Devon nodded. “I feel the same. You mean nothing to me anymore.”
He held his hand out to Chloe, and they walked out of the courthouse together to find Lori and Caleb waiting for them in the parking lot.
“I’m so glad that’s over,” Lori said as they approached.
“My ass is numb from those damn chairs,” Caleb complained.
“We spoke to Vince,” Devon told them.
“What? Why?” Lori looked between Chloe and Devon.
“I needed him to see me happy; to know he didn't win, and that I’m better off without him.”
“And I needed to bloody his face,” Chloe added.
“You shouldn't have done that, Chloe,” Devon said. “You’ll get in trouble.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Mom knows everybody who works in that building.” She grinned. “It’s really too bad Vince tripped and face planted, isn’t it?”
Devon just shook his head and scrubbed one hand through his hair. “I’m ready to go home and never set foot in this courthouse again.”
He’d closed on his new house the week before, and his parents were there with Maisie and Hailey since school had recently let out for the summer. They’d been by his side as often as they’d been able to manage, as had Caleb, Lori, and Chloe. Something he would never lose sight of again was the strength of his support system.
Even the chief and David had been in the courtroom with him a few times. That alone had touched him deeply, but they’d also stayed with Hailey when his parents hadn’t been able to get out of work.
All four of them entered the house together when they arrived. Hailey had spread papers and markers across the dining room table, and Lori went over to see what she was doing.
The other three went to the living room where Lydia and Don were sitting.
“How did it go?” Don asked.
“Let’s just say that if he were immortal, Hailey would be a great-great-grandmother by the time he was considered for parole.”
“Oh, Devon. How do you feel about that?” Lydia asked.
He sat next to her, and she patted his leg. “Like it’s finally over. Like I can put all this behind me and look to the future with nothing hanging over my shoulders.”
Chloe sat on the couch on the other side of Devon, and Lori and Hailey came into the room.
Hailey stood in front of the coffee table. “I have something to show everybody.”
“Whatcha got, bug?” Lydia asked.
She grinned and held a bunch of papers in front of her. “I was working on a project, and now it’s done, so I wanna show it to everyone.” She held up her stack of papers and flipped one around. “Chloe, can you read it for me?”
Chloe frowned and then smiled hesitantly when she saw her name in Hailey’s handwriting. “Sure. Um, it says my name.”
Hailey flipped to a different sheet of paper.
“It was hard to move on after so much loss.” Chloe gasped and stared at Devon. He squeezed her hand, and Hailey moved to the next piece of paper.
“It was hard to trust anyone after all that happened.” Her voice became thicker as she spoke. “You opened my heart and made me see the possibilities. You’ve made our lives better.” Tears tracked down her cheeks as Hailey swapped out each brightly colored and decorated piece of paper for the next one.
She flipped one more, and Chloe could barely choke out the words. “Please be my mommy.”
With a soft sound, she got off the couch and kneeled in front of Hailey. “Oh, baby, of course I will.”
Chloe wrapped her arms around Hailey, and Devon came to kneel with them. “There’s one more.” Hailey held up the last piece, decorated with hearts and glitter, and Devon looked into Chloe’s eyes as he said, “Will you marry us?”
