CHAPTER 20
Brooklyn insisted on attending his trial. The evidence presented to the judge was so overwhelming on the first morning that his court-appointed lawyer asked for a recess to talk to Brent before they resumed in the afternoon. When the judge reconvened court after lunch, Brooklyn gasped as Brent’s lawyer announced a plea deal.
Standing with slumped shoulders, Brent didn’t turn to glare at her. His gaze remained fixed on the table in front of him. She listened to him plead guilty to multiple charges of robbery and assault. Stalking her hadn’t landed him in jail; his illegal actions during the long months while he searched for her had put him away for years.
“Is it over, Daddy?” Brooklyn whispered as they dragged Brent from the courtroom.
“It’s over, sweetheart. He won’t ever bother you again,” Caden reassured her. “Max had a talk with him during the break. Brent understands he’ll be safer in jail than walking around.”
It wasn’t like the other promises she’d heard from the police and lawyers. Caden’s words rang with truth.
“Max talked to him?” she repeated in astonishment.
“Yes. I couldn’t trust myself to be that close to him. Let’s go home, little girl. Max and the guys are waiting for us there.”
She stared at the door where Brent had disappeared.Could it really be over?Her daddy placed a hand on her lower back and guided her toward the door. Brooklyn remained silent until they exited into the fresh air.
The breeze helped her understand that this was actually happening. Brooklyn had met three times already with a counselor who worked near the base. With the therapist’s help, she was working through the frightening memories that Brent had subjected her to before and after she’d left. Feeling lighter than she had in years, Brooklyn looked up at her daddy and asked, “Is this what freedom is like?”
“I can’t wait to show you how amazing your life is going to be now, Brookie. Ready to go let the team celebrate with you?”
“Let’s go, Daddy.”
“Brooklyn?”
She turned to see Brent’s mother, Suzanne standing a couple of feet away. Brooklyn wrapped her hands around Caden’s arm, clinging to him for support.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” the woman said quickly, not getting any closer. “We wanted you to know that we tried to get him to stop coming after you when several months passed. He wouldn’t listen to us. Hopefully, he’ll get some help in jail.”
“As long as he’s far from me, I don’t care what happens to him,” Brooklyn said bluntly. A small part of her noted that his family hadn’t helped him pursue her after the initial months. That made her feel better—slightly better.
“Our family wishes you well, Brooklyn. I’m glad you found a man who treats you right,” Suzanne told her and left with a nod to rejoin her husband and daughter.
“Barbecue time, little girl. Let’s get on the road. Koa has a bad reputation for torching food. We don’t want him to cook without supervision,” Caden told her.
“Wait. Giana’s a firefighter.”
“You’ll have to ask her how they met,” Caden suggested, steering her off the sidewalk to the parking lot.
“Okay. I’m going to ask Aspen and Pippa, too.”
“Good idea,” Caden said, lifting her up into his truck.
“I’m really glad I found you,” Brooklyn whispered as her daddy fastened her seatbelt.
“Me, too, little girl. I can’t imagine my world without you.” He kissed her softly and stepped back to close her door.
Caden drove carefully through the traffic back to the house Brooklyn now considered home. As the truck turned onto their street, Brooklyn leaned forward to peer through the window. Trucks and SUVs lined the road.
“Is Max carrying a ladder?” she asked, spotting the large man from several houses away. “He’s got paint splattered on his shirt.”
“Max has been busy, little girl.”
“Really? What’s he been doing?”
“I think this is something you need to see rather than me telling you,” Caden suggested as he pulled into the driveway next to Max’s huge SUV.
It took forever for her daddy to circle around the hood to let her out. Brooklyn decided not to wait. She flung open the door and jumped out. A cry burst from her lips as Brooklyn caught her heel in her skirt and tumbled into the grass.
