Epilogue
Gunner
Mark Malone, VP of development, just stared at me. “You’re willing to blow a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal with the biggest athletic retailer in the world because you don’t want to give up your current sponsor?”
“That’s right. I’m not dropping Max.”
How could I? After my mom and Max had taken one look at each other, they had been inseparable.
But even without that—there was no way I was going to ditch the guy who had been willing to go out on a limb and support me when I was a nobody.
“You support this?” He turned to Trista Jordan and she smiled.
“Yes, I do. Gunner has a strong working relationship with Mr. Wilder.” Trista had taken me over as a client to avoid the media attention Lena and I would receive once our relationship went public. We were no longer having to sneak around and pretend we didn’t love each other. She was still my sounding board, just not in an official capacity.
“That’s the kind of integrity I like to see in my athletes. Let’s get Max in here, and we can all sit down and work this out.”
Sure enough, after seeing Max’s merchandise and my current skateboards, it was a done deal, and they offered him a merger right there. He’d be an independent contractor under the Nitor label. Max was ready to give up the long hours anyway, now that my mom was in his life, and I was glad she’d finally get the man she deserved to love and cherish her.
My sister was busy opening up her own company, one that would provide life coaching and image consulting. She was a quick-witted bundle of beautiful joy, and we had lunch every Tuesday and Thursday, our schedules permitting, but never missed Sunday dinner with Max, Mom, Lena’s dad, and Keke for anything.
Lena’s dad announced his engagement to Keke, and Lena was overjoyed about it. The wedding was scheduled for the spring. I was keeping my fingers crossed for my mom and Max to tie the knot next.
Ray Canton was brought up on charges of skimming company assets after Lena’s sharp CFO, Dulcie Lane, talked to Wayne Nixon and then looked into some missing checks. He lost his license and was currently fighting a lawsuit with Mavrick.
My father went to jail but got out on bail and then disappeared. It wasn’t until after my win at the LSJ Nitor SB Crown One World Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York that I got a call from the cops.
“Mr. Smith?”
“Yes.”
“This is Detective Morton.”
“Hello, Detective, have you found my dad? Where was he?”
“I’m sorry to be the bearer of this news, Mr. Smith, but surfers found your father on Trestle Beach. It looks like he drowned while surfing, his board still attached to his ankle. We believe alcohol might have been a factor. Some saw him disorderly and intoxicated just before he went missing.”
It was just too bad that all I felt was relief.
I met my mom, who insisted on being there at his house after the funeral to clean it out and get it on the market. After all the stuff was sorted through, after everything had been decided and all the loose ends tied up, Lena and my mother left me alone in the backyard. I stood on the cracked concrete, and my memories, aged by trial and time, took me back to the first day I could remember standing on a skateboard. To the day my dad held me on and told me to push, encouraged me.
“I’m going to fall.”
“No, you’re not, son. I’ve got you. I won’t let you fall. You’re a big boy, and skateboarding is great cross-training for surfing.”
His hands were tight on my waist as I pushed off, and he ran alongside me, and then I was six, and then seven, then nine, and my dad hurt his back, and everything changed.
I let the grief wash over me. I had learned my lesson in keeping intense emotions bottled up. He had turned into someone I didn’t know. Someone who couldn’t let go of his own dream of a surfing legacy. The truth of the matter was I’d lost my dad a long time ago to the bottle, to his own pain, to his broken and shattered dreams.
Lena came out of the house and wrapped her arm around my waist, and I buried my face in her vibrant hair, breathing her scent deep.
“Gunner, I need you to do something for me,” she said softly.
“Anything.”
“I want you to forgive your father.”
My face contorted, and I looked away, my eyes burning. I was safe with her, but he was still my father, and it still hurt that he was gone. “Why? You think he deserves it?” I managed.
“It’s not for me to judge him or to say what I think he deserves. He obviously was a troubled soul. I want you to do this for you, not for him.”
She took my face between her hands, her intense eyes holding my gaze. Eyes that would be mine for the rest of my life, eyes that told me what I needed to know about her every day of my life.
“Hating can lock you up and tear you down. Leaving unresolved feelings unresolved hurts. I don’t want you to hurt anymore. Just forgive him. That doesn’t mean you forget what happened to you or your family. It doesn’t mean that it lets him off the hook for his actions. Forgiveness isn’t about him. Forgiveness is about you and letting go.” She kissed my mouth softly. The healing had already begun back in Denver when she’d showed up there to bring me home. Now I felt the healing was almost complete. “It’s simply like skateboarding. It’s freedom.”
—
Six months after my father’s death, I sat with Lena on the beach where I used to train.
I stirred the bonfire and settled behind Lena, pulling her back against me. We had cleared the remnants of our dinner up and stowed everything back in the wicker picnic basket.
“I used to train here. It’s the place where I started surfing and the place where I ended it.”
“It’s significant.”
“Very. I wanted to bring you here because I wanted my memories of this place to be positive and reaffirming. I love you so much, Lena. My life wouldn’t be complete without you in it.” I leaned back and reached into the pocket of my beach bag and pulled out the ring box.
I folded forward and set the velvet box in her hands.
She whipped around in the sand to face me, her face alight with surprise and joy.
“You haven’t even opened it. You know, it could be earrings.”
She smirked, her eyes twinkling. “It’s not earrings.”
“Bracelet? Necklace?”
“Nope, none of those.”
“Oh, you can see through objects now?”
