Page 80 of Betrayal In Calusa Cove
They stood like that, watching the sun slip beneath the horizon, casting Calusa Cove in golds and blues. Music drifted from a Bluetooth speaker someone had placed on a picnic table. Chloe and Trinity danced barefoot, Hayes reluctantly pulled into the fray. Dawson and Audra were swaying by the grill. Even Silas had shown up, perched on the edge of the dock with a fishing pole, quiet and content.
A new chapter.
A new beginning.
Baily breathed in the salt air and squeezed Fletcher’s hand. “Let’s go dance before this night ends.”
Epilogue
Two years later…
The newly rebuilt Crab Shack buzzed with life. String lights twinkled above, casting a warm, golden glow over the picnic tables and wooden deck that overlooked the calm water. The scent of grilled shrimp and smoked ribs mixed with salt and sea air. Laughter carried across the patch of land, and Fletcher felt every ounce of it settle deep in his bones.
Peace. Real, honest-to-God peace.
“This place came out real nice if I do say so myself.” Decker Brown smiled, handed him a beer, and stared out toward the Everglades.
“I heard you’re breaking ground on the old Dewey Hale lot next week.” Fletcher sipped as he stood on the deck, watching as the townspeople and his friends gathered to celebrate his family. “That you plan on making Calusa Cove your home, and you have a girlfriend.”
“All true.” Decker smiled.
“Well, where is this lady? I need to meet her. The boys and I have to approve.”
Decker laughed. “She’s right over there.” He stretched out his arm and pointed. “The pretty lady in the pink dress, chatting up Lilly and Hondo. Her name’s Joanna. She started as my office manager last year, and now she’s my kinda everything.”
“I’m really happy for you.” Fletcher clanked his glass against Decker’s. “I know things got a little rough because it took some time before charges were brought against Tessa Gilbert.”
Decker shrugged. “I’m a much happier man being a smaller company. I still get to do what I love. I found a good woman who loves me. And more importantly, I found a community that embraces me. I’ve never had that before. I like it.”
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but we like having you around, too.”
Decker burst out laughing. “I’d better go be by my lady’s side. She’s a little shy, and I promised her that I’d guide her through the insanity of this small town.” He nodded as he stepped off the deck, all smiles, but the slickness of his grin had long faded. Even his swagger had less of a kick and more of a small-town stroll. Hell, he’d even ditched the expensive shoes and stupid pants, trading them in for jeans and durable boots or a pair of flip-flops when appropriate.
All in all, Decker Brown had turned out to be a decent guy. Go figure.
And for the first time in a long while, Fletcher felt as though he could breathe. He had his team, and he had his family.
The boys were finally his and Baily’s—permanently. The adoption had come through. It had been the final piece of a puzzle.
Baily stood near the edge of the deck. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled. It sucker-punched him every time.
He inched closer. “Hey, you,” he whispered in her ear. “Enjoying yourself?”
“I could stand here and watch this for days.”
“I know that feeling.” He leaned back against the railing, a beer in one hand and his other arm draped casually around Baily’s waist. She had their two-month-old daughter, Kendra, named in honor of her brother Ken, curled against her chest in a soft sling. Todd and Chad were chasing Dawson’s son, Victor, and Keaton’s daughter, Petra, around the fire pit with water guns, and somewhere in the chaos, someone had managed to get Hayes wet.
“You’re lucky,” Hayes grumbled, wringing out the hem of his shirt as he stepped up onto the deck. “I got ambushed by an eight-year-old and a toddler. That’s got to break some Geneva Convention.”
“Don’t start crying just because you’re outnumbered,” Dawson said, handing him a dry towel. “Victor was showing mercy. He only used the little gun, and he warned you before he pulled the trigger, something Petra would never do. That little girl isn’t afraid of anything, and she has no off switch either.”
“Max projectile vomited all over me, and I still think that was less traumatic,” Hayes muttered, lifting his six-month-old son in his arms from the pack ’n’ play. Max squealed in delight, kicking his legs. Chloe came up beside him, her hand resting on her already growing belly.
“Round two's already in training,” Chloe said with a sly grin. “Why I thought having two kids close together in age was a good thing, I have no idea.”
Dawson raised his beer in salute. “And here I thought Audra and I worked fast, but you’re due like the day before she is.”
“I told Trinity we have some catching up to do, and she told me only if I planned on pushing that kid out,” Keaton said, stepping into the circle with Petra on his shoulders. She clutched two fistfuls of his hair and made an approving noise as he bobbed slightly with every step. Trinity followed close behind, her hand resting protectively on her daughter’s back.
