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Bella studied him. “Am I a bad person if I’m not crying because I’m upset over her? Just what is going on. I mean, I didn’t know her.”

His answer came without hesitation.

“No. You’re not a bad person at all.”

“Not like them,” Bella said. “Both of my parents. My father and my mother. They weren’t nice people. I don’t want to be like them.”

“You’re not and you won’t be,” he said.

“I want to be like you, Colson. And like Marly. Like both of you.”

He smiled, Marly did the same. “You need to be you,” she said. “And Colson and I need to be good examples to help you be the best version of yourself.”

“What she said,” he said, leaning in to kiss Marly, the love of his life, on the lips.

The first person he ever loved. All those years ago.

Only this time, it meant more. This time, it was right.

This time, they were going to get their forever.

“Marly knows,” he said. “Because she’s good at bringing the best out of people.”

“Just like your brother,” she said. “Which is why I waited so long for our time.”

“See,” Bella said. “Just like a family should be!”

EPILOGUE

Six Months Later

“Now that is how you do it, DA Conway,” Colson said when the guilty verdict was delivered in the Jose Sanchez case. “I never had a doubt.”

“Glad you didn’t,” Marly said. “But I was sweating it there for a bit.”

“No, you weren’t. You did everything by the book.”

“I did. I always try to, but it was touch and go. I don’t like to be rushed and pushed.”

And in the past six months she’d made a name for herself.

That she was fair. She was tough. And she was thorough.

If she wanted the win, she had to make sure it was lined up the best way, whether or not she ruffled feathers.

And she did. Plenty of them.

But the end results were all that mattered, because the mayor, the chief and the deputy chief had all been there congratulating the win also.

“How come we are standing on your front porch?” she asked. “It’s hot out.”

Colson had asked her to come here right after the verdict. Not to stop home and change first. Just come to see him.

And because he rarely asked her anything, she didn’t question it.

Their relationship was stronger than ever.

They got through Holly’s death, Bella not nearly as affected as Colson had feared.