Tae ran her hands over the quartz kitchen counter, the new appliances, the gleaming teak floor. Colt’s gaze went to the new flat-screen. But then beyond, to a turtle swimming in the harbor, its head just above the surface.

He walked to the sliding door, then stepped out and climbed the stairs to the third-story deck.

The view was spectacular. It looked out past the harbor to the Indian River, to the handful of sailboats skimming the waves, the shades of twilight tipping the water.

He drew in a breath.

“What are you doing?” Tae came up behind him and put her arms around his waist, her cheek to his back.

“Believing.”

“In what?”

He turned and put his arm around her. “In a fresh tomorrow. In happy endings.”

“Me too,” she said quietly.

“C’mere.” He pulled her to a deck chair. Positioned it to face west, then sat and brought her down to sit with him. He settled his arms around her waist.

“What are we doing?”

“Flo, we are sitting here and watching our first of many sundowns.”

“You sure you shouldn’t go lay down or something?”

He kissed the back of her neck. “I’ve never felt better in my life.”

Then he tucked her back against him, his gaze on the deep amber sun spilling out among the buildings.

And decided that he would probably learn to surf.

Epilogue

ONE MONTH LATER

She would have loved to see this.

Barry, dressed in a suit, a tie, his cowboy boots, stood up from where he knelt in the grass and stared out at his rolling land, covered in purple fireweed and tiny green scrub pine.

“Yes, Cee, you would be happy.”

A spray of daisies from the garden planted so long ago near the house, lay on the ground next to the stone marker.

CAROLINE KINGSTON. WIFE. MOTHER. DAUGHTER. WATCHING FROM HEAVEN.

He knew it in his heart. Because that was the promise of salvation.

He’d gotten up early, spent time in his recliner, and the Lord had given him Psalm 100. Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness.

Indeed.

“They came home, if you haven’t already noticed. All of them, one by one, a miracle really.”

The wind carried from the faraway mountains, their purple shadows casting down into the valley. The days were starting to get shorter now. In another month, darkness would descend upon them, blanketing them into the long winter.

But in the endless night, he could see the aurora borealis, and it made him feel closer to heaven, reminded him of the divine. So much beauty, seen best in the deepest night.

“It’s Dodge’s big day. He’s marrying Echo. Which I always knew he would. I told you about it, remember? Back when he was seventeen. Echo’s just like you, really. Brave and smart, and she loves Alaska.”

The wind caught the daisies, rustled them.