IN THE END, the police arrested both Ethan and his father, and the paramedics took his mother to the hospital to be evaluated, and I was left behind with Carter and Snoopy. Dima went to the hospital with Ethan’s mother, and Razor stayed behind with me, helping me sort out how I could get Carter to the airport tomorrow if Ethan wasn’t released in time to do it.
That turned out not to be necessary—a couple of the higher-ups involved with the team managed to press the courts to set bail in a timely fashion, and he easily met it. They had already set things in motion for the league to determine what sort of repercussions he might have to face—a fine or a suspension, most likely, but we would have to wait to see how the league ruled. Still, by lunchtime the day after all the drama, Ethan was home.
The same could not be said for either of his parents. The bail set for his father was more than the elder Higgins could post as of yet, and the doctors decided to keep Mrs. Higgins in the hospital overnight for observation, as she had a broken orbital bone, and they were concerned about a possible concussion.
“Dad!” Carter rushed to his father’s side the moment he came through the door.
I wasn’t far behind him, but I was too overcome with emotion to say a word.
Ethan wrapped his strong arms around both of us, lifting us off the floor in an enormous bear hug. I sobbed against his shoulder, holding on for all I was worth.
“That was the longest night I’ve ever had,” I said when he finally set me back on my feet.
He kissed me hard. “Not for me.”
“No?”
“No. The first night you were in the hospital. Hell, all the nights you were in the hospital, but especially the ones when you were unconscious. They were a lot longer.”
For some reason, that simple statement made my stomach flutter.
I blinked back tears and stepped away, wanting to give Ethan some time with his son. They needed it after the drama and trauma of yesterday.
He didn’t let me get too far, though. He snagged me around the waist and tugged me onto his lap on the couch. Carter jumped up beside him, and Snoopy followed suit, and Ethan tucked my head against his chest.
I felt so safe like that—safer than I’d allowed myself to feel in years.
“Tomorrow’s the big day,” Ethan said into the silence.
“Big day?” I repeated. I couldn’t come up with what could be bigger than the last twenty-four hours or so.
“When they’re going to arrest Lennon.”
My heart pounded wildly against my ribs.
“And now that my father’s facing charges, too, that’s going to seriously hurt his defense,” Ethan said. “He’s not going to get away with it. Neither of them is going to get away with it.”
I squeezed my eyes to keep my tears at bay, nodding slightly.
“How would you two feel about me asking my mom to come and live with us?” he asked.
I looked up at him in surprise.
Ethan shrugged. “She’s going to need some support. Someone she can count on. This isn’t going to be easy for her. She’s been living like that for thirty-five years.”
“So I can get to know my grandma?” Carter asked.
“If she wants to come, yeah.” Ethan looked down into my eyes. “If you’re okay with that. I mean, we’ve got that room all set up. She could have it. You won’t be needing it anymore.”
“I won’t?” My breath fluttered through my lips.
“Not if you move up into my room with me.” His face was a mixture of torture and hope. “I know you’re not sure if you love me yet—”
“I do,” I cut in, and this time, there were no tears. “I love you. I realized that in the middle of everything. Or—well, maybe I already knew it, but I accepted it then.”
Ethan didn’t immediately respond, but his expression was everything. Heat and love and fear, and maybe a bit of pride, all rolled up into one longing look. But then he turned to Carter. “You be okay with that? If we invite my mom to come live downstairs in Miss Natalie’s room, and Natalie comes to stay with me?”
“Natalie could share my room,” Carter said. “Snoopy wouldn’t mind.”
Ethan and I both burst out laughing.
“That’s a sweet offer, buddy, but I think your room’s going to get a little crowded. Your dog already takes up a lot of space, and you’re growing like a weed.”
Carter shrugged. “It’s okay. I just want Natalie to stay. She can share your room.”
“And you don’t mind if we invite my mom to stay here, too?”
“She can’t go back home with that man,” Carter said adamantly.
“No. That’s the plan.”
He nodded. “She should stay here.”
“Yeah?” Ethan asked, looking at his son.
“Yep.”
“Yes,” I agreed, too.
“Good,” Ethan said. “You’d be okay if this became a permanent thing? All of us living here together?”
“Can we bring Mom, too?”
