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There were always dolphins at Jumpinpin, but that day it was as if all the sea life had turned out to say goodbye. There was a herd of dugong hanging out, eating seagrass and flashes of silver bait fish and bigger jewfish and tailor darting under the runabout. A pod of what had to be twenty dolphins had followed us, exiting the mouth of the river right as we were removing the mooring ropes from the runabout. They’d stayed with us until we’d stopped at the mouth of the bar.
We’d all said something, sharing our memories and saying our goodbyes to Asher before Dad, Ry, and I spread his ashes.
Now we were getting together again to commemorate his life by launching the series that would tell the world his tragic story. But it wasn’t a sad day. We were all determined to make it a good one.
As usual, we were gathered around the pool and the outdoor kitchen that abutted the pavilion. We spent most of our afternoons and evenings here except for a few weeks during the coldest part of winter when we were wrapped up in front of the fireplace.
“Zee, get in with us,” Flynn called from his perch in Ry’s arms. The bullet wound had scarred Ry, leaving a gouge in his trapezius muscle. Plastic surgery had improved the look of it, but Ry wore the scar proudly—it was his daily reminder that we’d gotten justice for Ash. Seeing it gave him peace.
“In a minute,” I agreed. “I’m just waiting for Cara to get here.”
Kristy handed me a drink, and I asked, “How are things with you, Mum?”
She beamed. She loved it when I called her that. She and Cara had been my rocks in those first few months after finding out the truth of what happened. I hadn’t realized it until then, but Kristy had been a mother figure to me for years already.
She’d been there for both Dad and me. I couldn’t say the same about my own egg donor, the evil bitch that she turned out to be.
But as much as I said that she deserved to die, I wasn’t completely heartless. My guys had held me while I cried when I thought about the life I'd taken.
I was privileged that they were helping celebrate Asher’s life with us. They’d helped us mourn his loss all over again, but now it was time to honour him.
It hadn’t been an easy road to this point. The nightmares were the worst, and I wasn’t the only one of us who had them. I had a recurring dream of Rosa’s shot landing lower, killing Ry. There was another one where I watched her push Ash from that rooftop, and no matter how fast I ran, I never reached him in time. I could never catch him.
We relied on each other during those dark nights. My guys could always pull me out of the misery I was left with after a rough dream. But it wasn’t only them. Dad and I had become closer, and I had Kristy and Cara now too. They were always up for a gossip or to have a girls’ night—handy when all my guys cleared out to watch whatever sport was playing at Dad’s house.
“I’m good. Happy.” Kristy smiled, and I caught the flush staining her cheeks. “I had a date last night. He was lovely.”
“Good. He’d better treat you right.”
She laughed and wrapped her arm around my shoulders, hugging me tight for a moment. “Of all the children I gained when Ry came out to me, I love that you’re the most intimidating of all.”
“Me? I’m a delight.” I cut her a look, and she snorted another laugh. My grin probably looked more like a dog baring its teeth. “See? Happy.”
She raised a brow and shook her head, biting back another laugh. “If that’s what you call this—” She gestured at me, pointing at my tanned body and the smile that now seemed to radiate from my very soul when I was with my men and my family. “—then happiness looks good on all of you.”
She flicked her gaze to Ry, and her smile turned soft. He was laughing with Flynn, their arms wrapped around each other as he sank under the surface with him. Flynn was better in the water now. The two of them had spent so many hours together in the pool and at our beach that Flynn’s confidence had blossomed.
But Ry was stealing the show at that moment. The smile he wore was beautiful. He’d come so far and was a better man for it. His uncle and his dad’s best friend had been shitty about his sexuality, but he’d stood up to them and held his head high. While their relationship was unlikely to ever be repaired, Ry no longer had to listen to their toxic rhetoric on how to be a man.
He’d turned a corner since we’d returned from Mauritius—we all had—and we were all focussing on looking forward rather than back. We were all determined to enjoy every moment our short lives on this planet afforded us.
Together.
I looked across at Dad joking with Ez and Tris. They’d become fast friends, Dad and Tris developing a special bond that warmed my heart every time I witnessed it. The three of them looked ridiculous in Hawaiian shirts, Tristan insisting on a black-and-white one rather than loud colours like the others. Beers in hand, they laughed at something Dad said, and like they could feel eyes on them, Ez and Tris turned to look at me, their smiles growing when I blew them a kiss.
I couldn’t believe that this was my life now. We were happy. Ridiculously so. We argued over petty shit like all people in a relationship did. I complained when the toilet seat was left up, Tris’s pet hate was someone leaving the nearly empty bottle of milk in the refrigerator rather than tipping it out, and Ry lost his shit over one of us throwing the wrong kind of plastic in the recycling bin or rubbish. But all in all, the problems we dealt with between us were minor.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses otherwise though. Ry losing his uncle and family friend had hit him harder than he cared to admit. The stubborn infection that had buried itself into his shoulder added months to his recovery.
He’d turned into a bear, growling at everything and everyone until he managed to kick it and start healing again.
Flynn had walked away from his family too. They’d tried to blame a supposed break-in at their house on him. We could only guess their motivation, but their demand for cash in exchange for dropping the charges was a decent clue. The case was weak at best, but his parents had been backed up by his siblings in accusing Flynn of stealing cash and some jewellery. They’d reported seeing him sneaking out of the house with his old school backpack in his hands. In actual fact, he hadn’t been there in over a year, and we’d vouched for his whereabouts that night. His alibi was locked down so tight that the police had arrested his parents on charges of making false police reports as well as fraud. We’d taken out a restraining order against them.
But Flynn’s initial arrest had rocked him to his core.
Ez had walked away from the force, but it hadn’t been easy for him either. Inspector Puglisi had referred him to Ethics, and the investigation had threatened Ezra’s reputation. But he had good representation, and both the union and his private lawyer had thrown out every claim. He was now working for me in our fledgling charity.
Ry had come on board with us too, looking after logistics and generally organizing everything for us. He still insisted on doing all the cooking, but I’d managed to talk him into letting someone else to take over the cleaning and landscaping. He hated lawn mowing, and with land as vast as ours, it was a full-time job. I didn’t want him waiting on me hand and foot anymore anyway—we were equals, not employer/employee anymore.
