"I really appreciate that," she said, not sure yet what she wanted to share with her six-year-old.
"What happened with Clark?" Sean asked as Max sat down in the chair next to the couch.
"He's been booked for arson and attempted murder, to start," Max replied. "In conjunction with the fire department, we'll be reopening the investigation into the first fire."
"I found the file you were talking about in Clark's car," Emma said. "The evidence did not burn. He's going to pay for all of his crimes."
Jessica was more than happy to hear that. After everything they'd been through, she did not want Clark to go free. "He told me the whole story before he knocked me out. He was the one who stole from the company he owned with Robert. Robert caught him and threatened him, but Clark had been smart enough to use Robert's name on transactions. Clark framed Robert to take whatever fall was coming."
"But Robert didn’t go quietly," Emma said. "He was also building a case against Clark as evidenced by the file I just read through."
"Clark thought that file had burned in the first fire," Jessica said. "But when Sean and I went to see him and told him that we'd found pictures of him and Robert in India, he worried that there was more to be found."
"I set you up," Emma said with a frown. "I should have done that interview myself."
"It still would have set Clark off," Jessica said. "Please don't blame yourself, Emma."
"She's right," Sean put in. "I'm the one who asked you to get involved. This is on me."
"It's not on any of you," Jack interjected. "The original investigation was poorly handled."
Sean's father hadn't said much up until now. In fact, he'd been quietly watching them for the past few hours. Now he strode forward. "I was at the scene first. I should have realized it was arson. There was a clue I missed. I still don't know what it was, but it was there. And the fire investigator should have looked into the financial records and interviewed Robert's business partner as well as the neighbors. I don't know what happened to the attachments to the original report, if they were misfiled, or if there was some specific reason why the investigation was stalled. Since the investigator is deceased, it will be difficult to get answers, but I intend to look into it." He paused, looking straight at Sean. "I yelled at an eight-year-old kid for letting his friend go home when I didn't do my job as well as I could have. I'm sorry about that."
Jessica was stunned by Jack's admission, knowing that this apology meant more to Sean than he could ever say.
"Clark was clever," Sean said slowly. "He obviously hid his tracks."
Jack's expression was still grim. "That doesn't let me off the hook."
"I don't want you on the hook," Sean said. "I want this to be over. Clark pays for his crimes and the rest of us go on with our lives."
A long look passed between father and son, and then Jack slowly nodded. "All right."
"All right," Sean echoed.
"One thing I missed," Jessica said. "How did Clark get knocked out?"
"That was me," Sean told her, a proud light in his eyes. "I ran into him when I came into the house. I should have left him in there to burn. That's what he deserved."
"I'm glad you didn't." Sean would have carried that guilt with him for the rest of his life, and she didn't want that for him.
"Well, I'm glad I got there in time," Sean said. "I wasn't sure I would."
She frowned. "What do you mean? Weren't you just coming back from Lana's? Wasn't it just great timing?"
"No. There's a lot I haven't told you, and most of it can wait. But after I left Lana's, I went to Clark's office. He wasn't there, but his Corvette was in his parking space. There was something about the way the light hit the bumper that made me pause. I found myself back in my nightmare."
"The light," she murmured. "Stacy said,
Look in the light
. Wow."
"Yeah, wow is right. I read that license plate TOPVG8M and I knew I'd seen it before. I'd seen it the night of the fire when Clark drove away from Stacy's house. He was there, watching the house burn down. It suddenly all clicked into place. I tried to call you, but you didn't answer."
"My phone was downstairs."
"I wasn't sure if Clark was at the house, but I had a bad feeling." He shook his head, his eyes still showing the fear he experienced. He brushed her hair away from her face with a tender gesture. "It was the longest ten minutes of my life."
"There's something I don't understand," Emma said, drawing Jessica's attention back to her. "And if you want to wait on all this, Jessica, we can, but I am curious if Clark told you how he started the first fire."
"It was weird," Jessica said, remembering their conversation. "Clark said he came to the house to confront Robert, but when he got there, Robert was lying unconscious in the kitchen. Apparently, he took that as a sign from the universe that he should kill him and set the house on fire."
