Epilogue
Two Years Later
Kylie
“So, why did you take the day off? It’s the start of the week, and you’re skipping work?” I asked Hunter as we reached the lake where we fished every week. It had become a regular trip for us to come and visit this scenic spot, being one with nature under the beauty of the bright skies and green trees.
He looked at me with a genuine smile, pulling up the car to park it near the dock. “It’s a beautiful day, and I just realized, why not come to the lake and go fishing?” He opened the door and got out of the car.
I followed his lead as Vince got out as well, taking the things from the car’s compartment and helping his father to carry the things we brought for the trip.
Vince had grown into a responsible, diligent kid with a bright mind and healthy body. He performed exceedingly well in school, excelling in everything he did. He was commended by his teachers for his outstanding intellectual performance and a vast range of skills. He was the kind of kid who everyone found a joy to be with.
I still couldn’t believe how time flew by so fast. I could still recall how he ran toward the dock every time we come to this place. Now, he was still the same enthusiastic kid, but he opted to help his dad in carrying stuff.
“Thanks, Vince. You’re doing great.” I tried to encourage him.
His big, green eyes were sparkling before me, warming me up like the sun might. “I don’t want you to carry stuff, Kylie. You are the queen, and we need to pamper the Royal Highness.” He bowed before me, pretending to be a loyal knight to his queen.
I had patted his back before he ran toward the dock. It was a sunny day today, the beautiful lake clear and radiant under the sun’s rays. My sightseeing was soon stopped by the ring of my phone.
As I scrambled through my bag to find it, Hunter walked past me. He smiled at me sweetly as he dropped the tackle box near Vince. I signaled for him to wait as I picked up my phone, finally answering it on the third ring.
It was Bailey’s voice that greeted me a good morning. She never called unless it was urgent and important. “Hey, Kylie? Where are you? I need you around here!” Upon hearing her agitated voice, I remembered we had something to do together.
“Oh! I forgot to text you, Bailey. Hunter and Vince pulled me out today for a surprise trip here to the lake. I’m sorry, I might not get to stop by today.” I slapped my forehead, realizing that I needed to be there. She might get angry over my absence, but driving back home sounded like hell.
“What is it?” Hunter walked toward me.
I signed with my hand that it was Bailey, reminding me of a catering gig we needed to attend to.
“Come on, I’ll talk to her,” Hunter said and reached for the phone.
I handed over the phone, letting him speak to my best friend and business partner. It had been two years since we decided to establish a catering and baking service in town. The business had grown successful due to our hard work and determination. Hunter was always praising us for how great our food was. I could not be more than grateful for his support.
I watched as Hunter walked further, enough to keep distance as he spoke to my best friend. He looked calm as he spoke and even laughed several times over the course of their conversation. I wished I could listen to what he had to say, but he was not willing to share that, signaling for me to stay put at where I stood.
Hunter finally strolled back to the dock, approaching me as he continued speaking to Bailey. He handed over the phone to me, giving me thumbs up as I placed my phone over my ear.
“Hello, Bailey? I’m really sorry for leaving you to meet up with a customer today.” I hoped for her to calm down and forgive me, but that was a greedy wish. I closed my eyes as I prepared for the worst rants to come, but instead, I heard her laughing over the phone.
“It’s okay, Kylie. I can handle things from here. You should thank your guy for being supportive and loving. Anyway, Garren is coming to pick me up and help me out during his break.”
I looked at Hunter, baffled by the sudden change of events. I just managed to nod; my head still messed up with things. “Okay, then. Sorry, Bailey. I’ll never do this again.”
“It happens. Enjoy your day off.” I could tell that she was smiling on the other end. As the line clicked, I looked at Hunter with a puzzled expression. He shrugged his shoulders, keeping a smirk on his face as we walked toward Vince’s direction.
Thankfully, Garren was a trustworthy guy. Not only did he manage the gun shop, but he had stolen Bailey’s heart along the way.
It had been a year since we introduced our best friends to one another.
Garren seemed to be challenged by Bailey’s tough exterior and unwillingness to give in, no matter how hard he tried. It was cute, and Hunter and I loved watching every second of it.
“Thanks to Garren, Bailey’s in a great mood,” I told Hunter as we walked side by side, my hand clasped in his. He looked at me with a skeptical look, but then a smile spread all over his handsome face.
“Yeah, it’s the only time we’re thanking him though, lest he gets a big head over it,” he responded playfully. I could see his eyes twinkling. I melted under his gaze, the stare of the man I had loved with all of my heart. I squeezed his hand, blissful that I got to spend every day of my life beside him.
