Page 37 of This Kind of Forever

“Daddy, we gotta go that way,” Abbie protests, pointing behind us.

“We will. But Hallie’s talking to an old friend, and I want to say hi,” I reply, steering her in their direction.

Hallie’s back is to us, so she doesn’t see us approach, but Ethan does. “Gabe,” he says with a grin. “What’s up?”

Hallie turns then, her gaze full of surprise. She always looks a little bewildered when I seek her out. As if she can’t quite believe I’m standing in front of her, asking for her attention. Little does she know, I’d do a whole hell of a lot for it.

“Hey,” I say to Ethan. “It’s been a while.”

He holds out a hand to shake, then slaps me on the back with the other. When I step back, his eyes drift down to my daughter, who isn’t shy about returning his curious stare.

“And who’s this?” he asks.

“Abigail Mae Bowman,” Abbie replies proudly. Her smile reveals the gap from the front tooth she lost two days ago.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ethan.” He smiles at her, then looks between me and Hallie. “You’ve got yourselves a cute kid.”

“Oh, no,” Hallie says, her cheeks instantly turning red, “it’s not like that. I mean, she’s not—I’mnot?—”

“Abbie is my daughter,” I supply, rescuing her. “Hallie is a…friend.” The word tastes sour, the way it always does when I’m forced to use it.

Ethan’s brows raise. “Shit, eh? My bad. Everyone thought for sure you two would get together. Especially after you turned me down, Hallie.”

My teeth grind together at the reminder. Not that she said no, but that he even asked her out in the first place. He had everyright to—Hallie and I were never together, despite how much I wanted us to be—but it annoys me all the same.

Hallie laughs awkwardly. “Sorry to disappoint.”

He shrugs, clearly not bothered about the past, then turns his attention to me. “What are you doing now? You still at the fire department?”

I nod, grateful for the subject change. “I am.”

“Heard your brother’s the chief now. Good for him. I never expected him to climb the ladder, but it makes sense.”

And we’re back to the teeth grinding. These conversations always come back around to Luke. I get it, he’s impressive. He’s the youngest chief Kip Island Fire Department has seen since its inception, but he’s not a god.

“Yup.” I force a polite smile, and Hallie sends me a concerned look. “What are you up to now?”

“I work for the coast guard out of Tobermory,” he says. “We do a few different things, but a lot of search and rescue.”

This genuinely piques my interest. “We’ve coordinated with you guys on some rescues over the years. You do good work.”

As annoyed as I may be, I can respect what Ethan does. Lake Huron is a beast, and with as many cottagers as there are in the summer, I’m not surprised at the need for search and rescue crews. They’ve always intrigued me.

“You ever think about doing something like that?” he asks. “We can always use solid people like you on our crews.”

I shake my head. “I haven’t given it much thought.”

Ethan quickly checks his watch. “Listen, I’ve unfortunately gotta run. It was great seeing you both. If you ever are looking to try something new, Bowman, you know where to find me.”

He says goodbye to Abbie, and then he heads toward the cash.

Abbie tugs on my hand. “Daddy, can we go now? You were talkingforever, and I’m hungry!”

“Yeah, let’s go. We just have to grab a basket.”

“You can put your stuff in my cart,” Hallie offers, patting the handle. “If you want.”

“Sure. And to pay you back, I’ll be driving you home.”