Chapter 40
One month later…
“Mommy! A spider! Come get it!” Violet screamed.
Paisley looked at Ethan. “Oh hell no,” he said, shaking his head. “Not me. She’s yelling for you.”
Paisley sighed as she got to her feet and went to grab the bug catcher she kept in the pantry. Violet was perched on the toilet lid in the bathroom, staring down at the small spider sitting on the floor. Paisley calmly squeezed the handle on the catcher and scooped up the spider.
“There,” she said. “Can you come down now? Finish getting dressed?”
“What are you gonna do with it?”
“I’m going to let it outside.”
“Noooo, it might come back!”
“Baby, spiders are good for the environment. He’ll eat bugs and mosquitoes. That’s a good thing.”
Violet looked doubtful but Paisley left her and went to the back door. She stepped onto the porch and opened the catcher, dropping the spider onto the ground where it skittered away. Ethan was waiting in the kitchen when she went back inside.
“Big one?” he asked.
“No, a little one. Honestly, how on earth did you ever get through training to be a special ops soldier in the first place? There had to have been spiders in the great outdoors when you trained.”
“There were.” He shuddered. “I got through it, but I don’t have to when you’re here.”
“And real world missions?”
“Teammates. Usually.” He grinned.
“You and your child. I swear. And the two of you want to go camping.” She shook her head, laughing.
Ethan gathered her in his arms after she put the bug catcher away.
It’d been a month since Trey had taken her and the ladies from the library.
They’d made their way through the woods to the road that night, waiting for the men to come for them.
Paisley’s face had hurt, her head hurt, and she’d started to grow nauseated.
But the men returned with three others, though not Trey, and they went back to town. Emma had examined her, patched her up, pronounced she had a concussion, and given her meds. It wasn’t until a few days later when Ethan told her what happened to Trey.
Dead.
She’d heard the words and gone numb. Then she’d been happy and ashamed of herself for it because what kind of person was happy that somebody died?
But she was, and that was on him. He’d been cruel and he’d wanted to kill her.
He would have killed Aunt Hettie and Violet if not for Hettie’s big, beautiful old house with the hidden passages and secret doors.
They’d hidden and stayed safe, and Trey had to move on and abduct her and the women from the library if he wanted his plan to work.
Thankfully, it had not worked.
“It’ll be fine. If there are any spiders, you’ll handle them for us.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
He nuzzled her ear. “Yep. I love you, Payz. So thankful you’re mine.”
“I love you too,” she sighed. “I’m safe, Ethan. He didn’t hurt me.”
“I know. I just need to hold you.”
Ethan had always been affectionate, but since that night, he’d seemed to be more so. As if he was afraid it was all a dream. He squeezed her and then started to laugh.
“What?” she asked, pushing back to look up at him.
“Sorry. I was thinking of you head-butting Trey in the face and busting his nose. Wish I’d seen it.”
Paisley grinned. It’d been scary at the time, but head-butting Trey was turning into a fond memory. “I wish I’d done it sooner. Five years sooner, if I’m honest.”
“I wish a lot of things, baby. But we’re together now and that’s all I need. You and our daughter.”
They’d talked about Trey’s confession, wondering if he’d been lying, trying to manipulate them by giving them hope that he wasn’t in the running to be Violet’s father.
But then Ethan came home a few days later and told her it wasn’t a lie, that Trey had really had a vasectomy.
Alex had gotten his military records to confirm it. Trey had a zero sperm count.
As if Violet wasn’t daily becoming more and more Ethan’s child. The eyes, the love of pizza, the grumpy morning face—which Ethan was still capable of when he didn’t get enough sleep—and now the spiders.
He took her arm and lifted her wrist to his mouth, kissed her tattoo. The twin of his. Fire kindled in her belly, flame licking along her limbs and into her core.
“Ethan,” she whispered.
His eyes were fire. “I know. I feel it too.” He licked the heart and then stepped away.
She could strangle him. “What the heck?”
“We have to go to Aunt Hettie’s for lunch in twenty minutes. Or did you forget?”
Paisley’s cheeks heated. “Not completely, no. But in the moment, yes.”
“Not like we could do anything anyway. Vivi’s coming out any minute.”
“True. What is taking that child so long? I better check.”
Before she could, Violet skipped into the room, blond hair bouncing, cheeks bright. “I’m ready!”
Violet was wearing her princess dress, the pink one that Paisley had found at the thrift shop last week.
She’d intended it for a Halloween costume in another couple of months, but she should have known better.
Violet wanted to wear it now. In fact, she wanted to wear it every day.
Paisley had convinced her it was only for special occasions, which meant it came out a couple of times a week rather than daily.
“Lunch with Aunt Hettie is a special occasion,” Ethan whispered.
“I know. Vivi, you look pretty.”
“Thank you.” She twirled and then went to Ethan and held out her arms. “Carry me, Daddy.”
He scooped her up. “Got you, baby. You ready for lunch?”
“Yes!”
They walked to Aunt Hettie’s since it was only a couple of streets over.
The big house held court on a double lot on the corner with trees and flowers and flowering bushes that bloomed profusely.
Aunt Hettie greeted them at the door and led them to the big dining room where she’d laid out her silver and china like she was serving royalty.
Which, apparently, meant Violet today.
After they sat down, Hettie picked up her knife and tapped it on her glass. “I have an announcement to make.”
Even Violet went quiet.
“I’m moving.”
“What? Where are you going? To Fairhope?”
“No, child. I’m moving to Chestnut Street. The house is small and more suited for me. I’m not getting any younger.”
