Chapter 16 - The Lake House
That summer, I took Emily to the lake house.
Just us.
The property belonged to her trust.
I had avoided visiting since Sarah died.
Too many memories.
Too much silence.
But Emily asked.
So we went.
The porch still creaked.
The dock still leaned slightly left.
Sarah’s old coffee mug remained in a cabinet.
Emily found it.
“Mommy’s.”
“Yes.”
She hugged it to her chest.
I almost told her to be careful.
Then I stopped.
Objects were meant to be held.
Memories too.
We spent a week there.
We painted the porch railing.
We burned pancakes.
We went swimming.
At night, Emily slept in the room Sarah decorated with yellow stars.
On our final evening, we sat on the dock.
Emily asked.
“Will you get married someday?”
The question surprised me.
“Maybe.”
“Can I pick?”
I laughed.
“No.”
She looked disappointed.
“But you can tell me if you’re scared.”
“Okay.”
“And whoever I marry has to understand something.”
“What?”
“You don’t disappear when I love someone else.”
Emily leaned against me.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
That promise became the foundation of everything afterward.
Not that I would never love again.
Not that life would remain frozen around Sarah.
But nobody would be allowed to build a future by making Emily smaller.
Then Emily reached into her backpack.
She pulled out the crumpled wedding note.
I stared at it.
“You kept that?”
“I wanted to throw it in the lake.”
I thought for a moment.
“Do you?”
She nodded.
So we did.
Not because evidence was being destroyed.
Police had the original scans and certified copies.
This copy had already been released back to us.
Emily folded it into a tiny square.
Then she threw it.
The paper landed on the water.
For a few seconds, it floated.
Then it slowly sank.
Emily watched until it disappeared.
“Good.”
She said.
I looked at her.
May you like
“What?”
“She doesn’t get to tell me where I live anymore.”
