Chapter 14: Daisy
Two weeks later, the deck was finished.
I stood at the back door of Cal's cabin, watching Knox secure the last board. He moved with easy confidence, his hands sure and steady, muscles shifting under his t-shirt as he worked. The new deck stretched out wide and solid, golden wood gleaming in the afternoon sun.
He'd built it to last. Made to withstand whatever storms might come.
Knox straightened, wiping his forearm across his forehead. He caught me watching and smiled, that slow smile that still made my stomach flip.
"Done," he said. "What do you think?"
I stepped out onto the new boards, feeling them solid under my feet. Walked to where he stood at the edge, looking out at the mountains.
"It's perfect," I said. "Cal's going to love it."
"Hope so." Knox pulled me against his side, his arm settling around my waist like it belonged there. "Feels strange. Being done."
"Strange how?"
"This is what brought us back together." He looked down at me. "The deck. The forced proximity. All those mornings watching you through the kitchen window, pretending I wasn't dying to touch you."
"You weren't subtle about it."
"Neither were you." He grinned. "I saw you watching me work. Especially when my shirt came off."
I felt my cheeks flush as I laughed and pushed at his chest. He caught my hand, brought it to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
"I love you," he said. Simple. Direct. Like it was the easiest thing in the world.
"I love you too."
The sound of a truck in the driveway made us both turn. Cal's cruiser pulled up, and he climbed out, still in uniform.
Things had been careful between us. Polite. The rawness of our confrontation had faded, but we hadn't found our footing yet. We were both trying, both circling the wound without knowing how to heal it.
Cal walked around the side of the cabin and stopped when he saw the finished deck.
"It's done," he said.
"Just finished." Knox stepped forward, and I felt the tension in his shoulders. These two men, finding their way to something new. "Should hold up for twenty years, easy. Maybe longer if you maintain it right."
Cal stepped onto the deck, testing the boards with his weight. He walked the perimeter, examining the railings, the joints, the careful craftsmanship that Knox had put into every inch.
"This is good work," Cal said finally. "Professional quality."
"Learned from the best." Knox shrugged. "Old man Hendricks. Said I had good hands, if I could keep them out of trouble."
"Hendricks was a smart man." Cal turned to face Knox, and something in his expression changed. Became more open. More honest. "I owe you more than thanks for a deck."
Knox went still. "Cal..."
"Let me say this." Cal held up a hand. "I've been thinking about it for two weeks. Trying to find the right words. There probably aren't any, but I'm going to try anyway."
I stayed quiet, watching the two of them face each other across the deck Knox had built.
"Eight years ago, I looked at you and saw everything I was afraid of," Cal said. "A kid with a record. A temper. No future that I could see. I looked at you and I saw my sister's worst nightmare for her daughter."
Knox's jaw tightened, but he didn't speak.