“Oh, of course.” Paisley looked at Ethan. He shrugged. It wasn’t their house and now it never would be. They’d talked about asking to buy it, but they hadn’t done it yet. Too many other things to settle first.
“This house is big. It’s made for a family. For children. For someone who will love it and care for it the way Horace and I did.”
“It’s a lovely house,” Paisley said. “Somebody will be so pleased. Do you know when you plan to sell?”
They would have to find a new place to live, but that was okay.
It would still be in Sutton’s Creek. She knew that her man was doing something important here, even if she didn’t know exactly what that important thing was.
When she’d told him what Trey said about a HOT team, he’d explained what that was and why it was important she not talk about it to anyone other than their small group of friends.
“As soon as you’re ready, dear.”
“Oh, well, we’ll need to look for a place to live, of course, but we can do that right away.”
“Dear child,” Aunt Hettie said. “I mean that I’m selling to you. You and Ethan will buy my house, and I will move into the Craftsman.”
“But Uncle John—”
“Lives in Fairhope with his family. He doesn’t want this house, dear.
He has plenty of money and a life of his own down there.
He doesn’t need this house and I’m not going to live in it until I’m dead just so he can sell it after I’m gone.
It will go to you and Ethan, for a reasonable price, and I will hold the mortgage. Unless you’d rather not?”
She looked at Ethan. He looked stunned. Then a smile bloomed on his face. He’d been a child without a home, and he was a man who worked on homes in his spare time, but he’d never owned one. He knew this house was special, just like she did.
“I think we would, Aunt Hettie. Wouldn’t we?”
Ethan’s smile lit her world. “We would. Hettie, thank you so much for trusting her to us.”
Hettie smiled. “Yes, you understand. This house is a her, and she has a soul. I knew you were right for her. And don’t you think it’s time you called me aunt?”
“Yes, ma’am, Aunt Hettie.”
“Wonderful. Violet, would you like to live here with your mommy and daddy?”
“Yes, peas!”
“Please,” Paisley said.
“Please,” Violet repeated. “Mommy?”
“Yes, honey?”
“Can I have a kitten when we live here?”
Paisley laughed. And she was relieved, too. At least the child wasn’t asking for a pony. Yet.
“Yes, I think you can have a kitten.”
“Awesome! I’m going to name it Ethan.”
“It might be a girl. Then what?”
Violet blinked. “Miss Rory.”
“Well, of course,” Paisley said, catching Ethan’s eye. He was grinning big, likely thinking of Rory’s reaction to having a kitten named after her. These days she would probably cry and blame it on hormones. Which Paisley understood. Hormones were a bitch.
Hours later, when Violet was asleep in her bed, dreaming of kittens (and probably ponies too), Paisley wrapped her legs around Ethan’s hips and welcomed him deep inside.
They moved together, slowly, kissing, touching, exploring, until the pressure became too great, until he pounded into her while she caught the wave and leaped over the edge, him right behind her.
“We’re so good together,” she whispered sometime later.
He kissed her throat, her jaw, then licked a nipple. “We were meant to be, Paisley. From the first moment I saw you, something shifted inside me. It never shifted back, even when I thought you’d dumped me. I just covered it up and kept on living.”
“I never stopped loving you. I tried, but I couldn’t.”
“It’s over now. We’re together.” He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
“We are,” she sighed.
They fell asleep like that, tangled together, happy. The next morning when she woke, he was already up, probably in the kitchen fixing coffee. The buzzing of her phone on the nightstand had her reaching for it.
“Yes,” she mumbled, not quite ready to get up.
“Paisley?”
“Yes.”
“It’s Mae. I’ve got some news.”
She listened to her lawyer in disbelief, then hung up and went to find Ethan.
“What is it, baby?” he asked, concern in his voice.
“I just heard from my attorney. Since Trey was killed on a job—” They both knew what the job was and how it’d happened, but that wasn’t the official version.
“—And he didn’t have a will for some stupid reason, I’m the sole beneficiary of his estate.
But I don’t want it, Ethan. I don’t want his blood money. I don’t want anything that was his.”
He came over and wrapped his arms around her, pressed his lips to the top of her head.
“You don’t have to take it. Or, you do, but you can give it all away.
Start a charity for battered women and children.
Give it to an orphanage. Literacy. Hell, start a home for homeless kittens.
Use his money in ways that would piss him off if he were still alive. Do good, Payz.”
She held him for a long while, thinking. And then she pushed away and gazed up at him. “You’re wise, you know that?”
“I try.” He grinned.
“We’re going to do all that. And we’re including homeless children on that list, okay?”
His eyes glistened as he nodded. “Sounds perfect, honey.”
“Good. Thank you. I feel better now. Is there coffee?”
“Coming right up. Sit down and I’ll get it for you.”
Paisley sank onto a chair at the kitchen table and watched the birds outside the window flying to the feeder and away again. Nature was so relentlessly beautiful. It made you realize things about yourself. About life.
She nodded, decision made. They would do good things with the money. Wonderful things. Lives would be changed for the better.
Just like hers had been when she moved to Sutton’s Creek. She’d found Ethan again, and she’d found friends. She’d found belonging. She loved her job, and even Fern was tolerable these days.
A world of possibility lay before her. All she had to do was take it.
With Ethan. With Violet.
He brought her cup and sat beside her. Then he reached for her hand and they twined fingers while they drank coffee and talked about everything they planned to do today, tomorrow, and for the rest of their lives.
Thank you for reading ETHAN!