“I know. It doesn’t make me miss her any less.”
“Has Lucy seen her?”
“Yes.”
“And? How does she feel Tatum is doing?”
“Fine.” I stare out the window at the four-wheelers. “But Tatum would act fine around Lucy no matter what.”
“Emmett, what are you afraid of? She’s already chosen you.”
“I’m afraid that she’s been on this wave of emotions over the past eight months—the car accident, me forced back into her life, the engagement, the truth about Austin’s death. Now she’s dealing with the end of her relationship with Josh. Will she realize she’s rushed into too many quick decisions? Maybe she doesn’t want to marry Josh, but maybe she doesn’t really want to be with me either. Am I the default? Is she doing this for me? For herself? For Lucy?”
“Oh dear, you are lovesick and delusional. Tatum loves you. Always has, always will. Maybe you should send her something. Just something to let her know you’re thinking about her.”
I nod slowly. “Maybe.”
Several days later, I head toward my truck after work. Guess who’s sitting on my tailgate in a soft blue sundress, flip-flops on her feet, and red lips smiling at me? My heart does really weird things in my chest as my skin tingles from a rush of emotions—a rush of relief.
“Emmett the Thief, did you steal the shrubs from my front porch and replace them with a certain blue perennial?”
I toss my stuff into the back of my truck and make my way back to her. My hands casually slide into my back pockets. “Maybe.” I shrug.
“Were you sending a message?” Her head cocks to the side.
“A message?”
She giggles. “They’re Forget-Me-Nots.”
Biting back my smile, I nod several times. “Huh. Interesting.”
Tatum hooks her fingers into my front pockets and pulls me between her dangling legs. “Did you think I was going to forget you?”
“Maybe.” I curl her hair behind her ears and slide my fingers down her neck. “I miss you. And Lucy’s birthday is next week. And … I miss you.” I grin.
“I’ve been busy.”
“Saying goodbye to Josh?”
“Packing. I think you should stop by my place on your way home and load up some of my stuff.”
I smirk. “Oh? Where are you going?”
“Home.” She wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her as her legs latch to my waist.
“Lot of memories there.” I narrow my eyes, reminding her of the reason she moved in the first place.
“Yes. I didn’t know what to do with those memories. I felt alone with them. I don’t have to be alone with them anymore. So I want them. All of them. With you and Lucy.”
“We should stop on the way to your place and get some hot chocolate. I know a cafe not too far from here that has great hot chocolate with extra whipped cream.”
“I think I know that cafe.” She grins.
I peck her lips. Then I kiss her again because it’s been too long to settle for a quick peck. All of a sudden, I don’t want hot chocolate, just her. With the whipped cream.
She pulls back, and I convince myself that I can wait.
“Meet you there?” I help her off the tailgate.
“Better hurry. If some other redhead shows up before you … well, I can’t make any promises.”
“Aw yes …” I shake my head, opening the door to my truck. “That’s right. You were never really mine.”
She grabs my hand, squeezing it while gazing up at me with those eyes that fell in love with me so long ago. “Emmett … I’ve always been yours.”
Epilogue
One year later …
Lucy graduates and moves downstate, two hours south of Redington to attend Missouri State University. She plans to major in psychology and rent an apartment with her boyfriend, Racer. I’m not happy about it, but I’m elated that our girl has made a full recovery. She has her whole, limitless life ahead of her. And if her walking means she’s having sex with that Racer kid, I’ll live with it.
Tatum still teaches dance, but she’s also working on a book about our life. She wants every parent to know the facts.
Second only to congenital anomalies, drowning is the number one cause of death in children between the ages of one and four, and a majority of drownings happen at home.
Thirty seconds. That’s all it takes.
Drowning is silent, and it’s quick.
It is the responsibility of parents to keep our children safe. Children need to learn how to swim, and they need to learn survival skills.
But …
It is the responsibility of parents to keep our children safe.
Austin had taken swimming lessons, but it wasn’t enough. It didn’t replace adult supervision. We didn’t have a child safety pool cover. We had a locked fence that gave us a false sense of security. We didn’t have a multi-layered plan to keep such a tragedy from happening because … no one thinks it will happen to them.