Ethan chuckled. “Your mom wants to stay in Michigan. Her parents are there.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“She’s going to bring you down to visit for Thanksgiving, though.”
“She’s coming, too?” Carter said.
I nodded. “That’s the plan.” And my stomach clenched again at the thought, because it felt as if I would be put on trial. I knew I was overreacting with that, but I couldn’t stop the sensation from creeping up on me.
“That’s okay then. We should have my grandma come stay here.”
Snoopy barked, as if to give his own consent.
Life was suddenly looking very different.
WITH ETHAN’S FATHER in jail pending trial for domestic violence, and Alex and Jason agreeing to rat Hayes out in exchange for a lesser sentence, suddenly, the case against my ex was taking shape.
The day that they called to let me know the plan had worked—that Hayes had shown up in court to be sure his buddies didn’t implicate him and he’d been arrested—was the first time in recent memory that I could take a full breath.
“It’ll all be over soon,” Ethan said over a glass of wine.
“I don’t know about soon,” I said.
“Soon is relative.”
He was right about that.
His mother agreed to move in with us, although she required a lot of convincing. To be honest, she and Ethan didn’t really know each other anymore. But in some ways, the three of us understood one another better than anyone else possibly could. We didn’t even need to speak to know what the others were thinking and feeling a lot of times.
Once she recovered relatively well from her injuries, I started taking her with me to the group therapy sessions I still attended.
She didn’t speak much—but she listened a lot. Listening was an excellent place to start. It could help her to understand that she wasn’t alone, not even when she felt more alone than she’d ever felt before in her life.
“How can you let my son touch you?” she asked me one evening over dinner. The team was on the road, so it was just the two of us at Ethan’s house. “After all the things he did to you, how can you let any man touch you?”
The way she’d emphasized he left no doubt who she meant.
“I couldn’t let any man touch me,” I said, carefully weighing my words. “Ethan’s different.”
“Different how?”
He was different in almost every way imaginable. But I said, “He’s different because he loves me. Anyone who could hurt me the way Hayes did, anyone who could do the things to you that your husband did—they didn’t love us.”
She blinked, but it didn’t stop fat tears from filling her eyes and spilling onto the table. “I don’t know if I could allow that. I don’t know if I could let a man love me.”
And I nodded, and I reached across the table to squeeze her hand.
Because I knew.
I understood.
But there was nothing I could say that could make it better for her. I couldn’t tell her that one day, she’d find the right man, and she’d be able to open up her heart and trust him enough to let him touch her.
Only she could know that for certain. And it might be a very long time before she’d be ready. It would probably be even longer before she’d believe it.
These things take time.
KINSEY AND CARTER came to baggage claim together, hand in hand—but the second Carter saw us, he dropped everything so he could race over to meet us.
But it wasn’t his father’s arms he jumped into. It wasn’t his grandmother’s arms, either.
He jumped into mine.
I was so surprised that I staggered under the impact, but Ethan put a hand behind my waist and steadied me. I wrapped my arms tight around him and didn’t let go until he did.
“My mama wants to meet you,” he finally said, backing away but holding tight to my hand.
Kinsey held out a hand to me with a warm smile that lit up her entire face. She and Carter had the same smile. It was easy to see how Carter was growing up to be such a sweet boy. With a father like Ethan and a mother who was obviously an equally good person, he’d have no choice but to be an amazing young man.
“Hi,” I said, awkwardly reaching to shake her hand.
She drew me in for a hug, though.
“Oh… I…” didn’t have the first clue how to respond.
“Welcome to the family,” she said when she released me from her grip.
That was about all it took to cause fresh tears to sprout up.
She hugged Ethan’s mother next, which caused the older woman to break down even worse than I had.
“It’s been a long time,” Kinsey said.
“Too long,” Mrs. Higgins agreed, her sniffles making it difficult to get the few words out.
“Why’s everyone cryin’?” Carter asked.
I dug a pack of tissues out of my purse and passed them around. “We’re just being silly,” I said.
“We should get ice cream. Ice cream makes everything better. And when we go home, you should cuddle with Snoopy for a while.”
I laughed and took Ethan’s hand for the walk out to the car. Only a few months ago, I never would have imagined I’d believe that some ice cream and cuddling with a dog could make everything better. But now? Now I was starting to believe.