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“I didn’t say that to hurt you,” I rush to explain.
Her eyes fill up with tears and she lays a hand on my arm. “It’s okay, Jake. I want you to be happy.”
Fred runs toward Katie, swooping her up as she throws her arms around his neck. He spins her around.
“That one’s mine!” I yell at them. Katie scowls at me over Fred’s shoulder until he sets her on her feet.
Fred flips me the bird.
Laura takes the baby from me and laughs uncomfortably. Another dead fish on the dock.
I look at Laura and her daughter. “And you two, you’re his.” I lean over and kiss Laura on the forehead. “We’re going to be okay,” I tell her.
Laura nods and wipes a tear from her cheek. “Yeah. I know.”
40
Katie
I stood on the path leading down to the water and watched as Jake talked with his wife. I watched him as he pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and I watched as he shook hands with Freddy. I could almost feel his pain from here. But even more than that, I could feel his relief.
“You should go down there,” Dad says to me.
I shake my head. “Probably not.” But I really, really want to.
“So, you’re mad at him because he was married to someone else?”
“Technically, he’s still married to someone else.” And she’s right there, in the flesh. Flesh that he’s been inside. Flesh that he loved at one point.
Dad nods toward the water. “Looks like he just finished tying that loose string up.”
I gnaw on my lower lip. “You think I should walk down there?”
“I think you’d be stupid not to. And I didn’t raise any stupid daughters.”
“Okay.” Hank is with Adam, so I call to Gabby. “Gabs, come and meet an old friend of mine!”
She walks down to the water with me and I’m kind of glad she’s there. She eases some of the tension.
Freddy sees me coming, points, says something to Jake, and then he runs to me. He scoops me up and spins me around. “I can’t believe you’re here,” he says.
“Yeah, me neither,” I reply. “You look good.” I chuck his shoulder.
“That one’s mine!” Jake yells from where he’s standing on the end of the dock.
Freddy flips Jake off, and that makes me happy. Maybe they can get back to normal some day and be friends again. They’ll never be as close as they were before, but maybe they can find a new normal.
“You have a beautiful family, Freddy,” I say to him. “You might have gone about it the wrong way, but still.”
He leans close and puts his arm around me. “You always did shoot straight, Katie,” he says. He squeezes me tight. “How’s Jake?”
I smile. “Jake’s going to be all right.”
“You make sure of it, okay?”
I nod. “I will.”
“Jake says you have a houseful of kids, now. Four of them?”
