I’d lost Emily.

Chapter Forty-Four

Epilogue

I was in the backyard, putting new sod in along the back fence when Nina came running out of the house holding her phone and yelling, “Dad! Dad! Phone for you! It’s Gramps!”

“Why didn’t he call me on my phone?” I asked, as I pulled off a dirt-covered work glove and took the phone from her.

“This is your phone, Dad,” Nina laughed.

“Hey Pop, what’s up?” I said, as I watched Nina unroll a length of sod and then walk on it with her bare feet. I pulled the phone away and yelled at her, “Hey, get off that! You’re gonna kill the grass before it even has a chance!”

“Blake, what’s going on over there?” my dad asked.

“Nina’s messing with the sod, Pop,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Just wanted to let you know that your mother said we’ll be ready around 4 today,” he replied. “She’s firing up the grill and says you might want to bring a few extra six-packs.”

“Gotcha,” I said. “Anything else we need?”

“Nope, I think you mother’s taken care of everything else,” he said. “Well, except for what you need to bring.”

“Yeah, I got it,” I said, as I watched Nina carefully roll up the sod she’d unrolled and put it back on the pile.

“You sure you’re okay with this, son?” my dad asked.

“Never been surer of anything in my life,” I said with a grin that I was sure he could hear even if he couldn’t see it.

“All right, then we’ll be ready for you this afternoon!” my dad said before hanging up.

“Everything ready?” Nina asked, as I handed the phone back to her.

“So they say,” I nodded, as I pulled on the work glove and grabbed the rake I’d dropped on the lawn. “I just need to finish this before we go.”

“You’re crazy, old man,” Nina sighed then giggled. “You know that, right?”

“So, I’ve been told,” I grinned, as I pulled the rake through the dark earth before spreading a layer of fertilizer on top of it and then mixing it in.

I watched as Nina ran back to the house and up the stairs. It had been a relatively quiet summer compared to the dramatic spring we’d had. Nina had moved in with me the day that the judge had awarded me full custody, and Remy and I had hammered out a visitation schedule that had kept the hard feelings to a minimum. Nina and Remy had been attending counseling sessions on a weekly basis, and while Nina said nothing much had changed, I begged to differ. Remy had softened since the hearing, and she was spending more time trying to get to know Nina rather than control her. It would be a long road to travel to get to a place where they had a relationship like mine and Nina’s, but I could see progress every time Nina came home from a session.

I finished aerating the section I’d been working on and decided it was time to call it a day. I covered the sod with a plastic tarp and put the tools in the garage before heading into the house to take a shower.

I smiled when I walked into the kitchen and saw Nina sitting at the counter cutting up potatoes while Emily washed dishes at the sink. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist.

“Hey! You’re sweaty and dirty!” she cried, as I kissed the top of her head. “I’m all ready for the barbecue; don’t make me have to clean up again!”

“I’m not that dirty,” I laughed, as I pulled back and saw that I’d left a smudge of mud on her cheek. I reached out to wipe it away but only made it worse. I laughed, “Okay, maybe I am.”

“Dad! Stop getting Emily dirty!” Nina cried, as she shot me a death stare, then picked up a towel and crossed the kitchen to come to Emily’s rescue. Nina wiped the dirt off of Emily’s cheek, then turned and flicked the towel at me shouting, “Go get cleaned up, old man!”

“Hey, hey, hey!” I laughingly protested. “I’m not that old.”

“Well, old or not, go get cleaned up,” Emily laughed, as she turned back to the sink. “Your mother will kill you if we’re late again!”

I headed back to the bathroom to shower and change, feeling happier than I had in a very long time. Emily and I had begun patching things up after the hearing, and while it hadn’t been easy, we’d managed to find a way to make things work. After school was out, she’d signed a summer lease on a house just down the street from mine and stayed with Nina on the nights I was working. We’d talked about moving in together, but she was hesitant to do anything that would cause any more problems at school now that she’d completed all of the requirements of the probation set by the school board. Instead, she’d begun looking for a house that she could buy on my block.

Nina, Emily, and I had spent numerous off days touring houses and talking about how Emily might be able to renovate one of them to meet her needs. Nina focused on making the home Howard-friendly, while Emily thought about how to accommodate her frequent guests - us. She’d put an offer on a house three doors down from mine, but someone else had come in with a higher offer at the last minute. Emily was disappointed, but remained optimistic.

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