Page 72 of A Lifetime in 30 Days
Jovani nodded. “Yep. And she gave a more coherent statement once they had her leg stitched up and she sobered up a bit. She was pretty pissed at you.”
“She was delusional, just like her son,” Vanna snapped.
Granny chuckled. “You ain’t lyin’ about that. But what’s going to happen to her now?”
“She’s facing a few charges, the handgun and interfering with an investigation,” Jovani said.
“A whole hot, stinkin’ mess,” Granny said, and stood from her chair. “Frito needs to pee.” And with that announcement, she walked out of the office.
“But it’s over now,” Jovani said after they all watched her go with barely masked confusion. “I’m even going to have the arrest expunged, since this was all a horrible setup from the start.”
“Good,” Aden said.
“Very good,” Vanna replied. “Now I can finally get on with this next phase of my life.”
Epilogue
February 14
Just after dawn on a Friday morning, Vanna stood on the back deck of their new house. She’d signed all the paperwork and received the keys the week before Christmas. They’d buried Diane at a cemetery just fifteen minutes away the day after New Year’s. Vanna had wanted her close so that Granny could visit her on her own as often as she liked.
Jack and his crew had come into the new house three days later, transforming the basement into an apartment for Granny and Frito. There was a small sitting room, kitchen nook, a full bathroom, and bedroom. They’d even added a door so Granny could easily let Frito out into the large fenced-in backyard to run around anddo his business, as Granny said.
The main level and upper level of the new four-bedroom, three-bathroom house was all Vanna’s. Each room newly designed and furnished, her kitchen a cheerful tangerine color she’d debated with Jamaica and Ronni would look amazing. And it did. She’d wanted everything new, another fresh start to add to her life. All the memories, the trauma, the past mistakes, were left at the old house. The fluffy snowflakes—the season’s first snow—that began to fall confirmed her feelings of regeneration and recalibration. Today was the beginning.
Even though she’d started on this track back in September after ending the legal ordeal and agreeing to be in a relationship with Aden.
Later that month, she’d asked Granny to live with her permanently and, with her agreement, had started the hunt for a new house. Vanna had known without a doubt that a true new start was going to take more cleansing than she’d originally planned. Today, she felt totally free from her past and was more than ready to keep pressing forward.
“You’re gonna freeze out here,” Aden said, stepping up behind her to wrap the thick sherpa blanket he’d taken off the couch around her shoulders.
She was only wearing her slippers and a pink-flannel pajama set Granny had given her for Christmas, so the blanket was welcome. And so was the man.
“Thanks,” she said, and settled back against him as his arms also wrapped around her.
Aden had also been a new beginning. After her horrific but eye-opening birthday celebration, they’d had their first official date. From that fabulous candlelight dinner on the water to movie dates, another bowling competition led by Team Davon and Team Jamaica, and dressing up as Tiana and Naveen to attend the Pretty in Pink’s Halloween party, she’d agreed that they could date exclusively.
They weren’t living together. Aden still had his house, where she now had half his closet space and a cabinet for her makeup and toiletries in his bathroom. But they were a couple, and she was comfortable with that. She was comfortable with this man, who insisted on treating her the way she deserved to be treated. And while that was all good—fantastic, actually—Vanna had decided to treat herself better.
That month last year, her fortieth-birthday month, which had been planned to be a phenomenal celebration to usher her into this new chapter, had almost drowned her. And despite all the people she had around, all those who loved and supported her, she’d had to find her way to the surface on her own. The only way to do that was to shed all that deadweight she’d shackled herself with throughout the years—theguilt, disappointment, heartache, disillusionment—every single link in a chain that was destined to strangle her. She’d had to let it all go just to breathe. Just to find herself and give herself permission to be.
“This place is going to make a great rental property someday,” Aden said from behind her.
“Huh?” she asked, thinking she must’ve missed something while her mind was wandering.
“Yeah,” he continued, as if she hadn’t made that quizzical sound. “The resell value would be good. You wouldn’t have that much equity in it, but Jack’s renovations will help. And this is a great family community. A starter home for a young couple working in the city, but renting first for those who might not be in a position to buy just yet. My place will have good equity in another six months, so that resale shouldn’t be a problem. We can look to relocate to Alexandria. You love it when we go over there for the day and dinners.”
“Wait. What are you talking about?” she asked, because he’d just said a lot, none of which she was fully digesting. “I’m not moving again, I just got here.”
“Did I tell you Jovani’s opening a second office in Alexandria?” he asked, again ignoring her.
She was about to turn around, to look him in the eye and ask what the hell was going on, but he held her tighter.
“Yeah, now that they have Jasmine, Megan wants out of the city. And he doesn’t want that long commute every day, so he’s going to open another office, leave his top associates in DC to handle the bulk of the Superior Court cases and get into more defense litigation at the new place. It’s a solid family-oriented career move.”
“I agree,” she replied, speaking slowly. “But, Aden, I still don’t know how that factors into me and my new house.” Or him selling his home, but she wanted to tackle this one confusing brick at a time.
Instead of a verbal answer, one of his hands that had been tangled in the blanket he’d wrapped around her turned so that his palm wasupright. And in that palm sat a black box. Snowflakes falling and melting on top of it.