He held my hands and stood before me. His green, beautiful eyes stared at me, melting me under the warmth of his gaze.
“You know, I needed to thank someone else important in my life. It’s the woman who gives me chills every time I come close to her.”
I looked at him with passionate eyes. Vince stopped fishing to watch us, smiling at his father as he waited for his further words.
“Oh, yeah? Someone, I know?” I gave him a cheeky grin.
“You know her too well. She’s the reason I get out of bed in the morning, the reason I work so hard every day. She leaves my heart racing and my body so hard it hurts most nights,” he whispered the last part just for me.
“You’re too cheesy today, Mr. Romantic.” I kidded, trying to hide the blush on my cheeks. That he felt that way about me was enough to leave me panting for air. I loved him with a fire that would never die.
“No, Kylie, I’m serious. Thank you for coming into our lives. Without you, we wouldn’t know how to be this happy. I am forever grateful to you for teaching me how to love again.”
Tears blurred my gaze. “I feel the exactly same about both of you, baby.”
He took my hand and pressed it to his chest where his heart was. The beating under my fingers frightened me. His heart was racing.
“Feel that, Kylie?” He was smiling at me as I gazed on his chest.
“Yes, it’s beating fast. Why?” I wanted him to tell me everything he felt. What the hell was going on?
“You’ve changed me into a better man, a better father. You’ve given Vince another chance to feel how it was to have a mother. You gave us a new perspective on life.”
“Okay, but tell me what’s going on with your heart. You’re scaring me.”
“Nothing to be scared of. I’m just lost to you right now. It’s all good.” He touched the side of my face. “I want you to know that I’ll be right here to protect you, to take care of you, to love you forever, baby.”
“Thank you, Hunter. You don’t know how happy I am right now. You’re making me cry.” Tears filled my eyes again, blurring my sight as I stared at the man standing before me.
The memories of the past two years flashed before me, reminding me of the things we had been through. Everything was tough and challenging, but we managed to overcome each thing together. Now that he was telling these things to me, it felt like we were on our wedding day. The sun and the lake stood before us, witnessing the beautiful, heartfelt vows we promised to each other.
“Well, I don’t plan to make you cry but…” He turned to look at his son, nodding at him as a signal for him to do something.
I bit my lower lip and wrinkled my brows, thinking of what was happening around me.
“...Vince and I had a man-to-man conversation last night when you were asleep.” I turned my eyes to watch Vince. He opened the tackle box and scrambled for something inside. When he finally found what he was looking for, he threw it to his father.
Hunter caught it. It was a tiny, square box with suede covering it. My heart began to beat faster, my head spinning fast.
“Hunter,” I whispered as he moved to his knee and lifted the box up to me.
I heard Vince squeal his delight from the back, thrilled with the success of their plan.
I spotted Hunter winking at him, approving of his job well done. He stared into my eyes again, his green, captivating eyes stealing my heart. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks as he spoke, continuing what he had to say.
“Ms. Kylie Tomms. You are the most incredible woman in the world. You’ve stood beside Vince as his mother, and you’ve supported me like you were already my wife. You are the most beautiful woman in the world, and you’ve loved me for who I am. I cannot imagine living even a day without you beside me, Kylie.” He took a deep breath as my heart pounded in my chest. “Be my wife. Marry me, baby.”
My whole body filled with a joy that I could explain. “Yes!”
He put the ring on my finger and stood up, pulling me close and kissing me. “Good. I wasn’t sure what plan B was if you said no.”
Vince snickered behind us.
I pulled Hunter close and kissed him again. “I would never say no to you. I love you with all of my heart.”
“I love you more than you love me, pretty girl.”
Vince ran to embrace us, kissing my cheek after he kissed his father’s. “I have the best family in the world!”
I wrapped my arms around both of them and hugged them tightly. “Yes you do, and I’m glad it’s my family too.”
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
Chapter One
Blake
I could feel the sweat dripping down the back of my jersey as I adjusted the flag sticking out of the waistband of my sweats. It was a chilly December afternoon to wage a touch football war between the Waltham Police and Fire Department, but a big storm was predicted for the following week, and we were determined that if this were to be our last game of the season, we were going to go out with a bang.
It was the fourth quarter and the score was tied 21-21 as my firefighters took the field. I listened as my best friend, Tony Williams, outlined our last chance at scoring on our opponents, but in my head I was calculating how much longer I could play before I had to call it quits and go pick up my 16-year-old daughter, Nina, from my ex-wife’s house.