“I don’t need to. I know you. I know your heart, and I know what we mean to each other. This might have started off as an affair, but it was surely one to remember. So my answer, Gunner Smith, is yes, yes, yes, and yes again.”
I laughed and took the box from her. “You don’t even want to see it,” I grumbled.
“Maybe if you ask me. Say the words.”
I huffed out a breath with my laugh, then got serious. “McHotstuff. Helena Mavrick. Lena. Will you marry me?”
“I’m not sure.”
I grabbed her in a headlock, and we wrestled in the sand until she wiggled on top of me and snatched the box out of my hand. Opening it, she gasped. “Oh God, it’s beautiful.” Her voice was all watery. “I love it, and I love you.”
I took the ring out of the box and slipped it on her finger. Then we sat in silence as I looked out to the ocean and the gently rolling waves, letting every single thing from my past go and taking the advice Lena had given me behind my father’s house. Lena. She had become my rock and my catalyst and my deep, deep love. I had it all.
Even peace as I silently forgave him. For myself.
The healing complete, I slid my hand into Lena’s hair, kissing her beautiful mouth. I forgave him and instead of envisioning myself floating alone in a dark sea, I saw laughing and smiling children with the color of Lena’s eyes playing in the surf.
I wrapped my arms around her, and she leaned back, the diamond on her finger sparkling in the moonlight
.
I’d made it to the other side, and it was everything.
Skateboarding Glossary
Types of Skateboarding
Half pipe: any sized U-shaped ramp with a flat middle section
Street skating: skating on streets using urban elements like curbs, benches, handrails
Vert ramp: a ramp that transitions to steep sides
Vert skating: skating on bowl-shaped environments like ramps, swimming pools, and storm drains
Anatomy of a Skateboard
Deck: the top of the skateboard
Grip tape: sandpaper glued to the top of the deck for traction between the deck and the skater’s feet
Nose: the front of the skateboard, from the front truck bolts to the end
Tail: the rear of the skateboard, from the back truck bolts to the end
Trucks: the metal t-shape hardware connecting the wheels to the deck, allowing the board its maneuvering capability
Wheels: usually made of polyurethane
Skateboarding Tricks
Air: riding with all four wheels off the ground; short for aerial
Backside: executing a trick or turn with the skater’s back facing the ramp or obstacle
Caballerial: (often shortened to cab) a 360-degree spin while riding fakie (backward), named after skater Steve Caballero
Carve: to skate in a long, curving arc
Fakie: skating backward
Frontside: a trick performed when a skater is facing an obstacle
Goofyfoot: a rider who uses a right-foot lead
Grind: scraping one or both axles on a curb, railing, or other surface, such as:
5-0 grind: back-truck-only grind
50-50 grind: a balanced grind on both trucks
Crooked grind: grinding on only the front truck while sliding
Nosegrind: front-truck-only grind
Hardflip: board spins horizontally or vertically around its axis or both simultaneously
Heelflip: skater kicks out using his or her heel on either the front or back of the board to send the board into a spin before landing
Kickflip: skater kicks out, sending the board into a spin before landing
Lateflip: at either the peak or after performing an ollie, a kickflip is executed in a secondary motion
McTwist: a 540-degree turn performed on a ramp, named after Mike McGill
Nollie: a nose ollie—popping the nose of the board instead of the tail
Noseslide: sliding the underside of the nose end of a board on a ledge or lip
Ollie: a jump performed by tapping the tail of the board on the ground; the backbone of almost all skating tricks
Railslide: a trick in which the skater glides the underside of the deck along an object, such as a curb or handrail
Regular foot: a rider who uses a left-foot lead, the opposite of goofyfoot
Shove-it: 180-degree trick performed by spinning the board underneath the feet while moving
Switch stance: riding the board with the opposite footing than usual, i.e., goofyfoot instead of regular foot
Tailslide: sliding the underside of the tail end of a board on a ledge or lip
To all those street warriors who continue to defy gravity and do it their way.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Priyanka Krishnan for all her hard work on this manuscript and for her continued support in all my writing projects.
BY ZOE DAWSON
Laurel Falls
Leaving Yesterday
Maybe Tomorrow (coming soon)
Mavrick Allstars
Ramping Up
Impact Zone (coming soon)
Going to the Dogs Series
Leashed
Groomed for Murder
Hounded
Collared
Fetched
Handled
Tangled
Captured
Going to the Dogs 2: The Alphas Series
Piggy Bank Blues
Hope Parish Novels
A Perfect Mess
A Perfect Mistake
A Perfect Dilemma
Finally Again
Beauty Shot
Mark Me
A Perfect Wedding
A Perfect Holiday
A Perfect Question
Forbidden Plays Series
Monster Man
Hot Read
Illegal Motions
The Starbuck Chronicles
AfterLife
Standalone Christmas Novella
Brave
PHOTO: © MEGHANN ALARIE
ZOE DAWSON had always dreamed of becoming a full-time romance writer and, with determination, persistence, and a little luck, that wish came true. Her other passions include traveling the world, owning a beach house (she believes she was a mermaid in another life), and seeing her books as movies. When she’s not writing, she’s painting or killing virtual MMORPG monsters in World of Warcraft. She lives in North Carolina with her two grown children and one small, furry gray cat.
zoedawson.com
Facebook.com/zoe.dawsonauthor1
@ZoeDawsonAuthor
The Editor’s Corner
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Be in the know—friend us and like us on Facebook and Twitter.
Until next month ~Happy Romance!
Gina Wachtel
Associate Publisher
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By authors you’ll always remember
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