Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 55153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55153 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“Wait until you see the inside, baby,” Pax says, squeezing my hand.
We walk up the flower-lined sidewalk as a group, and a big one. There’s Pax, Jasmine, our eight-month-old son, Camden, my mom and me, and also Pike, Indie, Nolan, Nathan and Caroline Bishop, and Eric’s parents, who both have tears streaming down their cheeks.
As soon as I walk through the front doors, I cry, too. The lobby is an open floor plan, with ceilings that stretch two stories high, and it’s flooded with bright light, a few potted palms adding warmth. Behind the front desk, there’s a single framed photo hanging on the wall—Eric in his military dress uniform, looking young, brave and strong.
The words in neat bronze letters above the picture make my throat tighten with emotion.
“The Eric Thomas Recreation Center,” I say softly.
“That’s my dad,” Jasmine says, pointing at the picture.
She’s almost twelve now, on the cusp of not being a little girl anymore. It’s bittersweet, watching her become more independent and grown up. I don’t take it for granted, though. Pax, Jasmine, and Camden are my reasons for everything.
Wiping my cheeks, I scan the group for my father-in-law. When our eyes lock, he gives me that big smile I’ve come to know so well.
“Nathan,” I say, my voice breaking as I rush into his arms for a hug. “It’s wonderful. I’m overwhelmed.”
“I’m proud of what we did here,” he says. “And who we did it for.”
Since Pax and I got married just shy of two years ago, things have changed between him and his parents. The first time Nathan and Caroline met Jasmine, Caroline fell in love with her. She asked Nathan to get a place in Vegas so they could visit us more, and they’re now a regular part of our lives.
For our wedding gift, the Bishops gave Pax and me a dream honeymoon. They took us, Jasmine, and my mom on a lavish European tour. We got to sightsee together during the day, and at night, Nathan, Caroline, and my mom would take Jasmine to dinner and put her to bed in whatever hotel we were in that night. Pax and I would eat dinner on our own and stay in the honeymoon suite. Nathan spared no expense, and since he and Caroline had been trying so hard by showing up at hockey games and getting to know me and Jasmine, Pax let him.
It was over lunch in Paris on our honeymoon that Nathan asked me to tell him about Eric. I thought it might make him or Pax uncomfortable, so I was hesitant at first, but the opposite happened. Pax held my hand, encouraging me as I told his parents about Eric’s love of Little League baseball and working on engines.
It took me by complete surprise when Nathan and Caroline visited for Thanksgiving and Nathan took me aside, asking how I’d feel about him building a recreation center in Eric’s name in Kansas City. After a couple of stunned seconds, I hugged him, cried all over his shirt and thanked him about twenty times.
“Wait until you see the rest,” he says, putting an arm around my shoulder.
We’re the first ones to set foot in the completed complex, though Nathan has been onsite throughout the project making sure it fits his vision. Everyone follows behind us, Caroline in her happy place with Camden in her arms and Jasmine walking between her and my mom.
He takes us to the main gymnasium first. It’s enormous, with a state-of-the-art basketball court, the wood bleachers that line both sides of the court able to retract at the push of a button.
“That’s sick,” Pike says as one of the contractors demonstrates moving the bleachers.
He also shows us the sound system and scoreboard, which get high marks from both Pike and Pax. I take pictures with my phone, making sure to get a good one of the wall with Eric Thomas Recreation Center painted on it.
“Moving on,” Nathan says, grinning as he leads the way across the gymnasium to another door.
The man loves golf, attention, and stupidly expensive cigars. But it turns out he also loves his grandchildren, and me. I was young when I lost my dad, and Nathan has filled a hole I didn’t even know existed in my heart. I know Pax was hurt by his parents ignoring him so much during his childhood, and I don’t dismiss that. They’re trying to do better now, though, and I love that he’s letting them.
“This is our kitchen and snack area,” Nathan says, leading the group into an industrial kitchen full of costly stainless steel appliances. “The kids who come here after school can get a snack and sit at the snack bar.”
The snack bar adjoins the kitchen, and it has cafeteria-style tables, TVs, and motivational quotes posted on the walls.