A knock sounded at the back door, pulling her away from prayer and thoughts of Sawyer. Dolly and Casey were sitting at the counter snacking on grapes and playing rock, paper, scissors. Dolly slid down from her stool and ran toward the back door, answering the knock before Ava could admonish her about opening it before she knew who was outside. She pulled the door wide, and Sawyer was standing there in the doorway, his six-foot frame dwarfing her baby girl.
“You look like my daddy,” Dolly announced in a voice filled with awe.
“Yeah, people used to tell me that all the time when I was growing up, but I never believed them,” Sawyer said with a grin. “Do you remember me?”
“I think so,” Dolly answered in a hesitant voice, turning toward Ava for reassurance. Ava nodded and smiled at her daughter, letting her know it was okay to talk to Sawyer.
“You’re my uncle Sawyer!” Dolly said triumphantly. She reached for Sawyer’s hand and pulled him over the threshold until he was standing inside the kitchen. Sawyer reached behind him and pushed the door closed.
Dolly’s brown eyes went wide. “Mommy said you went away to the other side of the world. Casey said you weren’t ever coming back, just like Daddy.”
Ava’s heart sank at the mournful tone in her daughter’s voice. How in the world hadn’t she known the twins had written Sawyer off as dead? Had she been so wrapped up in her own grief and pain she’d neglected to notice their losses, their suffering?
“I was gone for a long time,” Sawyer acknowledged, looking over at Ava with eyes full of regret. “But I’m back now for good.”
He reached out and tugged at one of Dolly’s pigtails. She let out a squeal of excitement. When Sawyer held up his hand for a high five, Dolly slapped his palm with her own. Sawyer winced and shook his hand as if Dolly had hurt him. She beamed up at him, showcasing her missing front teeth.
Something inside Ava melted a little bit. The kids sorely needed a male presence in their lives. They would benefit by having their uncle Sawyer back in Cape Cod. Admitting her family needed him didn’t change the slow burn eating its way through her.
“Casey. Come say hello to Uncle Sawyer,” Ava said, noticing the way her son was studiously ignoring Sawyer. For a boy who never seemed to miss a thing, it was impossible to believe he was oblivious of Sawyer’s arrival at their home. She suspected her son was playing possum.
Casey continued to sit at the table playing with his grapes, his eyes downcast. He made no attempt to get up from his stool or to speak to Sawyer.
“Casey!” Ava said in a warning tone. “Did you hear me?”
“Hey, buddy.” Sawyer’s tone was playful as he walked over to Casey. “How’s it going?”
Finally, Casey looked up at Sawyer, his eyes glistening with an anger that made her want to wrap her arms around her son and soothe his heartbreak. He’d had so many losses in the past few years, too many to wrap his six-year-old head around. Everything he was feeling radiated from his eyes.
“You told us you’d be coming right back! You don’t keep your promises,” Casey shouted.
She saw Sawyer wince, and she knew Casey, in all his childish fury, had wounded him.
“Casey Trask!” Ava scolded. “You watch your tone of voice in this house. Apologize to your uncle.”
Casey folded his arms across his chest. His lower lip stuck out in a pout. “I’m sorry,” he apologized in a begrudging voice. “But you were gone for three hundred and forty-four days!” Casey announced. “That’s almost a whole year.”
“He marked it on a calendar.” Dolly’s tone was filled with pride. “And I helped him.”
Ava’s heart sank. Marking days on calendars? She’d had no idea the twins had been tracking Sawyer’s absence. What kind of mother had she turned into over the past two years? Yes, in the beginning she’d been aware that they missed him terribly, but as the weeks turned into months they seemed almost indifferent to his absence. It was as if they’d forgotten him, and for some reason she hadn’t done anything to solidify Sawyer’s memory in their minds. She’d been so furious with him for leaving them, so incredibly wounded, a part of her had told herself Sawyer deserved to be forgotten. A feeling of shame trickled through her at the realization. After everything they’d been through together, she had owed him more than that.
“Do you two know what a mission is?” Sawyer asked the children. Both of them nodded, showing they didn’t have a clue. “It’s something very important that helps a lot of people,” he explained. “That’s what I was doing over in Africa. A lot of people were depending on me to help them.”
“So you like those people better than you like us.” Casey’s arms were folded across his chest, and his words sounded accusatory.
“There’s no one in this world I like better than the two of you.” He bent down and went nose-to-nose with Casey. “I’m not going anywhere, Casey. I promise you. I’m back in town to stay.”
“Prove it!” Casey demanded. “When I do something bad to Dolly, Mommy says the best way to show I’m sorry is by my actions.”
Sawyer crossed his arms across his chest. “Oh, you want proof? Okay, come outside with me and I’ll give you proof.”
Sawyer quickly walked toward the back door, with Casey on his heels and Dolly trailing behind them. Filled with curiosity, Ava followed behind them, her interest piqued as Sawyer made his way to the edge of the property. He walked right up to the white picket fence that separated their property from the cliff and the beach down below. From this vantage point they had a bird’s-eye view of miles and miles of ocean and the vast expanse of sandy beach.
Sawyer pointed in the direction of the lighthouse. “Do you know who lives there?” he asked the twins.
They both nodded. “That’s Mr. P’s house,” Dolly chirped. “Except he went to Heaven.”
Sawyer smiled. “Nope. That is not Mr. P’s house. Not anymore.”
Ava could see the confusion on the children’s faces, and it mirrored her own bewilderment. What in the world was Sawyer trying to prove by bringing them outside and showing them the lighthouse? Casey and Dolly were still grappling with Mr. P’s passing. She hoped there was a method to Sawyer’s madness other than reminding the twins of yet another loss.
Sawyer stood there with his arms folded across his chest, a huge smile taking over his face. “I am now the proud owner of Mr. P’s lighthouse.”
“You mean you live there?” Casey asked, eyes wide with amazement.
He nodded enthusiastically, a pleased-with-himself grin etched on his face. “Yep. I live there, Casey. Right next door to you.”
Ava let out a gasp of surprise. Right next door? Sawyer was the man she’d seen darting inside the lighthouse earlier. He was their new neighbor?
As the children jumped up and down in celebration, Ava felt goose bumps popping up on her arms. She wrapped her arms around her middle as she tried to process Sawyer’s news. Living in such close proximity to him might prove to be problematic. Even though they’d once been best friends, a lot of water had flowed under the bridge since then. A part of her longed to go back to those days of innocence when their biggest problem had been coming up with enough money to go to the matinee.
She let out a soft sigh. So many things had changed between them since then, and for the life of her she didn’t know how to get back to that place in time where they’d been able to finish each other’s sentences and thumb wrestle for bragging rights. She didn’t know how to get her best friend back.
Because no matter how hard she tried, Ava couldn’t forget that one year ago they’d shared a tender kiss that had disturbed Sawyer so much he’d taken off for Africa the very next day.