“I LOVE THIS PLACE.” Maddie beamed and Luke smiled.

“Me too; me too.” Guilt nudged. He’d wanted to put off this trip, which had already been rescheduled twice, to pore over the files he and Woody had recovered from Asa Foster’s house. They’d not done much in Idaho. In the end Woody promised he’d wait to study them until Luke had the time.

Now, here on the water with his daughter, he was ashamed the thought had even crossed his mind. He loved spending time with his little girl. She was growing up so fast, he didn’t want to miss any bit of her childhood.

They bobbed in a small motorboat on Big Bear Lake, both holding fishing poles. It was peaceful and quiet on the water this time of the morning. Two and a half hours from home, it was a world away from the busy city of Long Beach. They’d driven up to the Big Bear area on Friday morning, taking Maddie’s lessons with them. Since she was homeschooled, they had that flexibility. Luke had rented a cabin for them amid pine trees, in Fawnskin, a small historic community on the north shore of the lake.

Early Saturday morning, before they’d made their way out on the lake for the sunrise, Luke had read devotions for them from Psalm 19.

The sunrise over the mountains was breathtaking.

“The heavens sure do declare the glory of God, don’t they, Mads?”

Maddie looked up, squinted, and smiled. “The sun is coming out of the tent God pitched for her.”

Luke chuckled, heart swelling with pride. Maddie had memorized the psalm. In her translation, the last part of verse 4 said, “In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.”

It did his soul good to see his daughter growing strong in faith and applying the Word of God to her life.

It was also a wonder that she liked to fish as much as he did. None of her girlfriends enjoyed sitting still in a boat or on land to try to hook fish. But Maddie seemed to love it, not minding the stillness, the quiet, or the fish guts when they caught something big enough to eat. She didn’t even mind the cold. They were both bundled up against the fall chill in the mountain air.

“What do you like best here?” Luke asked.

Maddie let out a big sigh. “It’s so pretty. And the smell —I like the way the trees smell. Even the smoke from chimneys smells good. I’d like to live here.”

Luke chuckled. “Really? You’d like to live in the forest away from all the things there are to do in the city?”

Maddie nodded. “Any forest with big trees and deer. I think I want to be a forest ranger when I grow up.”

Throughout the course of the summer, Maddie had moved from wanting to be a police officer, to a vet, and now a forest ranger. Luke was glad she had varied interests and she was a smart girl; what she put her mind to, she accomplished.

“I like it here too.”

“And there’s lots to do,” Maddie said, looking at her dad. “Biking and ziplining and hiking.”

“That there is.” He put his hand out and Maddie gave him a high five.

They sat quietly fishing for a minute before Madison spoke up again. “Dad, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Do you think you’ll ever get married again?”

Luke coughed and nearly dropped his fishing pole. From forest ranger to remarriage? “Uh, Mads, what makes you ask that?”

“Olivia and I were talking. We decided that you’re not too old yet. You could find someone nice if you tried.”

“Oh, thanks. It’s nice of you and Olivia to think about my love life.” He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but he was certain he didn’t want to have this conversation with his eleven-year-old daughter. At least she hadn’t said she needed a mother.

“Well, just think about it. Olivia says men need to be married. There are lots of websites to help you.”

“Wait; what do you know about dating websites?” Luke was anxious to change the subject.

“Everyone knows about them, Dad,” Maddie said matter-of-factly. “I’ve never been on one, but Olivia’s older brother has. That’s how he met his girlfriend. It’s just a thought if you decide to move forward.”

He stared at his daughter from the corner of his eye, vowing to listen more carefully when Olivia and Madison were talking. Holding his breath for more advice, he exhaled with relief when it didn’t come.

Abby Hart popped into his mind. Looking out over the lake, he frowned, and butterflies fluttered in his stomach like a fish on the line. He was attracted to Abby, no two ways about it. But she was promised to another man. When he’d heard they’d postponed their wedding to go through counseling, hope had sprung inside his chest. He’d actually thought about Abby as the woman who would fit in his and Maddie’s life. Then guilt bit like a vise as he realized he needed to pray for God’s best, and if for Abby that was Ethan, he needed to step back.

Even if Ethan weren’t in the picture, Luke remembered how his marriage to Maddie’s mother had ended: in a telephone screaming match that concluded with her so distracted she ran her car into oncoming traffic and died instantly. Over the years the horror of that moment had faded, but from time to time he felt a pinch in his heart —guilt, regret, a mixture of both —and embarrassment about how he’d been so wrapped up in himself he’d not seen how his wife needed him, how she was begging for him to hear her.

All he’d heard, all he’d cared about then, was his own ego, his own desires. He’d come home to a motherless daughter and vowed to hear her, to be there for her, and to somehow make amends for the loss of a mother. Would he be different if there were another wife in the picture? Reeling in his line to check the bait, he realized he wasn’t sure.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he doubted there would ever be another marriage for him. He couldn’t fail a woman like that again. Ever.