Like now.
Except Livvy needed to tell Ethan something first, and she didn’t want to wait to do it. “I told you that I’m in love with you,” she started, and then she had to touch her fingers to his mouth to stop him when he tried to interrupt her. “But I want you to know you don’t have to do or say anything about that. What I want you to think about instead is more of a…partnership.”
His left eyebrow rose, causing the bandage on the other side of his forehead to lift a little as well. “Please tell me that involves sex. And having you in my bed.”
She smiled because this sounded promising. “Sex is on the table,” she admitted and then laughed when she heard how suggestive that sounded. “I was thinking more of us maybe moving in together after the baby comes. And you don’t have to give me an answer now. Just give it some thought because that could be the easiest way for us to co-parent.”
He frowned, causing her heart to drop. No, no, no. She’d pushed too much, too soon. Ethan wasn’t ready for this kind of arrangement.
After too many snail-crawling moments, he finally opened his mouth to respond, but the knock on the door stopped him.
“It’s me,” they heard Grace say, and she opened the door and peered in. She saw the way they were standing, with Livvy still in Ethan’s arms, and she smiled. “Glad to see you’re both doing well.”
They were, physically anyway, but Livvy could feel that broken heart of hers coming on.
“How’s Sunny?” Ethan asked.
Livvy was thankful he’d spoken and filled the silence. She didn’t want Grace to pick up on the gloom and doom that had to be coming off her. Besides, she wanted to know how Sunny was doing as well.
Grace gathered in a long breath. “She’s out of surgery and is expected to make a full recovery.” She paused, groaned and shook her head. “I’ll have to charge her, though, with the shooting. A good lawyer will argue diminished capacity because of her injury and grieving her sister’s death, and she might get off.”
Livvy hoped she did. She couldn’t condone Sunny’s actions of trying to kill Vernice, but she understood being overwhelmed by a horrible situation. Sunny had lost her twin sister and had nearly been killed twice. Most people would break under circumstances like that.
“What about Vernice?” Ethan asked.
“She’s already been treated and released,” Grace explained. “Rory is taking her to the station, where he’ll get her statement. She’ll be charged with obstruction of justice for bringing in that knife. The statute of limitations is up on her failing to report a crime, but I’ll see if there are any other charges we can bring against her.”
Livvy hated that Vernice hadn’t turned in Chloe. Sunny had been right about that—if Vernice had reported Belinda’s murder, then Zadie would be alive. Chloe, too. Sunny wouldn’t have been injured, and the attacks wouldn’t have happened.
But there was a silver lining of sorts here.
All of this had caused Livvy to remember, and while they were horrible memories, at least now she knew the truth about what’d happened.
“How are you dealing with all of this?” Grace asked, volleying glances at both of them but her attention settling on Livvy.
Livvy had to take a breath, too. “Part of it—to be determined. I’d like to find out what happened to my mother’s body so I can give her a proper burial.”
Grace nodded. “I’ve already called out a team to search the area around the old house. If her remains are there, we’ll find them.”
Good, because that would be a start. “I’d also like to learn more about my mother. Maybe talk to some of the other surrogates or New Hope employees who might have known her.”
Grace nodded again and hiked her thumb in the direction of the waiting room. “You might be able to get some of those answers from Franklin. He showed up here about fifteen minutes ago, asking to speak to you. If you don’t want to see him, I’ll tell him to get lost.”
“No, I’ll speak to him.” Though Livvy didn’t intend for it to be a long conversation. More like scratching the surface for now. Because at the moment her priority was finishing her conversation with Ethan.
“All right,” Grace said, stepping out of the way and then following them to the door. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. In the meantime, you’re both off duty. I don’t want to see either of you in the station for at least the next three days. If you need more time than that to sort things out, just let me know.”
“Thank you,” Livvy and Ethan replied, and while Livvy couldn’t speak for him, she would take every hour of those threedays. She needed the rest and the time to process everything that’d happened.
When the three of them made it to the waiting room, Livvy immediately saw Franklin stand up from one of the chairs. He didn’t have that cocky look he’d sported when they had first visited him at New Hope. Just the opposite. He appeared to be exhausted and devastated.
Franklin didn’t walk toward them. He just waited for them to come to him.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “So very sorry for what my sister did to you and your mother. Your mother was a good woman, and she didn’t deserve what happened to her.”
Livvy had had a decent rein on any tears, but that caused some to pool in her eyes. She blinked them back because she was afraid if she started crying, she wouldn’t be able to stop.
“I came by to tell you how sorry I am,” Franklin explained. “And to let you know that I’m closing New Hope and transferring the current clients and surrogates to other facilities.” He took out a small envelope from his pocket and handed it to Livvy. “I also wanted to give you this. I found it last night when I was going through some of my things.”
