“Keep talking, and you’ll find out.”

Sarah took Charlie by the hand. “Don’t bother, Charlie. He’s not worth it. Let’s go have lunch.” Sarah led him and her mother to the door.

As Laura and the others followed Sarah, Owen hung back. “Go away and leave us alone,” he said to his father when the others were out of earshot. “You’re nothing to us, and we like it that way.”

“Your mother will come around,” Mark said confidently. “She always does.”

The statement had Owen laughing out loud. “Keep telling yourself that.”

Laura came back to look for him. “Are you coming?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m coming.” As he walked away from his father, he felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders. Mark Lawry no longer had any power over him, his mother or his siblings. No matter how the trial worked out, he couldn’t hurt them anymore.

He took Laura’s hand and smiled at her, feeling more like himself than he had in weeks.

“Is everything okay?” she asked, her expression filled with concern.

“Everything is just fine. It’s absolutely fine.”

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

They returned from lunch to another surprise. His mother’s old friend Eva Lewis was waiting for them.

“Eva?” Sarah let out a cry of surprise and delight as she hugged the other woman. “What’re you doing here?”

“I read the story in the paper this morning. I told Bill I had to come.”

“It’s so good to see you! How long has it been?”

“At least five years, maybe more.”

“You remember Owen, of course. This is his fiancée, Laura, and their son, Holden.”

“Nice to see you again, Mrs. Lewis,” Owen said.

“Look at you all grown up and so handsome.”

“He is that,” Sarah said with a proud smile for her son.

“I had to come,” Eva said. “I read the story this morning, and the defense attorney said you didn’t have anyone to testify that this had been going on for a long time. I can do that. I always knew. Bill knew, too. Everyone knew, Sarah.”

Owen’s heart ached as his mother looked down at the floor, her face flooding with shame.

“I’ve never had more arguments with my husband over anything than I did over what Mark was doing to you—and the kids. I wanted to report him, but Bill feared for his career. He regrets that now, and I wish I’d stood up to him and done the right thing. Let me do the right thing now. Please.”

Sarah looked up at Owen, who felt a profound sense of relief at knowing the one thing they needed to shore up their case had just appeared in the form of his mother’s old friend.

“I would appreciate that, Eva,” Sarah said.