Chapter 10
Ethan was charged with attempted arson, felony threats, and violation of parole.
He didn’t get bail.
The trial was quick. The police had it all on camera. The doorbell cam. The body cams. The neighbor’s security footage. His own words, screaming threats.
He was found guilty on all counts.
The judge sentenced him to twenty-five years in prison. No parole.
“Mr. Caldwell,” she said. “You have been given chance after chance to turn your life around. You have wasted every single one. You have hurt everyone who ever loved you. You are a danger to this community. You will not be released until you are an old man. If ever.”
They led him away in chains.
He didn’t look at me once.
I didn’t feel anything. No sadness. No anger. No triumph. Just… nothing.
He was gone. Finally. For good.
Life went back to normal. Better than normal.
Mia came home from college for Christmas. She brought her girlfriend. A nice girl named Lila, pre-med, who laughed at all of Mia’s terrible jokes. I loved her immediately.
Jax got a full soccer scholarship to a school in Florida. He was excited. Nervous. Ready to get out of our small town and see the world.
Leo moved in. We turned the guest room into his workshop. He built me a garden in the backyard. I grew tomatoes and basil and sunflowers.
Margaret and Harold sold their big house and moved into a small cottage down the street. They came over for dinner every Sunday. Harold taught Leo to make his famous barbecue ribs. Margaret taught me to knit. We made blankets for the kids. For the new babies in the family. For the local shelter.
My business kept growing. Gloria and I opened our own real estate firm. Caldwell & Mendez. We specialized in helping women going through divorce get back on their feet. We gave discounted rates. We connected them with lawyers. With therapists. With movers. We helped them start over. Just like I had.
We called it The Fresh Start Project.
It was the most important thing I’d ever done.
Five years to the day after Ethan had sent that text at 2:13 a.m., I stood on my front porch.
The sun was setting. The sky was pink and orange.
Bear was lying at my feet, old now, gray around the muzzle, still the best dog in the world.
Leo came up behind me. He wrapped his arms around my waist. He kissed the top of my head.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he said.
I smiled.
“I was just thinking about that day. When they came back from the wedding. When they saw the empty lot. I thought winning would feel different. I thought it would feel like revenge. Like I’d gotten him back.”
“And?”
“It doesn’t feel like that. It just feels… peaceful. Like I finally get to live my life. For me. For the kids. For us.”
Leo squeezed me tighter.
“You deserve it,” he said. “All of it.”
Mia and Lila pulled into the driveway. They were home for the summer. Mia was graduating law school in a year. She wanted to work for The Fresh Start Project.
Jax was home too. He’d graduated college the month before. He’d been drafted by a professional soccer team. He was moving to Europe in August. He was bringing his girlfriend, a girl he’d met in Florida, who wanted to be a sports journalist.
They all came up the steps. Laughing. Talking. Carrying bags and groceries and gifts.
Margaret and Harold walked up the street, holding hands, carrying a Tupperware of cookies.
My family.
Not the one I’d been born into. Not the one I’d married into. The one I’d built. Out of heartbreak. Out of lies. Out of nothing but my own two hands and the people who’d chosen to stand by me.
Jax put his arm around my shoulder.
“You okay, Mom?” he asked.
I looked at all of them. At the people I loved. At the house I’d saved. At the life I’d made.
I smiled.
“I’m perfect,” I said.
May you like
And for the first time in my life.
I meant it.