"Who knocked out Robert if Clark didn't do it?" Emma asked in confusion.
"That was probably Brett Murphy," Sean interjected.
Jessica turned to him in surprise. "What do you mean?"
"Lana told me that she and Brett had an affair. It went on for almost a year. Sally started out blackmailing Lana, then she eventually moved on to Robert."
"We thought the affair was between and Sally and Robert."
"But it was between Lana and Brett," Sean reiterated. "Lana told me that Brett wanted her to leave her husband, but she wasn't sure she could do that. Brett got fed up with her stalling and decided to walk across the street and tell Robert his wife was cheating on him. This was about an hour before the fire broke out. Brett claimed that they had an amicable discussion. But I'm guessing now that there was a fight. Brett must have knocked Robert out and run. After the fire, when Robert's body was discovered, he probably thought he'd killed him. And when Stacy also died, there was no way Brett could tell anyone what happened. Lana's child was dead, and while Brett didn't start the fire, he may have contributed to the result."
Jessica nodded. "Because if Robert had been alert and conscious when Clark came inside, maybe Clark couldn't have done what he did. Clark did say that he never saw Stacy in the house. It's not any consolation I know."
Sean shook his head, his expression grim. "No, it's not. Stacy paid the price for everything her parents did wrong."
"I had no idea there was so much drama going on around the corner," Emma said. "Affairs, blackmail, murder. Who would have guessed?"
"I certainly didn't," Lynda said, bewilderment in her eyes. "I was friends with both Sally and Lana. I had no idea they had so many secrets."
"Speaking of Sally," Jessica said. "I confronted her earlier. I told her that I knew she broke into my house and stole Robert's computer. She didn't admit it, but I could see the truth in her eyes. Then her husband came home, and she clammed up. She promised she would talk to me later, but obviously that didn't happen."
"You shouldn't have confronted Sally on your own."
"I couldn't help myself. I was tired of being a victim." She paused, looking into his eyes. "Do you have all the answers you need now, Sean?"
"I do. Thanks for helping me, Jess."
"Thanks for saving my life."
"I can't believe you ran into a house on fire," Jack said, drawing his son's gaze back to him.
"I didn’t know I had it in me," Sean said.
"I did," Jack said, surprising them all. "I know we haven't gotten along, Sean. What I've learned in the past few days has made me realize where some of your attitudes came from. I wish you would have been up front with me a long time ago. But I want you to know that I'm proud of you, son. You faced your biggest fear to save someone else's life. It's the greatest act of heroism anyone can do."
"I had to save her." Sean turned away from his father and gave her a tender smile. "Because I love her."
Emma gasped. "You what?"
"I love her," Sean repeated, his gaze holding hers. "And I think she loves me back."
"You know I do," she said.
Sean looked back at his family. "So even though it will probably drive Nicole out of her mind with worry, Jessica and I are going to be together. And whoever has a problem with that is just going to have to deal with it."
Emma laughed. "Now you sound like a Callaway, Sean."
Sean grinned. "The apple didn't fall as far from the tree as I'd hoped. Now, Jessica and I are going upstairs to the apartment and have the rest of this conversation in private." He stood up and pulled her to her feet.
"Thanks for everything," she said, seeing nothing but smiles and love coming her way. "I can't tell you how much it means to me to have so much support. I never knew what family was really about until I met you all. I feel incredibly blessed." She blinked away a tear, feeling the emotions of the past few hours beginning to well up.
"We're blessed to have you and Kyle in our lives," Lynda said, getting to her feet. "And I'm also delighted that you and Sean have found each other."
"I'm thrilled, too," Emma declared. "Of course, I knew all along that Sean was in love with you. I was just waiting for you two to stop playing the friend game. Max, are you ready to go, too?"
Her husband got to his feet. "I'll keep in touch regarding the follow-up investigations."
"Just make sure Clark goes to jail," Sean said.
"I don't think there's any doubt that will happen," Max said.
