Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106346 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 532(@200wpm)___ 425(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
“Wait a second,” Matthew says from behind. “If you call him Grandpa and that one Dad.” He points at me. “I want to be called uncle number one Matthew.”
“You aren’t calling him that,” I say to Dylan, and the three of us laugh at Matthew. The rest of the crew gets here, and the day slides by with the kids swimming in the lake, then fishing, and when it’s almost sunset, we make our way back home.
Getting Dylan off the boat is like pulling teeth. After all the sun and excitement and the swimming, he’s already cranky and wants to go to bed. “What about dinner?” I ask, and he shakes his head as we walk up the steps to the house. I walk in, and the cold air hits me right away.
“Hey,” Caroline says, getting off the couch and coming to us. Her long, tanned legs in the short white shorts that she is wearing with her blue tank top. She spots Dylan first, who just waves at her. “Oh, boy.”
“He’s tired,” I say, dumping the cooler on the counter and emptying it, and then setting it outside to let it dry. When I come back into the house, Caroline is in the kitchen, putting away the things. I walk to her and wrap my arms around her waist and kiss her neck. “Did you have fun?”
“As much fun as one can have shopping for five hours,” she says, and I laugh. “Go take a shower. You smell.”
“Of what?” I ask, and she scrunches up her nose.
“Fish, water, and sunscreen.” She shakes her head. “Not a great trio.”
“Fine,” I say, walking to our bedroom and taking a shower. When I come back out, the house is quiet, and I look for Caroline everywhere. I even check in Dylan’s room, and he’s on his back in his boxers passed out. I pick up his wet towel by the bed and toss it in the laundry basket before I go outside and find her in the hammock, watching the stars. The soft tea lights hanging make it glow around her. “Hey,” I say when I get to her side, and she looks at me.
“Hey.” She moves over, and I get in with her. She cuddles with me, her leg hitching over mine and her arm going around my stomach. “It’s a beautiful night.”
“It is,” I say, kissing the top of her head.
“I got a call today,” she says five minutes later, “from Father Rolly.” Her voice trails off. “Andrew died in an abandoned house. Someone called the ambulance, but he was dead for three days before someone was coherent enough to realize.” She looks at me.
“I’m sorry,” I say, and she shakes her head.
“Me, too,” she says, “but he did it to himself.” It’s taken a lot for her to get over the fact that it was always his choice to do what he did.
We lie quietly together as the sun fades and the stars shine bright and then finally get up and walk inside, holding hands. My heart is heavy with the fact that Dylan’s dad is gone, and this time for good. “I’ll lock up. Go take a shower,” I say, and she just walks ahead of me. I make sure everything is closed and check in on Dylan again, who is in the same position as he was before. I pull the door partially closed when I leave the room and walk to our room. The sound of the shower running tells me where she is as I grab the ring box and sit on the bed.
I look at the ring and wonder if there will ever be a good time to give it to her. I imagine her standing in front of me wearing a white dress and smiling. I’m so lost in my daydream that I don’t hear the shower turn off. I only look up when she opens the bathroom door and stands there in front of me wearing one of my shirts with her hair piled on top of her head.
“What?” she says, and she looks from the box in my hand and then up.
I guess there is no time like the present. “I had so many different ideas about how to do this,” I say, and she stands there in front of me, not moving. “The whole romantic moment, candles, roses, music, champagne.” I shake my head. “You name it, the idea came to my head.” Her lower lip trembles. “The rule is that you have to ask the father's permission to marry their daughter.” I swallow back the lump in my throat. “But I had someone more important to ask permission of, and that was Dylan.”
“Justin,” she says with a tear streaming down her face.
“I told him I wanted to marry you. That I wanted to make you mine forever.” I smile. “That I want everyone in the whole world to know that you’re mine. I mean, officially mine.” She steps forward to come to me, but I hold up my hand. “I told him I wanted you to have my name, and he asked me if he can have my name also, and just like that, it made this so much more than just us getting married or you becoming my wife. It means becoming not just your husband but becoming his father. He wants to call me dad.”