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The reality of where he is and how badly he's misjudged this situation finally seems to sink in.

Good.

I've been waiting a long time to see that happen.

Officer Hernandez closes the remaining distance between them and gestures toward the door. "We need to talk outside."

Tom's jaw flexes. "I'm not going anywhere."

A ripple moves through the crowd as people exchange glances.

Hernandez gives him a look that says he's offered all the patience he's willing to spare.

Tom doesn't move.

A second officer steps in beside Hernandez.

The click of handcuffs carries through the room.

Nobody says a word.

At least he has the sense not to struggle, and people simply watch as the officers secure him and lead him toward the exit.

Beside the toy table, Lucy peeks around Maggie's hip, her small hand wrapped tightly around the stuffed giraffe.

Maggie keeps one arm around her daughter and watches Tom leave.

She doesn't flinch or look away, and when the doors close behind him, she stays exactly where she is.

The whole thing feels miserable.

Tom brought every bit of this on himself, but that doesn't make the scene any easier to watch.

He's still Lucy's father. Still Sophie and Mick's son.

Every bad choice he's made has led him here, right into the middle of a community event with half the town looking on.

When Maggie finally looks down, Lucy wraps both arms around her waist. She immediately drops into a crouch and hugs her back.

“I hope this doesn’t affect Sophie and Mick,” Maggie says to Laurel. “But I have to take action with this. He cannot keep doing this.”

Laurel nods. The grim expression on her face suggests she isn’t going to allow this to continue either.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Laurel

The last box of toys slides into the back of the community center van just as the sun disappears behind the trees.

I lean against the tailgate and stretch my aching shoulders. "We did good."

Ashby snorts. "Good? Sterling, half the town showed up. Mrs. Dempsey threatened to fight a woman over the last toy dinosaur."

"That woman deserved it," Briggs says, carrying three folding tables toward the storage shed. "You should've seen her. She came around that corner with murder in her eyes."

"The dinosaur was for her grandson."

"The dinosaur was survival of the fittest."