Chapter 23 - THE LESSONS OF WATER AND STONE
Nora trotted over to the water's edge once more, her tiny feet sinking slightly into the soft, cool sand where the gentle blue waves broke against the shore.
She bent down, searching through another cluster of smooth gray lake stones. The golden retriever puppy hovered right beside her, nudging a round pebble with its pink nose before barking softly at the splash of a passing minnow.
"Dad," Nora called out, turning her head back toward Adrian. "Why are the stones so smooth?"
Adrian walked over to her side, dropping smoothly onto his right knee so he was level with her frame. He picked up a small, perfectly rounded gray stone from the shallow water and placed it gently into her outstretched palm.
"Because the water touches them every single day, Nora," Adrian explained quietly, his voice a rich, soothing baritone. "When the waves roll over the rough edges for a long, long time, the sharp parts rub away until only the smooth stone is left behind."
Nora looked down at the stone in her hand, testing its cool, sleek surface with her thumb before looking up into his dark eyes. "Did the waves make you smooth too, Dad?"
The question was innocent, asked with the straightforward clarity that only a five-year-old could possess.
Adrian looked at her for a long moment, a subtle, deeply tender smile touching the corners of his lips. He reached out and lightly tapped the tip of her nose with his index finger, his dark tattoos catching the bright light of the sun.
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"Something like that, sweetheart," Adrian whispered softly. "You and your mother were the waves that rubbed the sharp edges away."
Nora grinned brightly, satisfied with the answer, and tossed the smooth stone back into the shallow water, watching the clear droplets splash into the air as Barnaby pounced toward the ripple.
