Epilogue
Five YearsLater
Chase glanced down at his four-year-old daughter, Alicia. The little girl was sitting on the floor of his workroom, which also doubled as an office. Although he’d been lucky enough to add two more ships to his cargo shipping business, and was focused on making the business even more of a success than it already was, he still found time here and there to work on his hobby. Carving, it seemed was also a hobby his little girl enjoyed as much as he did. Maybe a bit too much, Chase thought as he looked down again from his chair to see her digging, or rather, try to dig the dull knife he’d given her, into a piece of wood. He shook his head, taking note of her face scrunching up as she pushed away a curl that had loosened from her hair clip.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, knowing she would continue on like this until he said something.
She immediately dropped the knife and let out a dramatic sigh. Chase bit back his smile. This was serious matter if she was sighing like that. Alicia burst into a long, drawn-out tale about a boy in her pre-school class, who was being mean to her and some other kids.
“Did you ask him to play with you?”
She fingered Larke’s old necklace, which she insisted on wearing every single day. “Yes. He kicked the game and laughed.” She folded her arms and pursed her lips. “I hate him.”
“You don’t hate anyone,” Chase told her. He lifted her in his arms and seated her across his lap. “How about this––next time this kid is mean to you, just try to be nice. Give it a couple of tries.”
She stared at him as if he was crazy. “No.”
Chase groaned inside his head. The kid was way too stubborn for her own good. He let out a breath. “All right, why not?”
“He’s dumb. Won’t be my friend.”
“Alicia, you don’t know that. Plus, I’m the adult so I know more than you about these things.”
She narrowed her brown eyes at him. “You do?”
He nodded and gave her a squeeze. God, the little thing looked so much like Larke. “Yeah I do,” he answered. His throat suddenly felt tight as he spoke. “When I was a kid, I wasn’t very nice to mommy when she wanted to be my friend.”
Alicia’s eyes widened. She scrunched up her face again, frowning. “B-but, you’re so nice, daddy.” She rubbed her cheek against his then kissed him. “You’re the nicest daddy in the world.”
Chase chuckled. “Thanks, baby. Anyway, my point is, all you gotta do is try and be nice. Might not work, but at least you gave it a shot.”
She pushed her lips to the side, concentrating hard. Finally, her little face relaxed as she nodded. “Mommy would do that too.”
“She would.” And Larke had. Treating him with kindness and love. Being his everything. Chase lifted his daughter off his lap and set her on her feet. “Now hurry up and go put on your jacket and boots.”
Reminded of their planned walk through the park, Alicia hurried out of the room without hesitation. It was late May in Juneau, the city he and Larke had moved to months after they’d gotten back together and he’d sold the lake house. When he’d asked Larke to marry him one night as they’d lain in bed together, she’d shouted yes and thrown herself into his arms so hard, causing both of them to roll right off the bed, landing on the floor in a tangled heap. And when he’d told her of his wish for the two of them to live away from the hustle and bustle, she hadn’t hesitated when he’d suggested a mountainous area of Alaska. Had even exclaimed that such a place might provide all the inspiration she needed for her ever-growing list of published books.
He stepped out of his office and saw Larke heading his way. Behind her was their two-year-old son Ronan, running toward the living room. Chase ruffled the boy’s hair as he whizzed by. It was obvious he needed to beat his sister as the first to the door.
“Those two are insane,” Larke said, shaking her head as Alicia came racing down the hallway, shouting that Ronan had tricked her into losing.
“You mean like you,” Chase said, wrapping his arm around his wife’s waist. Larke swatted his arm, half-heartedly squirming out of his hold.
“Stop moving around,” he whispered, clasping her tighter to him. She looked up, lowered her lashes then grinned, real smug. Larke knew the power she had over him. Knew it and used it to her advantage, which he didn’t really mind because it always ended in both of them being satisfied and pleasured out of their minds.
Larke raised her face and pressed her lips to his. “It’s a good thing we’re going out in the cold then.”
Chase raised his brows. “It is?”
“Yes. Because when we come back in after such a long walk, the children will be tired and…”
He swallowed hard, gazing down at her. “I can warm you up.”
She smiled. “Yes. We can warm each other.”
Chase nodded while blocking out the sound of the kids calling to them. He loved his children to death, but nothing was going to stop him from taking the time he wanted to simply stare at his wife, awing over the fact she was his. Larke was his best friend, the one person who knew him inside out and accepted him exactly as he was.
When some of the tattoos hadn’t faded as much as he would’ve liked, she’d comforted him, reminding him of how far they’d come and that in the big scheme of things, the symbols no longer had meaning. They’d both decided when the children asked, they’d tell the entire story of Chase’s past and use it as a teaching lesson to make sure their children always remained open-minded, not just about other people but life in general.