“B, you listening?” Tony shouted.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a sheepish grin, knowing that he’d repeat the play as soon as we broke out of the huddle.
“Get your head on, man,” Beatty, the acting offensive lineman, scolded as we lined up for the play.
“Mind your own fuckin’ business, Beatty,” I shot back, as I took my place at the end of the line.
Tony moved behind the center and started the call, I watched out of the corner of my eye until I saw the snap, and then took off down the field.
“Go wide, Gaston! Go wide!” Tony called, as I ran toward the sideline. I turned and saw him drop his arm back and then launch the football in my direction just before two defensive players knocked him over. I could hear Tony swearing a blue streak as I kept my eyes on the ball hurtling toward me. I caught it and took off in a dead run heading for the end zone.
“Run, you slow son of a bitch!” Tony screamed, as I evaded the defensive players who were definitely bigger, but decidedly slower than I was. A half a yard from the goal line, Joey Vanetti, a young and fit detective who’d recently joined the Waltham PD, grabbed me and yanked me to the ground.
“Uhf!” I grunted, as I hit the grass and felt the wind rushing out of my lungs. I lay there still clutching the ball to my side trying to catch my breath. When I did, I sat up and grumbled, “It’s touch football you stupid fuck. No tackling!”
“I didn’t tackle, old man,” Joey laughed, as he offered me a hand. “I pulled you down by your flag.”
“The hell you did,” I shot back, as I ignored his hand and pushed myself up onto my feet. I was in damn good shape for a 38-year-old man, but not as good as a 23-year-old just out of the Academy. I knew I’d pay for this tomorrow, but right now I was pissed at the guy who’d punched tomorrow’s ticket for me.
“Chill out, Gaston,” Tony said, as he walked over and stood between the two of us. “Vanetti, you are one seriously stupid mofo. Don’t make me call your CO and tell him how you’ve brought shame upon the squad.”
“Fuck off, Williams,” Joey said with a grin.
“Ahh, I love good healthy competition between those who are charged with protecting and serving the public,” Tony crowed, as he took the ball from my arms. Lowering his voice, he added, “It helps me work out the frustration from not getting laid.”
“Trouble in paradise, Big T?” I asked, as he turned back toward the guys waiting for the next play.
“My friend, without trouble there would be no paradise,” he sighed. I smacked him on the back of the head as we bent down for the huddle.
A half an hour later, our victorious team was shaking hands with the vanquished and making plans to meet over at The Lucky Clover on Lexington. Tony pleaded with me to join them all for just one beer, but I had to beg off since Nina was waiting for me to pick her up.
“Aww, man, I thought divorce would make you more fun,” Tony complained. “Now you’re always going to pick up the kid or heading over to take care of something at Remy’s condo. Why did you even divorce her if you’re going to still be doing all her work? At least if you’d stayed married, you’d be getting the benefits.”
“You have no idea what you are talking about,” I chuckled as I shook my head.
“Oh, that’s right; how are the swingers?” Tony asked, a little too curiously.
“They’re still after me,” I said, wanting to avoid having this conversation within earshot of any of my co-workers. Tony’s idea of what swingers did was based on out-of-date stereotypes and internet porn, and it often irritated me when he brought the subject up.
“Yeah, but that wife is smokin’ hot, man!” Tony said, lowering his voice. “I’d hit it if it wasn’t for her old man.”
“And the fact that you love your wife,” I said with a wry grin.
“Yeah, well, there’s that, too,” Tony grinned. “But seriously, what a bunch of weirdos, right?”
“Dude, I’ve explained this to you a million times,” I sighed. “Swingers aren’t the weirdos you imagine them to be. They’ve got their kinks, but a huge part of the whole thing is based on consent and communication. It’s not the pill-popping hippies you think you remember from the life you never lived.”
“Harsh, man,” Tony said, giving me a fake hurt look. I laughed and slapped him on the back before I climbed up into my pickup and backed out of the parking lot.
It didn’t take long to get to Remy’s since nowhere in Waltham is more than a short drive, but by the time I was pulling into the drive, my phone was blowing up with messages from Remy asking where I was and when I would pick Nina up. I took a deep breath and reminded myself not to lose my cool in front of my daughter.
I was halfway up the walk when Remy whipped open the front door and started in on me.
“You were supposed to be here 45 minutes ago, Blake,” she said, in the disapproving tone that made me simultaneously cringe and want to tell her where to shove her superiority complex.
