Jenna smiled softly. “I’m glad.”
Noah smiled back. Maggie—he’d graduated to calling her Aunt Maggie now—was a regular fixture in their lives. Noah, Jenna, and Alice drove over to Dunkirk a couple of times a month, and Maggie came to stay with them often. She’d helped Jenna plant her vegetable garden, and they’d taken Alice to the shelter to pick out a cat.
They’d come home with two, and Jenna had informed him a dog was next. She hadn’t gotten around to the dog yet, but she would.
Noah loved coming home to a house filled with living, breathing creatures—and Tom Petty blaring more often than not. Jenna was always cooking something marvelous. Alice had progressed to using the potty and talked almost all the time.
She was rarely clingy these days. They’d taken her to the Early Bird Diner, and she’d happily gone with Vicki while the woman made her rounds.
Allison hadn’t said a thing to Vicki about it, because she wouldn’t dare according to Jenna. She’d also come over to congratulate him and Jenna on their marriage, though it was a fake congrats if he’d ever heard one. More like she was jealous. Barnyard Tami had been more sincere, though she’d winked at him as if letting him know she was still available.
Jenna had laughed her ass off when he told her about it after Tami walked away.
“You’ve still got a chance for the wounded chicken squawk,” she said, giggling.
“No. Hell no.”
A few days after Noah had returned from the aborted congressional escort mission, he’d gotten a package in the mail from Sally’s bank. She’d had a safety deposit box, and she’d filled it with mementos. Photos, a lock of Alice’s hair, a journal about her pregnancy and Alice’s birth, her thoughts about healing and her love for Noah. She’d called him the best brother she could have hoped for, and that had made him tear up as he read it.
There were pictures of her during her pregnancy, and of Alice from birth to about a month before Sally’s death. She’d had some printed, and she’d had a hard drive with photos and documents. She’d even written a letter about why she’d put those things in a safety deposit box and what she hoped would happen in case of her death.
It had shocked him at first, but it was just like Sally to think of those things. She knew how precarious it was to be a single parent, and she’d wanted to make sure that Alice had the important things if something ever happened and Sally was no longer there.
Noah and Jenna had a plan for sharing everything with Alice as she grew up. Sally would always be her mother in heaven, but Jenna was going to be her mother here on earth and Noah would be her dad. They wouldn’t let Sally be forgotten.
Noah had thought it would take Alice time to start calling them Mommy and Daddy, but she’d taken to it like a fish to water. Except sometimes she called him Daddy Unk No, which was kinda hysterical.
Kids.
When it was time to go in for the hearing, Noah and Jenna held hands while Noah carried Alice. The judge asked questions, they answered them, she spoke to Alice—and then it was over. They were legally Alice’s parents as they walked out of the courtroom.
As they emerged from the building into the cold December air, Noah thought he might explode from the happiness coursing through him. It was almost Christmas, and he had a wife and child he adored. He also had an aunt for the first time ever, and he adored her, too. He felt like he’d undergone an adoption as well. It was something he’d desired when he was stuck with the Parkers, but it had never happened. No family had wanted him.
Now he had his own family, and he planned to spoil them.
“Christmas is in three days, Alice,” he said. “Have you been a good girl for Santa?”
“Yes! Very good.”
He hugged her. “You have. Are you excited about going to Aunt Maggie’s for Christmas?”
She nodded so hard her brains were probably scrambled.
“We’re leaving tomorrow,” Jenna said. “With Titus and Cornelius and lots of presents for everyone. I can’t wait.”
Noah couldn’t wait either. Except for the part about taking two cats on a road trip. They meowed indignantly every time they went to the vet, so he couldn’t imagine how much racket they’d raise on the journey to Delaware. Still, they were family, and you didn’t leave family at home alone during the holidays.
They reached the Nissan Armada he’d traded the Jeep in for and Noah put Alice into her car seat. Then he caught Jenna before she could escape and tugged her into his arms for a quick kiss.
“I love our life. I love you. Thank you for marrying me.”
She pressed her gloved hand to his cheek. “I love everything about life with you, so thanks for asking.”
“Have you thought any more about school?”
She shrugged. “A little. But honestly, I’m enjoying what I’m doing right now. Between taking care of Alice and you, and posting cooking and lifestyle videos, I’m happy. When we drive out to Vegas to get my stuff out of storage, I’m going to do a travel vlog about the whole thing, too.”
He’d been surprised when she’d told him it was possible to make some money doing those things. But she had a small income going from it. People liked watching videos about other people cooking and taking care of a household, which was fine with him.
“Sounds good. But if you ever want to go back to school, we’ll make it happen.”
She kissed him. “I know. You’re the best Christmas present I ever got.”
He grinned. “It’s not Christmas yet.”
“It is for me. Every day since I walked into your house.”
“Our house.”
“Our house,” she echoed softly.
Christmas morning, Jenna woke early. Noah was still asleep when she crept from the room, grabbing her laptop as she went. It was before dawn, and Jenna turned on the tree. Aunt Maggie and Alice were still asleep too, but soon the house would be filled with a little girl’s delightful squeals and the laughter of adults. Then there’d be the cooking smells. She couldn’t wait.
Jenna had one thing she needed to do, though. She opened up her laptop and inserted Sam’s USB. She hadn’t tried to guess the password or pin to the e-wallet app since she’d successfully opened the incriminating files on the Flanagans.
Files which had helped bring them down. They were no longer major players in the building trade in Vegas. The Venus Casino and Resort was broke and looking for investors to salvage it. Charlie and Billy were awaiting trial on fraud charges, and Owen Fisher was dead. He’d died under mysterious circumstances in prison, though Jenna figured that was the Flanagans’ doing.
Hadn’t done them any good though. Sam had kept thorough records of every misdeed and bribe. When he said he knew where the bodies were buried, he’d literally meant it.
The bodies and all the secrets.
Jenna dragged in a breath then pulled up the app. She typed the password she’d used on the documents folder. She held her breath as she waited for the pin prompt. She’d been thinking about that, too. She was going to use Joan Miró’s birthday. If that failed, she’d use Sam’s.
And if that failed, the Bitcoin was gone forever.
When the pin prompt appeared, she hesitated—and then she changed her mind and typed four digits. Zero. Seven. Zero. Four. Sam’s birth month and day. He’d always been proud to be a July Fourth baby.