Page 259 of Things We Left Behind

“Oh brother. Now they’re gonna make out,” Waylay predicted, returning her focus to the software update with an exaggerated eye roll. “I’m chargin’ extra for this.”

“Yes,” Stef said, sounding dazed. “Yes, to all those things.”

Naomi let out a loud sniffle. Knox swore.

Fi bolted out of her chair, and her lollipop went flying. “My baby brother is getting married and moving out of that poor excuse for an apartment!”

Waylon sauntered over and slurped up the discarded candy.

“Drop it, Way,” Knox barked.

“He means you,” Waylay said to the dog without looking away from the monitor.

“Bust out the champagne,” Vernon decreed, offering up aftershave-­scented high fives.

I got in line to offer my congratulations. “We’re all going to raise our families together,” Naomi said with a trembling voice.

“Donotmake me cry, Witty. I’m a puffy crier, and I have to look stunning tonight,” Lina groused.

Family. Just a few short months ago, I’d realized it was what I wanted more than anything. Now, thanks to Lucian and these women, there would be new life in my home. More parties. More holidays. More love. More laughter.

I felt the pang. My dad would have loved this. He would have been over the moon, planning engagement parties, writing funny toasts, practicing our father-­daughter dance. I missed him so much it hurt to breathe.

I love you, Dad, I said silently.Thank you for everything.

As if reading my mind, Naomi squeezed my wrist. The one a monster had broken all those years ago. That monster’s son had managed to put his own broken pieces together again and heal my broken heart in the process.

“We’re getting married,” Stef yelled, holding up Jeremiah’s hand.

We converged on the happy couple. Even Knox and Waylay got in on the hugging.

My phone rang as I drove home with great hair and a full heart.

“You arenotgoing to believe what happened today, big guy,” I announced when I answered the call.

“As it turns out, I have news for you too,” Lucian’s buttery smooth voice said through the Jeep speakers. “You go first.”

“Stef asked Jeremiah to move in with him, and Jeremiah asked him to marry him!”

“That escalated quickly,” he quipped.

“I can’t wait for their wedding. Queer weddings are the best,” I said happily as I turned onto my street. “Now, tell me your news. Is it good or bad?”

“It’s very good news. I just got out of a briefing with Special Agent Idler. It appears that Hugo’s shell corporation was bribing officials to assign prisoners to his private prisons. They’ve only just begun quietly digging, and it looks as though severaljudges, district attorneys, even some local law enforcement were also on the receiving end of some highly illegal kickbacks. The higher the sentence, the bigger the kickback.”

“Wow,” I said.

“The preliminary list includes the Not So Honorable Judge Dirk Atkins.”

“As in the Dirk Atkins who refused to reconsider Mary Louise’s sentence?”

“One and the same,” Lucian said smugly. “Idler promised me she’d personally look into Mary Louise’s case. There’s a very good chance that an investigation will result in many of his sentences being overturned.”

“Overturned?” I squeaked. “As inget out of jail overturned?”

“It will take some time, but I’ll do what I can to speed things along. We should have her out before Allen’s graduation,” Lucian continued.

My response was a choked sob.