“It was the last game of the season,” I said, knowing that this would not be enough to ward off her disapproval.
“Oh, I see; so a touch football game is more important than spending quality time with your 16-year-old daughter?” she asked. Her know-it-all tone made me grind my teeth as I tried to look past her to see if Nina was ready.
“No, Remy, it’s not more important than Nina,” I sighed. “It’s a commitment I made to the guys I play ball with, and I was following through on it.”
“Unlike you do with other things…” she muttered under her breath, but still loud enough for me to hear what she’d said.
“Remy, I’m not going to fight with you tonight,” I said wearily. “I’m tired, and I just want to get Nina and go home and shower.”
“Why? Do you have a hot date or something?” she sneered. “I don’t know why you’d pick Nina up on a Saturday night if you already have other plans.”
“Yes, Remy, I have a hot date planned,” I said, knowing I was baiting her, but unable to stop myself from doing it. That was one of our biggest problems; she’d accuse me of something I hadn’t done, and I’d take responsibility for doing it in a way that taunted her for accusing me. We were on a collision course with divorce from the day we got married.
“Who is she, Blake? Someone from the department?” Remy demanded. “Who is your hot date?”
“Hey, Punkin!” I called, as Nina emerged from behind her mother carrying a purple backpack and dragging a rolling suitcase that looked like it was filled with enough stuff for a month-long trip.
“Dad, don’t call me that,” Nina said, rolling her eyes almost all the way into the back of her head. I often forgot that she was a teenager now, and not the sweet little girl I’d carried around on my shoulders or helped bait a hook on summer fishing trips out at the Cambridge Reservoir.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize we were in teenager land today,” I said, grabbing her bags and quickly kissing her head before she ducked away and climbed up into the passenger seat of my truck.
“Who is your hot date, Blake?” Remy persisted.
“My hot date is a pizza and the most recent episode of The Walking Dead,” I said with a shit-eating grin on my face, knowing that it would piss Remy off. “I hope you’re satisfied.”
“You’re such a smart-ass, Blake,” Remy shot back, as I waved goodbye and gunned the truck’s engine just to piss her neighbors off.
I drove back toward home, stopping to pick up the two large pizzas I’d ordered on my way to pick Nina up. She didn’t say much as we drove, and that worried me.
“You okay, kiddo?” I asked, trying to play it cool and not dig too hard or too deep and cause her to clam up. Navigating the landscape of a teenage girl from the inside was a whole new world for me, and I’d learned from experience that it was better not to wield a heavy hand or ask too many questions.
“Yeah, fine,” she said unenthusiastically, as she stared out the window.
“How’s school?”
“It’s fine,” she said unenthusiastically.
“Did your old man do something wrong besides calling you by the hated nickname?” I asked. “If I did, I’m sure I could apologize and then do penance.”
“Dad, don’t be ridiculous,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You didn’t do anything. I just don’t feel like talking.”
“Well, can you at least tell me what’s going on in school so that your mother can’t accuse me of being uninformed and uninterested?” I asked, feeling less guilty than I normally did about playing the “Mom’s bad” card tonight. Remy was a good mother, but even after the divorce, she remained a pain in my ass.
“I don’t know; my grades aren’t great, but I’m working on getting them up before the end of the term,” she said, looking over at me apprehensively. “I’m doing okay in Chemistry, but Trig and History are giving me a hard time.”
“Do I need to hire a tutor to help you?” I asked.
“Oh God, Dad, please stop,” she said, rolling her eyes again. “I can’t take this from both you and Mom. I’ll get my grades up. I swear. Can we just let it go?”
“Are you having boy trouble?” I asked tentatively.
“DAD!” Nina shouted. “Do not even go there. I can’t even with you!”
“Okay, okay!” I said, backpedaling hard. “I won’t go there. I’m just saying I’m here if you need to talk about anything.”
“Anything?” she asked, as we pulled into the driveway. “You’d really talk about anything? Like sex and birth control and how to put a condom on a boy’s penis?”
“Okay! Okay! Stop! Just stop!” I said, holding up a hand. “Yes, I will talk about anything, but I’m not going to talk about that last thing until after I’ve had a shower, some dinner, and a beer…or two.”
“Don’t worry, Dad,” she laughed. “I have zero need to discuss any of those things tonight. Can we watch Saw 2 during dinner?”
“Do we have to?” I asked.
“Fine, My Little Pony it is,” she teased, as she danced up the walk holding the pizzas, leaving me to follow in her wake carrying her bags.