Page 64 of His Build

It was never going to last anyway, was it? She loved the life she’d made in New York; she said it herself so many times. And he could never go there. His soul was here on Emerald Lake.

When she had wandered through his house with him, for one ridiculous minute he’d thought maybe—maybe—there was a chance she might want to stay. Here and with him. She’d looked out onto the meadow with a kind of awe he recognized—appreciation and love for this place. And he thought she’d looked at him the same way.

But he was wrong.

Out in the marshy area to his right a bullfrog sang, the deep bass of it echoing through him like a song. The crickets on shore filled in the edges and the drip of water from his paddle into the lake came in like a rhythm to hold it altogether. This was his home. And if he had to live out his dying days here on his own, so be it. Even if it made his heart feel like a jagged rock in his chest.

Graydon was just casting a line out when he heard the first boom of fireworks.

Even though downtown was several miles from the lake, they were surprisingly loud.They’re really outdoing themselves this year. Gonna scare all the fish away.Then the sky erupted with a thunderous explosion of pink and green, making Graydon drop his fishing rod right into the lake. Reaching for it, he nearly toppled in himself.

“What the hell?!” Graydon yelled as he righted himself. He paddled over to his rod and pulled it out of the water. Then the next set of fireworks went off, these ones exploding into white bursts that lit up the whole lake as if it were the middle of the day.

That’s when he saw the people at the Jones property. Two of them stood next to a cloud of smoke on the ground and another person was climbing into a canoe over at the boathouse.

Then the firework faded, and he was plunged into darkness.

What the hell was going on?

“Hello!?” he called out, his heart banging against his ribs.

He heard voices from the shore, saw the figures running to the side. Then another fizz of light from the ground and the boom of a brilliant explosion in the sky drenched the world in pale blue. The person in the canoe was maybe fifty feet away.

Graydon gripped the side of the boat, his heart pounding. By the next explosion, the person in the canoe was almost upon him.

He held his breath.

He’d seen the way the figure’s hair cascaded over their shoulders when they’d pushed off from shore. He’d seen her beautiful, full-woman body twisted as she paddled towards him. Still, he didn’t want to believe it was her.

He couldn’t.

But when the next set of fireworks went off, lighting up the world around them, there was no doubt left. The lump in Graydon’s throat grew to choking width as Lucy pulled up next to him.

“You told Casey you weren’t coming back,” he said. The hope inside of him swelled so big he had to remember to breathe through it.

“I wasn’t. But I left something behind.”

Graydon’s mind flipped wildly through the possibilities in that sentence. Could she have simply forgotten something at the motel?

She leaned over and gripped the edge of his canoe, pulling herself towards him. She was so close he could smell her—the scent of her hair; the warm softness of her only inches away. “Graydon, I got scared. More scared than I’ve ever been in my life. I always thought if I strayed from the path I’d set out for myself that it was a sign of defeat. That I’d be giving myself over to a man and that would be a failure. But you never once wanted to make me someone I’m not. You never once told me you thought I should do anything except be myself. Do my own thing. You didn’t deserve the hurt I caused you. I… I know you’ve lost the people you loved and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for running away. I don’t know if you can ever forgive me, but… I’ve learned so much about myself since I’ve been here. And so much of that is thanks to you.”

Graydon sat stiffly in his seat. “You were always going to leave, Lucy. What did it matter that you ran off in the night like that?”

“It mattered. It was a shitty thing to do. And I’ve been talking it over with my sister… I want to see this job through. And I think when the job is done I might want to… stay awhile.”

Graydon’s heart felt like it was exploding alongside the next series of fireworks—three bursts of red, blue, and gold.

He reached towards her, his hands cupping her face. “You want to stay here? At Emerald Lake?”

“If you’ll have me,” she whispered.

“Lucy,” he said. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”

As he leaned in to kiss her, one spectacular, double-exploding firework exploded across the sky behind them. Her body leaned into his across the water as he pulled her towards him, and when their lips met, he knew it was safe to say the words that were racing through his mind and his heart.

But she said them first.

“I love you, Graydon Mitchell.”

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