Chapter 6

Lakeside Park was buzzing with noise and activity.

Mia clutched her tiny velvet box all the way to the park, her eyes scanning the crowd until she spotted Kane and Lexi standing near the check-in table. The second she saw them, she jogged over.

“Dad!”

She held out the coffee-brown bracelet.

“Can you put it on now?”

Kane cast a brief glance at it and casually slipped it onto his wrist.

“There. Happy now?”

Mia nodded, a sweet smile spreading across her face.

But Lexi immediately leaned in, scowling at the simple bracelet.

“Uncle Kane, that’s so ugly!”

She held up her own arm, showing off a sparkly, custom-woven crystal charm bracelet.

“The one you took me to customize yesterday is way prettier than that junk!”

The smile on Mia’s face instantly froze.

Kane merely patted Lexi’s head affectionately.

“As long as you like yours, sweetheart.”

Lexi suddenly grabbed Kane’s hand—the one wearing Mia’s bracelet.

“Well, I want a lucky bracelet today too! You promised you’d help me take first place!”

Kane looked at Mia, then at Lexi, who was watching him expectantly.

Without hesitation, he unclasped the coffee-brown bracelet and handed it to Lexi.

“Here. You can borrow it for now.”

Mia’s hand froze mid-air.

“That... that was for you,” she whispered.

Lexi slipped the band over her wrist, deliberately shaking her arm in Mia’s face.

“Well, Uncle Kane is letting me borrow it now!”

I stepped forward and pulled Mia firmly to my side.

“Kane, give the bracelet back to her.”

Kane knitted his brows in annoyance.

“Ellie, it’s just a cheap bracelet.”

“It’s a gift Mia saved up to buy specifically for you. You don’t get to hand it off to someone else.”

“Lexi’s race is about to start! Do you really have to throw a public fit right here?”

He turned to look down at Mia.

“When the race is over, I’ll buy you a brand-new one.”

Mia didn’t say another word.

She just lowered her head, silently squeezing her own pink matching bracelet tight in her fist.

The starter horn blasted across the park.

Kane took Lexi by the hand and headed toward the sprint division docks.

Mia stood rooted to the spot, staring at their receding backs. It was a long time before she looked up and asked me in a quiet, trembling voice:

“Mom... didn’t he say he was going to stay with us today?”

I knelt down and tightened the straps on her life jacket.

“Mom’s with you, baby.”

I took Mia’s hand and joined the line, helping her practice paddling while we waited.

On the other dock, Kane stood behind Lexi, patiently adjusting her life vest.

“Don’t be scared,” his gentle voice carried over the water. “I’m right here with you.”

Mia heard him.

She stared down into the lake water, never raising her head again.

While everyone was still practicing, a sudden violent gust of wind whipped across the lake.

The floating dock rocked violently, the slick wooden planks screeching against each other.

“Mia, grab my hand!”

Just as I reached out, the platform beneath our feet tilted sharply.

Mia and Lexi lost their footing, plunging into the deep lake almost simultaneously!

“Dad!”

Mia thrashing frantically in the water, reaching toward Kane with everything she had.

On the other side, Lexi was screaming in panic too. Her real father was stuck in the surging crowd on shore, unable to push through in time.

“Uncle Kane! Save me!”

Kane didn’t even glance back at Mia.

He dove straight into the icy water, swimming directly toward Lexi.

The coffee-brown bracelet on Lexi’s wrist flashed under the water.

As Kane scooped Lexi into his arms, his elbow caught on the band, snapping it clean in two. The broken pieces sank straight to the dark bottom of the lake.

Meanwhile, Mia’s little body was sinking deeper and deeper into the cold water.

“MIA!”

I didn’t know how to swim.

I had been terrified of deep water my entire life.

But in that split second, none of that mattered.

I vaulted over the safety railing and leaped into the freezing lake. Fighting against the current, I caught my daughter’s hand and hoisted her up toward the surface with every ounce of strength in my body.

By the time the paramedics rushed over, Kane was sitting on the dock holding Lexi, gently wiping away her tears.

Mia was trembling violently, huddled tight in my arms, her face deathly pale.

She stared off in Kane’s direction, her lips moving faintly.

But that word—Dad—never left her lips again.