Page 139 of Fire Island
“...sweet home, baby,” a low rasp sinks by my ear. I find myself wrapped in warm arms, huddled with my back against his chest, the boat stationary by the jetty. I look up to find Reese already almost to the lighthouse.
I spin in Cal’s embrace and lean back on the console, resting a hand over his heart. “This right here is my home.”
His jaw feathers. “Then I will endeavor to outlive mine.” His palm presses over my own heart. “So you never spend another day alone or scared ever again.”
“That’s a long, long life, old man.”
He smiles, cupping my face with both hands, and breathes, “Good.”
Iris practically runs from the jetty, flying at me with red hair trailing behind her like some fantasy film. “Heavens above, Evie, thank the stars.” She crashes into me, arms holding me tight. Em strolls up the jetty behind her, a content smile on his handsome face.
Iris unravels her hold on me, spinning to my right. “And you!” She pins Cal with a finger pushed into his chest. “You daft bastard. Don’t youeverdo that again.”
Fire fills her eyes. But despite her fluster of an entrance, she crashes into his embrace, muttering curses.
Cal swallows. “Sorry, Irry. But I’m going to protect my family the only way I know how, and it was the best choice at the time.”
Emotion nails a burn behind my eyes, and I clench my jaw tight to stave off the huffy sob trying to squeeze its way out. Iris pushes away and turns back to Em. I scrunch my face up and lean into Cal.
“What did the police say?” Em asks.
“Took our statements, including Reese’s. They collected the body yesterday before dark. Since it was self-defense, it seems like an open-and-shut case.”
“We also provided a statement. Turns out both guys have a rap sheet. The dead guy’s is a mile long and in multiple jurisdictions.”
Em’s looking at me now. Like this information is what I need.
But my closure was sealed the moment I opened Thorin’s artery.
Urgh, I should probably see someone about that... Who knows how it might come back to bite me later on if I don’t.
“I could use a beer,” Iris says with a sigh. “It’s been one hell of a few months.”
Cal chuckles. “Make that two.”
“Three,” Em adds.
“Think I’ll take a bottle of wine,” I drawl. Laughter drifts over the island as we head for the house.
Reese mills about in the shack. When we all head for the fire pit, the chatter flowing, he walks outside.
“Sit, nephew of mine.” Iris pats the chair by her.
Reese leans on the shack but studies each of us in turn. “Nah, I’m good. Not into small talk when it’s with the olds.”
Iris turns in her seat, her eyes narrowing. “Who you calling old, you dunderheid?”
Reese tries to flatten a smile and fails. His dark hair flops over his face, and he brushes it back. In this violet light that’s fast turning dark, I’m gifted a momentary glance of Callum McCreary twenty years ago.
And he was stunning.
With that image safely stored away, I wedge the cork out of a new bottle of red and let the dark maroon liquid glug into the glass balancing precariously on my Adirondack chair.
Iris raises her beer. “To family. To the people we love, and to loving them back, hard. To the ones who have been there since forever and the ones who found us when it was time.” She looks at me, then back to Reese, raising her drink.
Reese chuckles, still leaning on the shack, picking at a stalk of grass.
“To family,” Em says, tapping the neck of his bottle to hers.
