Chapter 10 - A New Normal
Three months later, the spring sun was finally beginning to warm the red dirt of Oklahoma, turning the dog-training fields outside Edmond a vibrant, lush green.
I stood beside the fenced training yard, watching a pair of golden retrievers sprint across the grass, kicking up turf under the bright afternoon sun. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, expecting a client inquiry or a supply order from the kennel distributor.
Instead, it was a text from Tessa.
Dad, can we stop by the grocery store on the way home? I need supplies for the school science fair project, and Mom said it's your turn to pick us up.
I smiled, my thumb moving quickly across the screen to reply.
Got it, Tesse. I'll be there in twenty minutes.
Life hadn't magically returned to the way it was before that freezing Tuesday in January. Divorce proceedings were messy, counseling sessions for Tessa were ongoing, and rebuilding our family's sense of absolute security took time, patience, and unwavering consistency. Sarah was living in a quiet apartment on the north side of town, attending weekly therapy, and slowly working to rebuild a fragile, honest co-parenting dynamic with our kids.
The shadow of Richard Vance and his federal syndicate was nothing more than a distant, closed case file sitting in a federal prosecutor's office downtown.
I looked back out across the training field as one of the golden retrievers successfully cleared a wooden hurdle, landing smoothly on all four paws before racing back toward me with its tail wagging in frantic circles.
I bent down, clipped the training leash onto its collar, and patted its head.
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Some things in life break into a million pieces and can never be glued back together quite the same way. But as I looked toward the truck parked in the gravel drive, ready to pick up my daughter from school, I knew one thing for certain:
The foundation we were building now might be different, but it was solid, honest, and unbreakable. And this time, nobody was ever going to break through it again.
