Then again, he might not have done her any favors. After all, he’s a former hometown boy who became a famous movie star. It will be a bigger story that he was at the courthouse. There’s bound to be an article somewhere in the Eben Cape Herald, beneath a feature piece on the blueberry pie competition. Well, let’s hope no one actually reads it.

“But you’re okay now,” I say to reassure her, but it comes out more like a question.

“I’m great.” Emily puts her hand on Paige’s blonde locks, so much like her own. Love shines in her eyes when she looks at her daughter. “It’s time we headed home.”

Paige gives me a cheerful wave from her mother’s side. “Don’t move the pieces.”

“I won’t.” That’s our tradition, now that we live apart. Even though my house is on the same cliff, it’s not the same as living together. So we leave our Monopoly games open until the next time we see each other. Unfortunately, I’ll be starting tomorrow in jail.

Watching them go hand-in-hand squeezes my heart.

Paige is a miniature version of Emily. Both of them are like those expensive dolls that I could never afford as a little girl—with porcelain skin and blue eyes and blonde curls. In a way they seem delicate. Breakable. But I know better. They’re both strong.

And brave.

I’m sad to see them go, but I know that I’m luckier than I ever could have imagined. It’s a breezy summer in Eben Cape. I have a brand-new house. The only man I could ever want.

Paige laughs as she climbs into the back seat. “She went to jail four times!” I hear her telling Emily. “Can you believe it? The last one she rolled snake eyes.”

“I can believe it,” answers Emily. She reaches across Paige’s body and buckles her seat belt for her. At seven, Paige can do it herself, but she lets Emily do it anyway.

There’s comfort in small gestures. Emily missed doing all those things for Paige while they were apart. She won’t waste a single chance to do them now.

When Emily pulls away from the house, she rolls down the car windows.

Paige’s arm sticks out one window, waving and waving. Emily waves too. I wave back, standing there until they’re on the road to their house. There’s a little stand of trees along the way. They’ll disappear behind it for a few seconds, then pop into view on the other side.

I tip my head back and bask in the day. It’s sunny but cool. The ocean is the most soothing noise in the world. It feels like a sign that things will be okay. The trial is going to be tough. There will be hard days, but more importantly, there will be justice.