Epilogue
T he following summer
I slid a rag over the bottom of the canoe one more time, brushing away nonexistent dust, feeling like a sentimental fool.
“This looks so great,” Rosie said from the doorway of the garage. “Are you excited? I’m excited.”
I was, and for more reasons than I wanted to admit. “Yep.”
Behind Rosie, her best friend Shae tossed a ball with Buster, who promptly ran down the bank and splashed into the lake.
Rosie bopped to the open garage door as the crunch of tires on gravel sounded, followed by the sounds of car doors opening.
“Yay! You guys made it.” Rosie’s delighted squeal was an echo of my own excitement.
I dropped the rag and went to greet our guests. Mike and Leah, Nate and Jordan, and Thoren and Kylie all piled out. We exchanged handshakes and backslaps and hugs .
“Thanks for having us, Capt,” Nate said.
“Nate.” I made a noise low in my throat.
“Sorry… Mac.”
We got them settled in the house and the one next door that I’d rented from my neighbor for the weekend. The plan was for the guys to head back when they had to report on duty, but the women would stay and hang for an extra day at the lake.
“Okay, Mac. We’re ready. What can we do?” Thoren asked.
“Nothing, just relax.”
“You didn’t invite us out to relax.” He glanced around like he was looking for something. “Did you?”
“Of course we did,” Olivia chimed in. I think she knew how badly I’d been missing my guys. It had been her idea to have everyone come out after we opened the lake house for the summer.
But I knew she’d done it for me. I wasn’t handling unemployment well. There were only so many side jobs I could find. In a nutshell, I needed more to do.
“You guys hear from Cal lately?” I shifted uncomfortably, the weight of the county chief’s business card heavy in my wallet. Heavy on my mind.
“Yeah, actually,” Nate replied, “Ran into him in town the other day. He’s all healed up, back on duty.”
“Things good for him at the county?”
Nate shrugged. “They’ve got their share of problems, but he looked good. Tired. Working his ass off. Said he missed us, but the money was good.”
“It’s about time. Now we just need to make sure we leave him with the tab sometime.” Thoren grinned. Cal’s dipping out on buying a round at the bar had become a running joke .
“Well, Mac…” Thoren ran his hands down his thighs. “Gotta say, I half expected you to run for mayor. Please tell me you’re making your bid now that you don’t work for the city anymore.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “No politics for me.”
Nate chimed in with “Well, I’m glad you guys decided to keep this place, knowing how much you’ve loved it. Don’t you have some kind of project we can help with? I mean, we’re all here.”
I took in all that encompassed the lake house. The garage I’d spent countless hours in, the freshly pressure-washed exterior and deck. The boat house that gleamed with new ropes and updated bumpers. And the woman who’d made it all happen when she signed her name next to mine on the refinanced mortgage stood proud and strong chatting with the other ladies.
“We didn’t invite you guys to work.”
“But Dad,” Rosie piped in, and God, I’d never get tired of hearing her call me that. “We could use their help to take the canoe out. She deserves a good send-off on her maiden voyage.”
The wooden canoe that she’d taken such pride in helping me complete wasn’t so large that we couldn’t handle it alone, but one glance at my girl, at the light dancing in her eyes, and I clamped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her under my arm. “Yeah, sweetheart.”
“Wow, that is beautiful,” Kylie exclaimed as Mike and Nate carried the boat out of the garage and down the embankment.
“Thanks,” Rosie said as we followed the guys. “Me and Dad finished her. I can’t wait to ger her on the water.”
My girl, acting like the boat was already her second best friend. Maybe someday we’d tackle building a sailboat together. I had plans to take her to the ocean over the summer, rent a sailboat and see how she liked it.
“Wait,” Jordan cried as the guys neared the water. She raced toward us, Buster and Gracie hot on her heels, a bottle of beer in hand. “Don’t boats need a proper send-off?”
Rosie giggled as Jordan handed me the bottle.
I grabbed my daughter’s hand and tugged her to the bow of the boat. “Here you go, sweetheart. You do the honors and christen your very first boat.”
Rosie’s eyes went wide, filled with tears. I pushed through the tightness in my throat. “It’s not a car, but you’ll probably enjoy it more than a car anyway.”
Rosie crashed the bottle over the hull, Olivia quickly following to gather the shards of glass, tutting about dogs and vet bills. And then my girl climbed into her newly refurbished canoe and set out across the slough, wobbling the canoe and squealing the whole time.
“She’ll never catch a damn thing squealing like that,” Olivia muttered, slipping her arm around my waist. She had a point. I made a mental note to make sure we were outside when I handed over the Taylor Swift concert tickets I’d scored.
A chorus of laughter rose as my friends witnessed my daughter promptly flip her brand-new boat. Buster dove in to rescue his girl, Thoren right behind him.
I felt a now-familiar tug at my heartstrings. This was how it was supposed to be. What this house, this place, had been meant for. Not a solitary life post-retirement. It was meant for family and friends. Squealing, happy teenage daughters, and dogs who barked incessantly.
And I couldn’t wait for more.
“If I haven’t told you lately, I love you, Mac Collins,” Olivia said with a smile in her voice .
I looked down at the woman in my arms and kissed her forehead. Happy and content. “I love you too.”