Page 101 of Anchor Point

I slid a rag over the bottom of the canoe one more time, brushing away nonexistent dust, feeling like a sentimental fool.

“This looks so great,” Rosie said from the doorway of the garage. “Are you excited? I’m excited.”

I was, and for more reasons than I wanted to admit. “Yep.”

Behind Rosie, her best friend Shae tossed a ball with Buster, who promptly ran down the bank and splashed into the lake.

Rosie bopped to the open garage door as the crunch of tires on gravel sounded, followed by the sounds of car doors opening.

“Yay! You guys made it.” Rosie’s delighted squeal was an echo of my own excitement.

I dropped the rag and went to greet our guests. Mike and Leah, Nate and Jordan, and Thoren and Kylie all piled out. We exchanged handshakes and backslaps and hugs.

“Thanks for having us, Capt,” Nate said.

“Nate.” I made a noise low in my throat.

“Sorry… Mac.”

We got them settled in the house and the one next door that I’d rented from my neighbor for the weekend. The plan was for the guys to head back when they had to report on duty, but the women would stay and hang for an extra day at the lake.

“Okay, Mac. We’re ready. What can we do?” Thoren asked.

“Nothing, just relax.”

“You didn’t invite us out to relax.” He glanced around like he was looking for something. “Did you?”

“Of course we did,” Olivia chimed in. I think she knew how badly I’d been missing my guys. It had been her idea to have everyone come out after we opened the lake house for the summer.

But I knew she’d done it for me. I wasn’t handling unemployment well. There were only so many side jobs I could find. In a nutshell, I needed more to do.

“You guys hear from Cal lately?” I shifted uncomfortably, the weight of the county chief’s business card heavy in my wallet. Heavy on my mind.

“Yeah, actually,” Nate replied, “Ran into him in town the other day. He’s all healed up, back on duty.”

“Things good for him at the county?”

Nate shrugged. “They’ve got their share of problems, but he looked good. Tired. Working his ass off. Said he missed us, but the money was good.”

“It’s about time. Now we just need to make sure we leave him with the tab sometime.” Thoren grinned. Cal’s dipping out on buying a round at the bar had become a running joke.

“Well, Mac…” Thoren ran his hands down his thighs. “Gotta say, I half expected you to run for mayor. Please tell me you’re making your bid now that you don’t work for the city anymore.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “No politics for me.”

Nate chimed in with “Well, I’m glad you guys decided to keep this place, knowing how much you’ve loved it. Don’t you have some kind of project we can help with? I mean, we’re all here.”

I took in all that encompassed the lake house. The garage I’d spent countless hours in, the freshly pressure-washed exterior and deck. The boat house that gleamed with new ropes and updated bumpers. And the woman who’d made it all happen when she signed her name next to mine on the refinanced mortgage stood proud and strong chatting with the other ladies.

“We didn’t invite you guys to work.”

“But Dad,” Rosie piped in, and God, I’d never get tired of hearing her call me that. “We could use their help to take the canoe out. She deserves a good send-off on her maiden voyage.”

The wooden canoe that she’d taken such pride in helping me complete wasn’t so large that we couldn’t handle it alone, but one glance at my girl, at the light dancing in her eyes, and I clamped a hand around the back of her neck, pulling her under my arm. “Yeah, sweetheart.”

“Wow, that is beautiful,” Kylie exclaimed as Mike and Nate carried the boat out of the garage and down the embankment.

“Thanks,” Rosie said as we followed the guys. “Me and Dad finished her. I can’t wait to ger her on the water.”

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