrap my arms around her waist and hold her against my body. "I was thinking the same thing, you know. That this feels right. You and me and Ethan. It feels like the life I was trying to build before Derek started pulling it apart."
"Well, he's done pulling." Just hearing that bastard's name threatens to ruin the moment, but I'm taking a move from Olivia's playbook by refusing to focus on that. It'll only tear me down and make me miserable. Today is a new day. We'll go down to the police station to give our statements later when they open, and that'll be that. We won't have to think about him again until trial.
"I know." Her eyes drop and she picks at a thread on my shirt. "But I don't know if I'll ever feel like I'm safe, like this is over."
"You'll get there."
"You know," she muses quietly, "for the past three years I've been living life walking on eggshells. Every time I turned around, it was one threat after another. I feel like I need someone’s hand to hold just to get through life. That always made me feel weak, but?—"
"You could hold mine."
She laughs and threads her fingers through mine. "We should go check on the house before Ethan gets home," she says, "make sure we got everything cleaned up."
"Oh, you're too worried. I'm sure we got every last thing." I close my hand around hers more tightly as she pulls away.
"Humor me." She chuckles, tugging me toward our homes. We're halfway across her lawn when we see her lawyer's BMW turn onto the street heading toward us. Olivia never informed him of what happened, though with that damning evidence from my phone, the man is in a heap of legal trouble anyway. There isn’t a chance in hell a judge will grant the motion for emergency custody after he broke into her house.
"It's David," she mumbles, leaning into me. I can understand why his presence would feel like a dark omen after the things she's been through. David's presence in Olivia's life has to this point represented only negative things coming her way. But this morning, I have hope that it's something better for her. She deserves a break.
David parks and gets out with a folder tucked under his arm. He crosses the lawn toward where we stand with his reading glasses pushed up on his forehead and half a grin on his face.
"David, what happened?" Olivia asks. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong at all, Olivia." He opens the folder and pulls out a document. "I got a call from Derek's attorney at seven this morning. Derek has withdrawn the custody motion as of seven a.m. and will not be pushing the emergency hearing at all." He holds out the paper so Olivia can look as he keeps talking. "It appears he's being charged with breaking and entering, and vandalism, and I heard the DA may be looking at broader charges if Mr. Ward's surveillance is admissible in court."
Olivia takes the document from his hand and reads the first paragraph. She pores over the words and her lips part as she reads it again. She looks shocked and stunned, and I am so happy for her. I hook an arm around her waist and lean in, kissing her temple. This woman is finally getting her happy ending, and I get to witness it.
"He gave up?" she whispers.
"His attorney for this legal matter he's dealing with advised him that proceeding while facing criminal charges for breaking and entering, evidence tampering, and assault would destroy whatever credibility he had left." David tucks the folder back under his arm and nods his head a few times. "The video Mr. Ward recorded, combined with the phone records and the prior bar reprimands, gave Derek nowhere to go. His lawyer told him to cut his losses before it got worse."
"What about his law license?" I ask. That man doesn't deserve to practice law ever again. After what he's done abusing the system, he honestly deserves a jail sentence.
"Everything's been forwarded to the state bar for review. Two reprimands plus a criminal arrest for evidence tampering means a formal disciplinary hearing, and Derek could lose the right to practice." He turns his eyes on me with a dark expression I understand perfectly. He hopes Derek Bennett goes under just as much as I do. "I think that's what finally made him back down. He saw the walls closing in."
Olivia holds the paper against her chest and stares at David. "Could he actually go to jail for what he did?"
"The breaking and entering charge carries jail time on its own, and the assault makes it worse. His attorney will try for a plea, but the prosecutor has the video and the phone records and a long paper trail. If they pursue all of it, Derek faces real consequences." He sighs and runs a hand over his partly balding head. "It somewhat depends on the two of you. If you press, the defense may have to yield. You are the victims here."
