Page 67 of Anchor Point

Rosie dropped to her knees on the blanket across from us. “Squirt?”

“Yeah.”

Her nose wrinkled as she pondered. “You can’t do better than that? It’s so… basic.”

Beside me, Mac’s deep chuckle reverberated in his chest. “I’ll see if I can come up with something more appropriate.”

My head swiveled between them while I still searched for the ability to make words.

She plucked at the petals of a yellow flower. “I’ve been thinking. I kinda like princess. Or…”

“Buttercup?” Mac added.

Her face lit up. “Yeah, Princess Buttercup, like from the movie.”

“What movie?” Mac asked.

Rosie and I both spun toward him in shock. “You’ve never seen The Princess Bride?” we asked in unison.

Mac shook his head and reached for the ball Buster had dropped on the blanket. After tossing it, he said, “Looks like I know what we’re doing on date night with my girls tonight.”

I was staring at him; I couldn’t help myself.

“So, you guys…?”

I turned to find Rosie addressing her question at me. I couldn’t tell if she was happy or concerned or nonchalant, or even what her question was. But now was when she needed my honesty. “Yes. Mac and I are…” Hooking up wasn’t the right word, nor was trying things out, because we’d been there and done that, and she was the result. Continuing wasn’t the right word either because we’d never been together before. “We’re… becoming. We’re starting out, figuring it out as we go.”

It was clunky. But it was real.

Mac’s hand landed on mine, giving it a squeeze. I turned to find him gazing at me with the softest, sweetest look in his eyes and leaned forward for a kiss.

“Okay, but bleh. Don’t, like, be kissing all the time, please.” Rosie snagged the ball from Buster and tossed it again. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”

And just like that, the issue was settled. Mac and I were becoming an us. And Rosie was fine with it, supported us.

We enjoyed lunch, and then the inquisition started.

“So, MacDa?—”

“Don’t call him that.”

“Don’t even think about it.”

Mac and I warned at the same time, although I could feel the heat of my blush and was positive that Rosie saw it too.

“Bleh—again. I don’t even wanna know.” She shuddered with her eyes squished closed. Wait. Had she been in my books again? “Anyways,” she continued like she hadn’t just smacked me across the face. “What I wanted to ask is… how did you guys meet? I mean, I know you had a vacation hookup, but I don’t know your story. Mom always said she’d tell me when I got older, so I want to know your story.”

She gazed at me first, waiting.

At the rate this day was going, my cheeks were going to be permanently red. Maybe I could claim a sunburn. Regardless, I cleared my throat and kept my promise to my daughter. “It was after college. I had just graduated from the fire academy, and I treated myself to an island vacation as a reward before I began my career. I walked into this cute little bar-hut on the beach. I got there later in the afternoon; the sun was high, and the sky was so blue it almost hurt. The little bar was tucked up in the shade of some palm trees.”

Unsure of which details she’d want, I babbled on. “I walked in and saw Mac sitting there hunched over a beer, looking sexy and brooding and kind of lonely, with his back to the ocean, and I thought, ‘What a shame. A man like that should be enjoying the ocean.’”

I plucked at the blanket as I spoke; it was hard being this open about my feelings. But I wanted to keep my promise, and Mac also deserved to know, because I’d never told him about the moment I first laid eyes on him.

“I wanted to know him instantly, but I was nervous. It took me a few minutes, but finally, I gathered the courage to approach him. Just as I was headed his way, he turned, and our eyes met, and it was like my soul recognized his. And then he smiled at me…” I swallowed thickly and blinked the moisture away. Meeting Mac had had a profound effect on my life, but reliving the moment of meeting him was still one of my most beautiful memories.

He lifted my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, where his lips lingered, his eyes closed as if my words had moved him.

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