Page 79 of Full Throttle

I took Cherry’s hand. “Absolutely.”

“And John is gone. I can come on the weekends and Mom said maybe the occasional night.”

“Yep.”

“I like this.”

“Good.”

Later that summer, Josh’s laughter echoed from the water. He was splashing and playing with Theo and Thomas, once again a little kid himself. He still loved the beach, and we came as often as we could. Cherry chuckled beside me, reaching for my hand. Our friends were scattered around us, and not far away, Roxanne observed our son, a smile on her face. We often asked her to join us, and now that she was done with chemo, she said yes, enjoying the sun and the company. We would never be close or best friends, but we had come to an understanding. Josh wasn’t a weapon she used to punish me with anymore.

She had moved to Lomand, living a few streets away from us, and now I saw Josh all the time. He was with us every second week, and he would go to school in the fall and be able to travel between the two houses easily. If Roxanne was having a bad week or day, he stayed with us. I loved having him around, and he loved being with us. Hanging out in the garage. Learning. Always learning. He was a natural with engines and cars and soaked up knowledge like a sponge.

I laced my fingers with Cherry’s. “Okay there, baby? You have enough sunscreen on?”

She chuckled. “You were very thorough, Mr. Salvatore.”

I grinned. “Can’t have you all burned for the wedding.”

She smiled back. “A week from today, I’ll be your wife.”

I lifted our joined hands and kissed her knuckles. “I can hardly wait.”

We had a small celebration planned. Her and me. Hannah and Josh beside us. A party in the backyard with our friends. Neither of us wanted a big ceremony or reception. Hannah and Chase would be doing that shortly. We simply wanted to get married and go forward with our life.

“Hannah Banana!” Josh shouted. “You came!”

“Josh B’Gosh!” she yelled back. She had adopted my old nickname for him, and he loved it. He loved everything about her.

I snickered at the two of them and their pet names. They got on like a house on fire. Hannah adored her “little bro,” as she called him, and he worshipped her. He loved sleepovers at her place or when she’d pick him up after school for ice cream.

“Dad!” he yelled. “Hannah Banana is here! We wanna race!”

I was still getting used to him calling me Dad. It had happened one day while we were at the garage. I was working on a car and asked him for a socket wrench. He handed it to me casually.

“There you go, Dad.”

I lifted my head so fast I almost hit the hood. I met his wide eyes. “What?”

He cleared his throat. “Dad. That’s okay, right?”

I had to blink. “Absolutely.”

“Okay.”

I lowered my head, not wanting him to see how emotional I was feeling. “Okay.”

I stood, brushing off my legs. “I’m being summoned.”

Cherry laughed. “Off you go, Dad.” She knew how much I loved hearing him call me that.

I headed to the water with a grin. I looked around me.

Friends. Family. My son.

He was surrounded with love. So was I.

The sun was warm, the water cool, and life was good.