Page 90 of Break of Day

The sound of Kylie’s laughter made Jon smile. He stood back by the blackberry patch inhaling the aroma of leaves and fruit. From his spot on the bench he could see the whitecaps out on Superior rolling to shore. Two gulls landed nearby and stared at him with black eyes as if they were willing him to produce some bread crumbs. “Sorry, no food.”

Annie pushed Kylie in a swing. Their daughter’s blonde hair flowed out behind her as she leaned back and pumped her legs to go higher. The reunion had been sweet. She’d even spared a hug for him after she squealed and about squeezed her mother’s neck off. They’d never been apart like this before, but Kylie seemed to have weathered the separation well. And at least she’d been gone during those tortuous days when Annie was missing.

Sarah, Bree, Kade, and their kids had loved the house, and the Matthews family had left to head home and unpack. Sarah was weeding the rose garden on the other side of the house, so this was a good time to talk about the wedding.

Jon rose and went to join his girls. Annie and Kylie, two peas in a pod. He imagined Annie had looked exactly like Kylie at age eight. He watched his daughter’s legs rise high above the grassand swing back the other way. He stepped in front and pushed her while Annie pushed from the back. She was like her mother—fearless. The height and speed of the swing didn’t dim those blue eyes one bit.

“How about ice cream pretty soon?” he called.

“Yes!” Kylie put down the toe of her sandal to begin to slow the swing. “Can Sarah come with us?”

“She sure can,” Annie said. “Scout and Milo can come too.”

Jon slowed the swing and stopped it. “Your mom and I have something we want to talk to you about first though.”

“Okay. Can I feed the gulls while we talk?”

Annie looked in her purse. “I have some granola.” She handed a packet to Kylie, who tore into it and broke it into pieces.

“There are going to be changes in our life, honey,” Annie began.

Kylie nodded expectantly. “Like moving here.”

“Yes, that’s a big one. But what happens first is important too.”

“You’re going to marry him, aren’t you? I mean, he can’t live with us otherwise.”

Annie shot a bewildered glance toward Jon. “That’s very true. And you’re right. We will get married first. I want you to be our flower girl. What do you think about that?”

Kylie thought about it for a minute. “Can I pick out the dress?”

“Yep. I thought we’d go shopping tomorrow. I need to find a dress, too, and I’d like you to help me pick it out. You and Sarah.”

“Is Sarah going to come with us to this house?”

Annie shook her head. “She’s going to live in the cottage at the marina. But she’ll come visit anytime she wants. And we’ll go see her. We have a lot we need to teach her. She’ll be my maid of honor.”

“That will make her happy.”

Annie knelt in front of Kylie and put her hands on hershoulders. “I want you to remember that even though things are changing, one thing will never change: I love you very much and so does Jon. We might have some rough patches adjusting to everything, but as long as we remember how much we love each other, it will be all right.”

Kylie shot a quick glance at Jon. “Do I have to call you Daddy?”

Jon hid his disappointment at the “have to” comment. “Not until you want to. Your mom and I always want you to remember your daddy Nate who loved you. You could call me something else. Dad or Pop or Papa or Father would work. Or Jon for now. But I hope you can learn to love me, too, one of these days.”

“I already kind of do. I mean, you saved me. And you saved Mommy. It’s hard not to love someone who does that. But you’re not my daddy. I’ll think about what to call you. MaybeIsa. Anu has been teaching me more Finnish words. I’m part Finnish, you know.”

Jon blinked at the Finnish word forfather. “That would be okay too. Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

“Okay. Can we get ice cream now?”

“One more thing.” Annie pulled out a velvet box. “This is for you to wear at the wedding.”

Kylie opened it and stared at it for a long moment. “It’s my goldfinch! The one God sent me.”

“It is. And this will be yours forever. Whenever you see it, I want you to remember God is there for you even when we can’t be. And he’s brought Jon to us. We’re going to be a family.”

“Can I have a brother or sister?”

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