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“Baby…” I reach up to wipe them but she shakes her head, smiling.

“I’m fine. I just never thought we’d…win.”

“We’re also waiting for the warrant allowing the forensic accountant to go through your joint account with a fine tooth comb. There will probably be a lot of money you’ll never get back, but there is also a very good chance he’ll have to explain and/or return a bunch of it as well. Not to mention, from what we can tell, he used your money for the down payment on the house, so he’s going to have to either buy you out or sell it and give you half the profit. The one bit of good news is that your name is on the deed. That was a huge mistake on his part, and we’re going to take advantage of it. ”

Willow seems shell shocked, staring at the phone open-mouthed.

But she’s not crying anymore, which is good.

“I owe you one,” I say quietly.

“Nah. We’re good.” Atlas is rarely warm or sentimental, so his offhand comment is as emotional as he gets.

“Thank you,” Willow says after a moment. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

“We’re family,” Atlas says gruffly. “And this is what we do for family. You’re one of us now. Anyway, I’m on a plane, gotta run. Make sure you set up a bank account so I can get you your money.”

With that, he disconnects and I reach for her, putting my hand on the side of her face.

“You okay?”

“I’m more than okay.” She takes a long, deep breath and then slowly blows it out. “I’m going to have money again, Hudson. Do you have any idea how important that is?”

“I do.”

“And if I get money from the house too, I can buy something of my own.”

This seems like the perfect opening for something else I’ve been thinking about. “What if we bought something of our own… together?”

She frowns a little. “You want to move in together? Officially, I mean? Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Why not? I never want to wake up without you next to me unless one of us is working or there’s some kind of emergency. I love having you here with me. What do you think?”

Her eyes twinkle as she nods. “I think it’s an amazing idea—I love being here with you too.”

“Do you want to live here in my house or should we try to buy something new—a fresh start for both of us?”

“I guess it depends on money,” she says, her brows knitting together slightly. “I don’t know how much I’m going to have or what my earning power will be going forward. Let’s take some time to research what’s out there and then decide.”

“One day at a time,” I say gently. “Let’s let Atlas and Madeline work their magic and we’ll live here until we get a resolution.”

“Okay.” She nods thoughtfully, and I can tell by the look on her face she has a lot going on in her head.

“What are you thinking?” I ask.

“I feel like today is the first day of the rest of my life.”

“I like hearing that.”

“Would you be able to take me to open a bank account today? That feels like one of the first things I need to do so I can move forward.”

“Absolutely.”

“And then I’m going to start hunting for a new agent. I need to be able to go back to work at some point. If anyone is willing to take a chance on me.” Her face falls a little.

“They will be,” I assure her. “Kate is already working on all that bullshit Dylan put online. You’re going to have more work than you want.”

“What if I don’t? What if no one wants to work with me because they believe him?”