Chapter 15 #2
“I was to get anything Ted could use in court to take Charlotte away from Ally. His main goal was to leave Ally with nothing. He wanted to ruin her. It was suggested that I look into her family as well. Her mother, sister, and brother and their spouses.” He shifted.
“Which is, in a roundabout way, why I quit. I… felt something was off. Then I had a buddy of mine get his hands on some sealed court documents and found proof that he’d lied about some key details. ”
“Such as?” Aiden asked.
For the next hour, Joe told him everything. He printed out copies of the documents that he legally could without getting sued, or worse, and gave them to Aiden for the case file. She had a bunch of the same files, since she had been included in most of the legal proceedings.
By the time Charlotte woke from her nap, they were showing Aiden out the door, and Ally was exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, and physically.
For the rest of the day, they stayed curled up on the sofa beneath a mountain of blankets, watching holiday specials and eating far too many sugar cookies.
Olaf snoozed in front of the fire, belly-up and snoring, while Charlotte alternated between giggling at the TV and trying to decorate him with bits of ribbon.
Joe’s chili and cornbread were a hit for dinner. Ally hadn’t expected him to be such a good cook, but apparently his secret was “lots of spice and no fear.” He’d mentioned learning the recipe from an old army buddy.
Now, with the dishes cleaned up and the snow still falling outside, Ally sank deeper into the sofa cushions and sighed. Less than two weeks until Christmas, and she still had gifts to buy and wrap. Mostly wrap.
Her gaze drifted to Joe, who sat at the other end of the sofa with Charlotte tucked into his side. They were both laughing at the same parts of Elf, even though they’d seen it ten times already. He looked… at home.
What in the hell was she going to get him for Christmas?
The man had done everything for them. Since moving in, he hadn’t let her touch a dish or cook a single meal alone.
He fixed whatever broke, made her coffee just the way she liked it, and even stocked up on Charlotte’s favorite hot chocolate and sprinkles without being asked.
He was protective, but never overbearing.
Comfortably steady in a way she hadn’t realized she needed until he showed up.
She should’ve been wary. After Ted, she’d learned that men lied, especially in the beginning of relationships. But something about Joe felt different. Real.
That night he’d gone back to Portland, she’d done a little digging—okay, a lot of digging—on his social media pages. Call it curiosity. Or maybe self-preservation. His social accounts were still active, though he hadn’t posted anything in almost six years. She realized that was when Lisa had died.
She’d clicked through every photo, every smiling moment frozen in time. Lisa was stunning, bright-eyed, with that kind of effortless beauty that made you ache. She and Joe had looked happy, genuinely, deeply happy.
It was clear that Lisa’s mother still ran her page, because new posts went up every few months.
Photos of Lisa and Joe at their high school prom, his arm awkwardly around her in a tux that was a size too big.
Pictures of him in his army and police uniforms. Those made Ally’s stomach do things she wasn’t proud to admit.
There were family photos too—his sister, his nieces and nephews, his parents, who looked like the kind of couple that still danced in the kitchen.
She’d seen one picture of them in Italy, standing in the middle of the Colosseum, both holding souvenir swords and laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world.
That was the kind of family Joe came from. Warm, grounded, full of love. And somehow, he’d walked into her life.
She smiled faintly, watching him now as Charlotte started to doze against his shoulder, his hand resting gently on her back. He looked up at the screen, completely absorbed in the movie, his expression soft. It hit her then, sharp and sudden. He belonged here. With them.
The feelings she had for him were beyond friendship. Beyond anything she’d felt for Ted. In a way, it scared her. Still, it mostly just felt right.
Which only made her dilemma worse. What in the world do you get a man like that for Christmas?
She’d already ordered a few gifts for Olaf—an absurdly cute Christmas sweater, a chew toy shaped like a snowman, and a matching leash. Charlotte’s presents were mostly hidden in Max’s closet, waiting for a late-night wrapping marathon. But Joe… she had no clue what to buy him.
Her money always went to Charlotte first—new shoes, coats, doctor visits, anything her daughter needed.
She couldn’t remember the last time she’d bought herself something just because she wanted it.
Maybe that was part of what made Joe’s quiet generosity hit so hard.
He never made her feel like she owed him anything.
While Elf played, she scrolled her phone quietly, hunting for inspiration. A watch? Too impersonal. A sweater? Too safe. She needed something meaningful, something that told him exactly what she thought of him without having to say the words out loud.
Joe laughed at something on-screen, his voice deep and warm. Charlotte stirred and mumbled sleepily, “Best day ever.”
Ally looked up from her phone, her heart swelling.
Yeah, she thought. It really is.
And just maybe, the best days were still ahead.