Cal ended the phone call, and they all sat there in a kind of dazed silence.
Guilty.Dad had been found guilty.Given life in prison.Nate knew it wasn’toverover.Maybe it never could be.But it was a step toward overenoughto move on with their lives.
“I should call Jill,” Aly said abruptly.“They should know.”She stood, then just… didn’t move.
There was a big water spill on the leg of her pants, and she seemed to be looking down at the puddle on the ground.
“I’ll clean up the mess.You call Jill.Jill and Glenda should know,” Sam said, with enough authority Aly started moving.
Sam picked the salad out of their laps then got up to follow Aly out of the room.Aly to make the phone call.Sam to get something to wipe up the water with.
Leaving the brothers in the living room they’d grown up in.Manipulated and traumatized and pitted against each other.The living room where now they’d come together, and put a stop, once and for all, to Benjamin Bennet’s reign of terror.
No matterwhathappened, no matter what scars were left,thatwas over.
They didn’t celebrate.It wasn’t something to celebrate no matter how much a relief it was.Like Vanderbilt said, Dad could still appeal.And like had always been the case, Mom was still dead.
But it was like a chapter had closed.
Like a new one could open.
Nate turned to Cal.“You did it.”
Cal sat there for a moment and then shook his head.“It started when you came back.It gained traction once Landon took it seriously enough.I had to… face…” Cal made a vague motion to his head.
“It was all of us,” Landon said, a little stiffly.“Glenda.Jill.Sam.Aly.We all played a part.We did it together.”Landon looked up at each of them.“That’s why he wanted us apart.”
It felt unfathomable.Even as Sam cleaned up the mess and Aly returned.Even as they all forced themselves to sit and eat, Nate realized it was just going to take some time to settle in.To fully absorb and accept.Everything that had started in the spring—or fifteen years ago—or when they’d beenborn, had come to a conclusion on this night.
Once they were done eating, everyone helped clean up dinner, then Sam and Nate made their excuses to leave.They put their winter gear on and stepped outside with muted goodbyes.
The night was clear.The air icy.The snow crunched beneath their feet.Sam looked up at the brightly shining moon.She let out a breath that puffed in front of her.
“You sure you don’t want to spend the night here?Everyone seems kind of subdued.It’s a lot to take in, I know, but if you need to be support… you can stay.Wecan stay, if you want.”
He wound his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close and pressed a kiss to her temple.It was a nice offer.Kind, because that was Sam at the heart of her.But he didn’t think it was necessary.“Let’s go home, Sam.”
Because he’d found his home, and yeah, this was a lot to take in.A lot to deal with.And they’d do it together, even if they weren’t all physically on this ranch.
They were all back home.
Epilogue
Nate Bennet’s House in Marietta, Montana
Three months later
Sam stood infront of the floor-length mirror she’d finagled Nate into purchasing for his bathroom door.Maybe a man who existed in jeans and T-shirts didn’t need to see his whole body, butSamdid.Especially for this rare occasion of attending abridal shower slash bachelorette party.
And since she had helped him pick out furniture, decorate, and spent almost all of her time here, she thought she got a say in what kind of things Nate should have at his house.
Sure, they fought sometimes, and every once in a while, she stayed at her apartment just to prove she could.Or because he’d pissed her off.
But they always came back to each other.
Sam still kept tabs on Bo.She didn’t like to keep secrets from Nate, but she thought that was a fair enough one.If she ever found anything of note, she’d tell him.
But all Bo had done these past few months, far as she could tell, was exist.He lived with his mother and didn’t work—meaning he’d taken a payoff somewhere along the way.
