“What’s going on?” I demanded sharply.
“Brady has decided to plead guilty, so there isn’t going to be a trial.”
“Really?” Cole gasped, shocked.
Simon nodded. “To six murders. Even more than Miranda first thought. Horrible, I know, but I think this is going to be a good thing because it means Miranda won’t need to be retraumatized by having to serve as a witness for the prosecution. We can all move on.”
That was a really big statement. It wasn’t like our lives had been on hold the whole time while we waited for this to happen. But now that it had happened, it really was huge. I couldn’t stop grinning as I realized how much better I felt.
“We are going to have to celebrate that!”
None of us knew that Miranda had finished making the coffee until she appeared with a smile as wide as mine on her face. She handed us all a mug with a skip in her step.
“Don’t you think we need to celebrate this?” she repeated. “Brady is pleading guilty, which means he will be locked away in prison forever. There won’t be any more issues and Twin Lakes and everyone in it will be safe again.”
I was grateful to know that we could go back to how life was before was before. My job would go back to being straight forward and simple. Hell, maybe I would even take on a few shifts at the national park with Cole. Life was definitely going to be safer for us all.
“We can’t go out to celebrate tonight because I have my date,” Simon reminded us. “But we can go out this weekend. That would be amazing.”
We nodded in agreement, happy to do that, but also really pleased that we could spend the evening as our little family. Our first night living together was going to be really special. We sat for a little while longer, chatting and laughing, and drinking our coffee, but soon Simon had to go, and Cole had to leave to pick up from Timothy from school. He was getting really excited about this new role in Timothy’s life, so it was only Miranda and me in the house for a little while.
We would have these moments now that we were living together. They might be few and far between because Cole would also be a part of this, but I would always treasure them. I crossed the room to take her in my arms and hold her to my chest.
“I really do love you, Miranda. I hope you know that.”
She leaned against me and rested her head on my shoulder. “You know I love you too, right? You and Cole have made me the happiest that I have ever been.”
We hugged for a while, during which time I imagined our future together. Our happily ever after where we would expand this family and have more love between us in the very lovely town of Twin Lakes, putting all these horrible memories behind us, never to be thought of again.
“I’m looking forward to having a more peaceful life here as well,” she murmured, her words vibrating along my chest now. “With you and Cole, Timothy too. It’s going to be amazing.”
“Oh hell yeah,” I laughed. “But it might not be too peaceful with Cole and me. You know that, right? But it’s going to be good chaos, so you don’t need to panic.”
Miranda lifted up her eyes to look at me, smiling as she did. I couldn’t resist dipping my head low to bring my lips to hers, to seal our love some more. As our mouths connected and fireworks exploded in my stomach, I knew there was nowhere else in the world I would rather be.
Life had a funny way of working out. This was far from what I expected, it was nothing like I thought I wanted, but it was utterly beautiful. I felt like the luckiest person on the planet, and I hoped both Miranda and Cole felt the same way. After all, this was forever.