Chapter 24 - The WaterDr. Hannah Fields stood beside a swimming pool.
Junie stood twenty feet away.
“No.”
Hannah nodded.
“Okay.”
Adrian sat nearby.
No swimsuit.
No expectations.
Just shorts and a T-shirt.
Junie looked at him suspiciously.
“You said no swimming.”
“We’re not swimming.”
“That is a pool.”
“Strong observation.”
“You tricked me.”
“No. Dr. Hannah said we could look at it.”
Junie folded her arms.
“I looked.”
Hannah smiled.
“Excellent work. Therapy complete.”
Junie blinked.
“That’s it?”
“For today if you want.”
Junie studied the water.
The pool was small.
Shallow at one end.
No boats.
No ocean.
No drop.
Just blue water under Florida sunlight.
“Can Daddy touch it?”
Hannah looked at Adrian.
“If Daddy wants.”
Adrian walked to the edge and crouched.
He put two fingers in.
Junie watched.
“Cold?”
“A little.”
“Any sharks?”
“Three.”
Her eyes widened.
Adrian grinned.
“Tiny ones. Very polite.”
“Daddy.”
“No sharks.”
Junie approached five feet.
Then three.
Then stopped.
Her breathing changed.
Adrian did not reach for her.
He had learned that too.
Help could become pressure when offered too quickly.
Junie whispered, “I remember the boat.”
“I know.”
“I remember my fingers.”
Adrian swallowed.
“I know.”
“I thought they were gonna let go.”
He looked at her.
“But they didn’t.”
“No.”
Junie stared at her hands.
“They were little.”
“They still are.”
“I’m five now.”
“Practically retired.”
She smiled.
Then looked at the water again.
“Did Corinne want me to die?”
Adrian had known the question would come someday.
He had hoped someday meant seventeen.
Hannah remained silent.
This was his answer to give.
“Corinne knew you could get hurt very badly.”
Junie’s eyes stayed on him.
“Did she want me to die?”
Adrian chose honesty without cruelty.
“I think in that moment, she cared more about being angry than about keeping you safe.”
Junie processed that.
“That’s bad.”
“Yes.”
“Really bad.”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate her?”
Adrian looked at the water.
“Sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“Feelings move around.”
“Like clouds?”
He smiled.
“Exactly like clouds.”
Junie nodded.
“Not like the fake ones.”
He remembered the advocacy center ceiling.
“No. Real ones.”
She sat beside him.
Not at the edge.
A foot away.
“Did you hate her when you married her?”
“No.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yes.”
Junie frowned.
“That’s weird.”
“Extremely.”
She laughed.
Adrian looked at her.
“Junie?”
“What?”
“You know something important?”
“What?”
“What happened was never because you were bad.”
She looked down.
“I know.”
“You do?”
“Dr. Hannah told me like a hundred times.”
Hannah called from behind them, “Forty-three.”
“See?”
Adrian smiled.
Junie inched closer to the water.
She extended one shoe.
Then withdrew it.
Adrian said nothing.
A minute later, she stretched her fingers toward the pool.
Stopped.
Breathed.
Then touched the surface.
Her hand jerked back.
She laughed.
“It’s cold!”
Adrian laughed too.
Junie touched it again.
This time longer.
Ripples moved away from her fingers.
No screaming.
No falling.
No metal edge.
Just water responding to her touch.
Hannah quietly wiped one eye.
Adrian pretended not to notice.
Junie splashed him.
He stared at his wet shirt.
“Excuse me?”
She giggled.
He splashed back with two fingers.
“Daddy!”
“You initiated hostilities.”
Junie splashed him harder.
Soon she was laughing so loudly a lifeguard glanced over.
Adrian stopped himself before the game became too much.
Junie noticed.
“I’m okay.”
“You sure?”
She looked at the water.
Then at him.
“I’m okay right now.”
Adrian nodded.
Right now.
Not forever.
Not completely.
Right now was enough.
On the drive home, Junie fell asleep.
Adrian carried her inside.
Her damp fingers rested against his neck.
He passed the framed photograph of Naomi on the hallway table.
For years, he had looked at that photograph and felt only absence.
Tonight he felt something else.
Continuation.
Naomi had built protections she would never see activated.
She had left evidence she would never know mattered.
She had loved a daughter who barely remembered her.
Love had kept moving after Naomi could not.
Adrian tucked Junie into bed.
As he stood, she opened one sleepy eye.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Pool tomorrow?”
His throat tightened.
“If you want.”
“Maybe.”
He smiled.
“Maybe is good.”
Junie closed her eyes.
Adrian turned off the lamp.
He reached the doorway.
Then heard her whisper.
“Daddy?”
He turned immediately.
“I’m here.”
May you like
Junie smiled in the darkness.
Then went back to sleep.
