“Chuck …” Marie Watkins nudged him again.
“Marie, please …” Watkins glanced at her irritably. He cleared his throat. “Not just for what you did. For helping us all take a stand …” He squeezed his cap, as if he were wringing out the last drop of water from it. “What I meant was, thank you for giving me back my son. The way it was, I’m not sure I would ever have been able to think of him again without anger or even shame. Now … Now at least why he died means something … And I’m working on trying to forgive myself. Like you said you did with your little girl.”
Marie Watkins interjected, “What my husband means to say is …”
“Dammit, Marie, if you could just butt out, I think Mr. Hauck and I both know what I’m trying to say …”
“I think we do, Ms. Watkins,” Hauck said, with a wink to Chuck.
“See.” Watkins shot a roll of the eyes at her. “Have to admit,” he said, turning back to Hauck, “I quite liked what you came up with for that guy Robertson, though.” His eyes lit up in admiration. “Got to thank you a lot for that one.”
“No point in letting him hang around forever,” Hauck said with a smile.
“Hang around …” The farmer laughed, the first time Hauck had heard him. “I kind of like that too.”
The two of them shook hands, two unlikely partners who both knew they would likely never see each other again.
And Dani … She drove up the day Hauck was released and insisted on driving him back to the Denver airport. She looked nice, in a printed dress, her thick hair up. Pretty sandals. A little makeup on.
Of course, Blu was there in the back of her wagon. For most of the trip they just spoke about trivial things: How Hauck was mending. How long he was going to stay back east. She bet he was thrilled to go and see his daughter.
They drove down I-85 without saying what they really meant to say between them until the turnoff for the Denver airport, where Dani just pulled over to the side of the highway.
Hauck saw there were tears in her eyes.
“You going to be okay …?” he asked, and gave her a napkin from the fast food drink on the console.
“Yes.” She nodded and dabbed her eyes. “No.” The tears began to fall. He drew her into him with his good arm and held her against his shoulder. “I feel like such a jerk,” she said, burying her face into him in a mash of tears.
“We’re all jerks sometimes,” he said, stroking her hair. “I’ll always be there for you, Dani. You know that. Whenever you need me, you just call.”
“Sounds like some stupid James Taylor song.” She nodded. Then she pulled away and looked at him, her eyes glistening. “Thank you.”
“Everyone seems to be saying that to me today.”
“Thank you for believing me. Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for making it through. If you hadn’t, I don’t think I’d ever have had a happy day for the rest of my life.”
“But we did,” Hauck said, smiling. “Both of us. So we don’t have to worry about that, right?”
She blew her nose and nodded. “Right. My dad’s flying in tomorrow. From South America. We’re going to spend some time here and talk about a few things.”
“Tell him something for me?”
“What?”
“Tell him this was just a bit more adventurous than he led me to believe. And next time, to call Tom Cruise.”
Dani laughed again. “I will.” She hugged him, and saw him wince from the awkward embrace. “Oh my God, sorry …”
“It’s okay. I’m just not sure I can take a lot more of these goodbyes.”
Then she wiped her eyes and looked at him.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“My old boss called. The police chief in Greenwich. He said he’s retiring. They’re looking at a few people who might fit the job. My name came up.”
“You’d be happy? Doing that?”
He’d waited for the rising tide inside to tell him that there was something bigger to do in his life, and the truth was, it just felt fine. “I think I would.”
“You remember what I said to you on the phone? Before you went back up there. About your being here for me.”
“Of course.”
“Please stay in my life, Uncle Ty. Promise me.”
“That’s one promise I can keep, Dani. And I will.”
They hugged again, gingerly this time, and Dani put her head against his chest. “I don’t want to let you go.”
“Then don’t.” With his arm around her, Hauck thought, of all the things that happened here, maybe this was the best.
Hauck’s jet traversed over the tarmac and back to the gate.
When the seat belt signal dinged, he stood up and tried to pull his bag down with his good arm. He didn’t have much with him. Only a couple of shirts and jeans. It seemed funny now, with what happened, that he’d figured he’d stay only a couple of days.
The man across the aisle, who had the look of a guy who’d been on the road for weeks, noticed the sling and helped Hauck pull his bag down. “What’d ya do?” he asked.
“Shoulder sprain,” Hauck said. “Fly fishing.”
“Must have been one helluva bass,” the guy said with a laugh. “Those suckers can be tricky. Whatever you do, make sure you do the PT. That makes all the difference in the world.”
“I will,” Hauck said brightly. He took his bag from him and nodded thanks.
“Traveling or coming home?” the man asked, pulling his briefcase from under the seat and wrapping a strap around his shoulder.
Hauck thought for a moment. About the life he’d left behind here. About his daughter, Jessie, who was waiting for him here. He didn’t know what was ahead for him. Talon was gone now. Wherever that led. The head job in Greenwich, huh? He tried to fit that on for size. He and Naomi had tried to plan a week when they could get together, but she was in Houston next week and had budget meetings after that. It had been a long time away. Months. And felt right, to step back out. At last.
“Home,” Hauck said.