“Those two.” Shelby rolls her eyes, then looks at me. “And nowyou two. For god’s sake, can we tone down the lovey-dovey crap? It’s enough to make me toss my cookies.”
“You don’t eat cookies,” I point out.
“It’s a figure of speech!” she grumbles. “You know what, I’m going to go make sure those two don’t kill each other.” Leaning down, she presses a kiss to Summer’s forehead, followed by mine. “Feel better, Gem. I’ll be back to check on you in a bit.”
“Bye, Shelbs. Thanks for coming.”
With a final wink in Chase’s direction, she slips through the door and disappears.
I look up at him, then down at the baby in my arms. “I have a namesake. How cool is that?”
“Pretty cool, sunshine.” He settles in beside me on the bed and wraps an arm around my shoulders. “Though, if she turns out to be half as much trouble as you, I pity the man who falls for her.”
I still, at those words, my heart racing in my chest. I almost say it, then.
I love you.
But something holds me back.
“Speaking of trouble…” I swallow. “Have you heard anything about Ralph and Vanessa?”
“Funny thing happened.” He chuckles lowly. “Turns out, before Chrissy ran out of phone battery, she managed to film a good portion of their conversation in that parking garage. It’s essentially a taped confession. The police caught them less than a mile away from the spot your car crashed — as soon as they got them in custody, they turned on each other faster than a flipped coin.”
“Wow,” I breathe.
“Yeah. And that’s not all.” He looks at me, his eyes suddenly serious. “When I went into the water after you, Knox chased down Hawkins — or, The Hulk, as you like to call him. He’s in police custody, facing charges for kidnapping, assault, reckless endangerment, and attempted murder.”
“Holy cow.”
Chase nods. “Word is, he’s cutting a deal. If he gives the DA everything he has on Brett, they’ll shave some years off his sentence. If not, with that many charges… he’s looking at some serious time behind bars.”
“So, after all these years, after everything he’s done… Brett might go to jail?”
Chase nods. “Assuming his lawyers can’t get him off.”
“Finally,” I breathe, relieved.
“Finally,” Chase echoes, his mouth tugging up at the corners. “There’s something else.”
My eyebrows go up.
“Your mother is here,” he says gently. “And… so is your father.”
“Oh.”
I’m truly too stunned to say anything.
“I told them to wait in the lobby, for now. I wasn’t sure you’d want to see them.” His eyes ask a question I’m not sure I have the answer to.
I swallow hard. “I guess… I guess they can come in.”
“Are you sure, sunshine?”
I nod. “I’m sure.”
“Then I’ll go get them.”
***