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Soon, my man walks through the door, looking dashing in his suit, his hair combed to the side. He rushes across the restaurant and leans down, kissing me on the cheek and laying his warm hands on my arms. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“You’re here now.” I kiss his cheek again, getting closer to his lips. “That’s all that matters.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says, and I know he isn’t just talking about tonight.
EPILOGUE
NINE YEARS LATER
Sam
Lila walks ahead, holding one of our therapy dogs on the leash as she keeps pace with the elderly lady in the wheelchair. Lila is so charismatic, so loving, with her mother’s flowing hair and, people say, my eyes.
Beside me, Oliver walks with his Jack Russell terrier on the leash. Oliver is seven, but he’s already huge for his age, bigger than I was. He’s got broad shoulders and a mop of thick black hair. He grins at me when his dog stops, looks up, and wags his tail.
“He wants to chase them, Daddy,” he says.
I chuckle. “Do you think that would be a good idea?”
“What do you think, Rusty?” Oliver says, waggling a finger at his dog. “Do you think it’s a good idea? Daddy, I think he says yes.”
I laugh, ruffling my son’s hair. “You know better than that.”
“I’m only kidding. I’m going to be like Lila soon. With the charity. I can help, Daddy?”
“Of course, you can. Just keep learning. In the meantime, I can use those muscles to clear out the pen.”
“Only if I get to wrestle with the doggies after!”
After completing another circuit of the park, I approach Lila and the lady. Her caregiver has returned, holding the wheelchair. The lady has the most rewarding smile on her face, far more content than when she arrived, moaning and confused. She reminds me of Eli, that clever, funny man who passed peacefully two years ago.
“Thank you,” she whispers, staring into my eyes, “so much.”
I lean down and take her hand. “Our pleasure, ma’am.”
“You’re a beautiful girl with a beautiful dog!”
Once the lady is gone, Lila beams, patting the Golden Retriever on the head. “Good boy, Maximus. Very good. Did you see, Daddy?”
“You did amazingly well, Lila. Really, really amazing.”
She beams even more, flooding my heart with love. “Should we go tell Mommy?”
We cross the street, heading into the reception area of our charity slash doggy daycare slash sanctuary. The more we worked with dogs, the more we wanted to do. Now, we have a sprawling property. Dogs bark happily all around us.
My wife is at the desk, talking to Angela. Angela has our youngest, Chris, in her arms. He’s six months old. Vanessa—or Vee Vee—is behind the counter, trying to climb up Katy’s body. Katy laughs and keeps putting her back down.
My wife looks so beautiful, her hair tied up and wearing a shirt that my mind automatically strips… always. I’ve never been able to get rid of the devil in me completely, not that I tried.
I watch as Lila dutifully takes her dog back to the pen and only then rushes over to her mom, frantically telling her about her first big-girl job with the dogs.
“Daddy, do I look like you when I smile?” Oliver asks.
“How do I look, son?”
He smiles up at me. There’s so much love in it. It’s like he never has to question his place. He’d never have to do something as twisted as what I did, not much older than him. He’ll never know the dark side of life.
“Like everything is… is just perfect, Daddy.”
I ruffle his hair. He never tires of it. Neither do I. “It is, Oliver. It is.”
THE END
