Page 96 of The Husband I Left

The line sails out. It doesn’t go as far as Jake’s, but it goes. It lands. Something in my chest unknots.

“Thank you,” I say.

Will claps me on the shoulder and returns to his beer. “Don’t mention it. Ever.”

Twenty minutes later, my rod jerks. Hard.

“You got one!” Jake yells, already scrambling toward me.

“I’ve got what?” I yell because apparently my brain cells have all taken a leave of absence.

“Pull!” Collin barks.

I pull. The rod bends. Something is fighting on the other end of that line, and for one ridiculous moment, I can understand why someone might want to sit in a boat for hours in all weather.

What emerges eventually is a bass. Not a big one. Modest, really. Not the kind of fish that would impress anyone. But hey, I caught it. I’m proud of it, and when I hold it up, dripping and iridescent in the midday sun, the Palmer men make sounds of approval that are only a little sarcastic.

“Not bad for a first timer,” Allen says.

“Beginner’s luck,” Collin adds, but he’s smiling.

Will just nods, reaches for another beer.

After that, the atmosphere in the boat shifts. The Palmer men have apparently decided I belong. We continue fishing but don’t catch much else. Mostly we talk and drink beer. Will tells stories from Genny’s childhood. Collin argues with Allen about football. They include me in their conversations. Jake, God help me, asks if I know any celebrities. I have to let him down gently on that one.

By the time Will turns the boat toward shore, the sun is high and hot, and I am massively sunburned, extremely hungry and completely happy. The dock comes into view. I can see Alice and Liz sitting at a picnic table together, and Summer wrangling a herd of children. Genny stands at the end of the dock, her hand shading her eyes, her red hair catching fire in the afternoon light.

The moment I step off the boat, she throws her arms around my neck and kisses me, right there in front of everyone. One of the kids makes a gagging noise in the background.

“You’re alive,” she says.

“Mostly.”

She turns and hugs her father, and over her shoulder Will winks at me. “Everything okay?” she asks him, pulling back to search his face. “You behaved yourself?”

“Me?” Will puts a hand over his heart. “I’m a perfect gentleman. Oliver and I understand each other now. Don’t we, Oliver?”

“Completely,” I say.

Unconvinced, Genny narrows her eyes at both of us. She then takes my arm and steers me away from her family while Will asks Alice about lunch. She lowers her voice. “Was he too hard on you?”

“He wasn’t too hard on me.” I tuck a curl behind her ear. “He said exactly what he should have said. I’d have thought less of him if he hadn’t.”

Genny raises a brow at that, obviously skeptical. Then she shrugs and threads her fingers through mine. “Fine. But if you have nightmares about my family feeding you to fishes, I don’t want to hear about it.”

“How did you know he threatened to feed me to the fishes?”

“He’s threatened every boyfriend Liz and I ever had with that. It’s a classic.”

We wander back towards the table for lunch. Alice has packed enough food for a small army. Sandwiches wrapped in wax paper, potato salad, fruit, chips, several tupperware containers full of cookies.

We eat on blankets spread across the grass. The children race between the adults, stealing food from unattended plates, shrieking with laughter when caught. I lounge on a blanket and watch Genny, who is telling Liz some story that has her howling with laughter. Will is pretending to be a monster and causing several of his grandchildren to shriek with delight. Jake is spinning a child around by the child’s arms. Alice and Summer sit chatting quietly. Allen naps, or at least pretends to.

Genny catches me watching and smiles. I smile back. And I know one thing for certain.

I will never ask for anything more than this.

Epilogue