Fiona’s laughter rang off the tall firs at the edge of the property, bright and clear and completely unburdened, and her cheeks were flushed a healthy pink, and her green eyes, when she looked up at me, held not a trace of the quiet, haunted fear that had filled them on the morning she asked whether she had lost her prize.

Looking at my three girls in that sunlight, it was almost impossible to believe the nightmare that Blake and Danielle had so carefully built around us had ever been real at all.

Chapter 15 — It’s Over

My brother came out through the French doors with a fresh pot of coffee and a tablet, refilled my mug without asking, and leaned against the porch railing to watch the girls play.

“The county clerk uploaded the final deed recording this morning,” Ivan said.