Oh my God, he’s alive. And he’s not on life support either. He’s doing well enough that he’s sleeping in my hospital room.

“Sam,” I whisper. He stirs but doesn’t open his eyes. “Sam!”

This time his brown eyes fly open. He sits up in the recliner, a smile creeping across his face. “You’re awake.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “I’m awake.”

He reaches over and takes my hand. His is warm and comforting, which makes me self-conscious about how clammy mine feels. “Thank God you’re okay. I was so worried, Abby…”

I rub my eyes with the arm that doesn’t have an IV. “What happened?”

“What do you remember?”

I look at his left arm, which seems more or less intact. “You got shot.”

“Oh, that?” He pulls his hand from mine to rub at his arm. He winces. “It was a superficial wound. They bandaged it up in the ER. I’m fine.”

“But Monica…” I bite my lip. “She was pointing the gun at you. She was going to shoot you again.”

Sam lets out a long sigh and drops his head. “She didn’t shoot me. She…”

I frown at him. “What?”

“She shot herself.”

My mouth falls open. “She shot herself?”

He looks down at his hands. “I thought she was going to shoot me. I thought she was going to kill me. I figured that was it. But then… she turned the gun on herself. Put it below her chin and pulled the trigger. I guess when she realized her mother was dead, she just… I don’t know… lost it.”

In spite of everything Gertie did to me, I feel a jab of sorrow over her death. She was my assistant for years—I knew her only as a sweet older woman. I have to believe that couldn’t have all been an act. I’ll miss her smile and her cookies.

I’m not so sure Gertie’s death was the reason Monica shot herself though. I saw the look on her face when Sam tried to protect me. She was heartbroken over her mother, but that wasn’t what pushed her over the edge. She shot herself because she knew I had won.

“I just need you to know,” he says quietly, “nothing ever happened between me and Monica. Nothing. I never touched her. I swear to you.”

“I believe you.”

His shoulders sag. “You do?”

“Of course I do.”