Billion Dollar Mistake by K.C. Crowne

Epilogue

JOLENE

Seven months later…

“You sure you want to do this?”

Sawyer looked over at me with concern in his eyes. It was sweet, sure. But it was also the twentieth time he’d asked me the question that morning.

Then again, as I stood in front of the courthouse, the building seeming to loom larger over me than it ever had before, I found myself questioning it for the first time that day.

The murders had been solved – more or less. After months of stress, Whitepeak straining under the worry of who had committed the four murders that had rocked our sleepy mountain town, the crimes had been revealed to be a drug deal gone wrong. In a matter of speaking, that is.

The four men had been working with the fifth, the murderer, to transport drugs across the country – drugs that they’d stolen from a dealer in California. They’d taken up residence in the woods near Whitepeak, hoping to hide out from anyone who might’ve come looking for them while they went through their supply of ill-gotten drugs, along with few thousand dollars they’d stolen.

That hadn’t been enough for one of the men. He’d wanted all the drugs and money to himself. To that end, he’d procured a weapon and come up with a plan to take out the other men one by one. Once that was done, he’d skip town.

He might’ve gotten away with it too, had it not been for a chance visit to the motel room he’d rented after finishing the last murder. A maintenance employee had come into the room, walking in on the murderer with drugs and money and the weapon spread out all over the bed.

Just like that, he’d been busted, but it wouldn’t be a simple matter of arresting him and ending it then and there. Jimmy and Tiana had needed time to build their case, and with court, well, the wheels of justice were never known to turn quickly.

It’d taken seven months before the trial was ready to start. As part of the case, Jimmy and Tiana would need my expert witness testimony to connect the gunshot wounds of the victims to the gun found at the motel room.

As I stood there, my belly big and round under my dress, extra huge from the twins I was carrying, I was nervous. Maybe it was the fact that I was going to be a mother soon that made me feel like I had to be more careful.

“I’m sure,” I said, watching as Jimmy and Tiana stepped out through the main doors to wave me in. “Let’s go.”

Sawyer led me up the stairs, holding me steady as I waddled my big, pregnant body to the front doors. Once I was in, I was led to the courtroom in time for me to give my testimony.

It all passed in a blur. Once I was in the witness seat, I fell into my professional mode and did my job in the same way I’d done it dozens of times before. The murderer himself wasn’t even worth looking at. He was forty-something, trim, with a head of close-cropped hair and a thin, gaunt face, his eyes vacant and almost bored, even. If there was one thing about people I’d learned in my line of work, it was that evil never looked the way you’d think it would.

My testimony went well. I delivered it professionally and by the numbers. The only issue was the tightening in my stomach that I kept feeling during my time on the stand.

When Sawyer and I stepped outside, I felt good, like I’d helped the world become just a bit safer than it had been before.

“You know what?” he asked as he helped me down the stairs. “I think we deserve a little treat after all that. Maybe some ice cream down at Sugarcream?”

“That sounds really nice. And you’re right –we do deserve it.”

We continued down the stairs, and when we reached the bottom Sawyer slipped his phone out of his pocket.

“Shoot.”

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Might have to take a raincheck on the ice cream. The board called a meeting for this afternoon about the transfer of CEO role from Dad to me.”

“Any problems?”

“Nah. Looking like more legal stuff. But they want us both to be there.”

“Oh, alright. But I’m holding you to that ice cream later to —”

I didn’t get a chance to finish. I felt a strange pressure down below, then a release. Then wetness.

“Uhhh…” Sawyer’s voice trailed off as he looked down at my feet. I looked down too and saw that my flats were covered in water.

It was happening.

“Hon?” I asked, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible. “I think it’s happening.”

“It’s most definitely happening.”

“OK!” he held up his hands, closing his eyes and giving himself a moment to think. “Stay right here – the car’s across the street and the hospital’s ten minutes away.”

“You don’t think we can make it to Denver?” I asked. “Only an hour away and ”

Another sentence that I didn’t get a chance to finish. A rush of pain blasted through my body, forcing me to grab onto Sawyer’s shoulder and dig my nails into his skin. Good sport that he was, he didn’t so much as cry out in surprise.

“Not a chance,” he said. “If your contractions are already this close together then there’s no way in hell we’re going to risk driving all the way to Denver.”

“Then let’s move!”

He didn’t need another word of encouragement. Sawyer ran across the street, nearly getting slammed by a car coming the other way.

“Sorry!” he shouted over the blare of the horn. “But we got babies coming!”

“Hon!” I yelled in his direction. “Please do not get hit by a car on the way to the hospital!”

He flashed a sly smile over his shoulder as he climbed into the driver’s seat of his Porsche. He quickly pulled it around, coming to a stop in front of the courthouse steps.

“Now, let’s move!”

Everything that happened next happened in a total blur. He rushed me to the hospital in his Porsche, the contractions happening faster and faster. Before I knew it, I was in the ER of Whitepeak Hospital being wheeled into a delivery room where a nurse told me that the first baby was already crowning.

I couldn’t believe how quickly it was all taking place. After all the classes and practicing and coming up with the perfect birthing plan, there I was pushing my kids out within an hour of my water breaking.

Sawyer was right there with me, holding my hand and calling out for me to push right along with the nurses. It wasn’t long before the screaming of a baby filled the air.

“A girl!” shouted one of the nurses.

“A girl,” I said, my voice soft.

“No rest for the weary,” one of the nurses said. “The next one’s coming out just as fast!”

“Ready for round two?” Sawyer asked with a smile.

“Ready!”

More pushing followed, more pain, more everything. Within thirty minutes another baby was brought screaming into the world.

“Girl number two!” called one of the nurses.

Cords were snipped, babies were cleaned, and before I knew what hit me, I was a happy, crying mama with two precious little girls in my arms.

“Do we have names?” the attending doctor asked.

“Charlotte,” Sawyer announced.

“And Georgia,” I said.

Sawyer said nothing else, simply looking with wide eyes at the two girls in my arms, our two precious, baby daughters.

“I love you so damn much,” he said. He quickly wiped a tear away from his eye. He was fast, but not so fast I couldn’t see it. “All of you.”

“And I love you, too.”

We kissed. Then he kissed Georgia on the forehead, then Charlotte.

We were a family. It was perfect.

And I couldn’t have imagined being any happier.

THE END

Did you enjoy Jolene and Sawyer’s love story? Great news, you can find out about their steamy happily ever after four years into the future for FREE HERE.

I’m super excited to share I’m currently writing the romance for Jolene’s younger sister, Joanne. She’s taking an exciting journey into Ireland where she’ll have the adventure of a lifetime with a dreamy Irish doctor. You can pre-order her story for a limited time pre-order price of $0.99 HERE. The price will go up before the book launches so snag your copy!

You can check out free sneak peek into another book in my doctor series on the next page.