With a few more hugs and goodbyes, Jessica and Sean made their way out of the house and up to Sean's apartment. The studio was warm, cozy and quiet, just what Jessica needed. She sat down on the foot of the bed and let out a weary sigh. She could hardly believe so much had happened since she'd gotten out of this very bed about twelve hours ago. "It's been quite a day and night," she said. "I liked hearing what your dad had to say. It's about time he realized what an incredible son he has. You two had a breakthrough."
"I think we did." He paused to run his hand through his hair, and she could tell there was something on his mind.
"What is it, Sean? What's still troubling you?"
"I had that license plate and that car in my head for twenty years. Why did it take me so long to see it?"
"It didn't mean anything until you started looking into the fire. And it was buried behind a lot of pain and guilt. Your mind would take you back to that place in your dreams, but in the daylight you forced it out of your head. You had to do that to cope with the grief. I think it's completely understandable. When you had to remember, you did. You looked in the light and you found the answer. Then you saved my life."
"You could have been killed because of me. I started the investigation. I got everyone worked up about the past and protecting their secrets."
"Hey, I'm the one who moved into the house. Even if you'd done none of those things, I would have still been cleaning out that attic. And I would have found the same information and probably started asking the same questions. But it's all over now. It's done. Stacy can rest in peace and hopefully you can as well."
"I hope so," he said. "I don't know if you've thought about this, Jess, and I hate to bring it up, but the house and probably all your stuff is gone."
"I know. I'm going to have to find somewhere new to live—again. I wonder if anyone has told Helen."
"I'm sure the police will get in touch with her. You don't need to worry about that."
"I'll think about it all tomorrow."
"Good idea." He walked across the room and dropped to his knees in front of her. Then he took her hands in his.
Her heart skipped a beat and a nervous tingle ran through her body. "Uh, Sean, what are you doing? You're not going to…" She couldn't bring herself to say the word. It seemed unimaginable but also more than a little exciting.
"Propose?" he asked with a grin. "Now that's an idea."
"Don't you think we should go on a date first?"
"A lot of dates," he agreed. "And you can relax. I'm not proposing. Not tonight anyway." His gaze met hers, and his expression turned serious. "I know you need time to trust me, Jess, to believe that I'm not going to be like all those other musicians who came in and out of your life."
"I don't think you're like any of them. I already trust you, Sean."
"Good, because I intend to be in your life and also Kyle's."
She was relieved to hear Kyle's name cross his lips so easily. "Kyle and I are a package deal."
"Of course you are, and he's a great kid. I would be very lucky and honored to be part of his life."
She drew in an emotional breath. "That's a really nice thing to say."
"It's the truth."
"Here's another truth, Sean. I know how hard it is to step into a family, because I did that with Travis and Kyle. And I know how difficult it is to go from being a creative artist to doing average, every day boring kind of stuff. Because I did that, too. I still do. I'm not sure that's what you really want, Sean."
"There's no way in hell that being with you will be boring. Look at the past few days."
"Well, hopefully, our lives would be a little less exciting than today."
"We don't have to decide anything right now, Jess. I just want you to know that while I might have told you I loved you in the heat of the moment, I've known how I felt since the first day I met you. That's why I tried so hard to stay away from you. I knew you were going to shake things up in a big way, and I didn't know if I was ready, but I am ready." He squeezed her hands. "You're a special woman, Jess. You're very important to me, and I don't want to let you down. I want to be the man you need, the man you deserve. I want you to have the family life you pictured when you were growing up. I want the rest of your life to be everything you ever dreamed."
Tears blurred her eyes. "That's the most incredible thing anyone has ever said to me."
"I mean every word," he said, passion in his voice.
"I want you to have your dreams, too, Sean, even if they take you away from me. When I saw you on the stage at Drake's, I knew you belonged there."
"Maybe occasionally on a Friday night," he conceded. "I'm always going to want to make music, but my dream is you. It always has been; I just didn't know it. You're my Moonlight Girl, Jess. That girl never had a face until I met you. Then I knew who she was."