Page 32 of On the Line

Ava rolled her eyes. “Don’t start with that, Dad.”

“I have to carry that torch for your mother now that she’s gone.”

Corinne spoke up, surprising me. “I’m happy we’re bringing the first Rodman grandchild into the world,” she said, turning to me. “And I appreciate so very much that you gave Trevor his mother’s ring for our engagement. It’s beautiful, and so, so special.” She stared at it for a moment, taking a deep breath. “But that’s why I can’t accept it.” She slipped it off her finger and handed it back to me.

I stared at it for a second, confused before she continued.

“I think Ava should have it, don’t you?”

Feeling like a fool for not considering what my daughter might have thought, I looked to Ava apologetically. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. Corinne’s probably right. It was a spontaneous move I didn’t really think through.” My voice quivered more by the second. “But it felt like a sign from your mother when Trevor popped the question just half an hour after I’d knocked that ring to the ground.”

“That’s okay, Dad,” Ava said softly. “I’m not upset.”

“Tell you what,” I said, snickering, “I’ll keep it for you until you get engaged.”

“You might die from asphyxiation if you keep holding your breath for that,” Ava said with a cheeky grin.

Pushing up from my chair at the head of the table, I walked around to her chair. Ava turned to me with a curious look. I stared deep into her blue eyes that reminded me so much of her mother. “You’ve yet to meet a man who deserves you,and I’m in no rush for you to tie the knot. But you should have this ring now. Your mother would want that.”

She stood up wrapped her arms around my neck, delivering her specialty hug that always melted my heart. Blinking through tears, I slid the ring onto her right hand.

“Thank you,” Ava said, eyes also brimming. She smiled at Corinne. “And thank you. It means the world to me.”

You could hear a pin drop. All my sons were silent, but their faces were full of emotion. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

The feeling of deep calm returned, and I knew it had unfolded exactly as Ellie would have hoped, bringing us all closer in her memory. “Looks like it’s time for that expensive whiskey Spence brought to celebrate the engagement.”

I was pulling the ice bucket out of the freezer when Spence appeared, holding my cell phone. “Hey Dad,” he said softly, his face serious. “The sheriff just called. He won’t be able to make it for dessert.”

“Darn it,” I said. “Waylan always misses the fun.” My old friend had sacrificed a lot over the years to be the good sheriff that he was.

“He said he just got a call— a body was found floating in a canal in Venetian Shores.”

My heart dropped. “Oh, that’s awful on Christmas Eve.” The thought of another family grieving while mine was celebrating, was sobering. The guilt hit me hard, like a gut punch. And my own grief came flooding back.

“You okay, Dad?” Spence asked, taking the bottle of whiskey from my hands.

I drew in a deep breath, trying to pull myself together for my son’s sake. The truth was, I might never be completely okay. “I’m good, son. I’m good.”

It was a lie meant to placate my son, but the moment after I said it, a calm washed over me like a warmhug from heaven. Fractured and aching as it was, my heart was still full of love.

Unimaginable loss and unsurpassed joy can coexist in the same broken heart. For life, in all it’s treachery, is beautiful.

THE END (but only the beginning!)