He gasped in a lung full of air once he finally managed to kick his way to the pond's surface. His fingers scrabbled wetly against the offered surface of the rocky surrounding of the rippling water as Cole Landry struggled his way towards drier land.
For all his effort he hadn't managed to catch that sly dog to return the animal to its rightful owners.
It's what Jake would have wanted.
Alright, so his son would have preferred to keep the dog for himself but with a little more time before he disappeared Colton was sure they could have talked his son into seeing a little more reason into returning the dog to his true family.
He'd had a little time before his next grief meeting, and it had been something to take his mind just a little from the broken spiral that had become his life and family since Jacob vanished.
The sounds of the animal he was looking for stopping to shake some of the pond water from his sopping coat pulls Cole's attention from attempting to salvage his own waterlogged clothes. Until his searching eyes spot what seems to be a backpack apparently hidden clumsily under some brush nearby.
Inside the discarded pack he finds a folded blanket along with carefully rolled-up clothes.
He'd just shaken out the blanket and wrapped the drier thing around his shaking shoulders when he heard it.
Or more importantly, he hears Del.
"Finn? Ffffiiinnn. Come on you goofball boy it's supper time."
The mention of food has Colton's stomach rumbling with hunger over the fact he'd skipped lunch to start his dog hunt. Not to mention it earns an agreeing bark from the animal still dripping water onto the snow-dusted ground.
Then he heard another voice catching up to his wife's closing in one as the pair trudged closer to the tree line ahead of him.
"I'll go get him Grams, don't worry."
Alice.
"You go back inside, warm up, and make sure that stellar hot chocolate you've been promised doesn't burn before I can try it. Alright?" the teenager bargains.
"Well, don't you go falling into that pond too. It's smack in the middle of wintertime and Kat will have a fit if you catch a cold now." Cole hears his wife playfully scolding "I will too, and you wouldn't want to make your old Gran suffer so, would you?"
Alice laughs then and for the first time since Kathren had brought the girl over for dinner that first time did Colten realizes just how similar Alice's laughter is to his own daughter's. "Don't worry, it's not like I can go back in time or anything." But it's the way the teenager says the words that catch Cole's and Del's attention.
She sounds so.
Broken at the idea of not actually being able to go back in time. If such a thing would even be possible outside of a fantasy novel.
"Okay, so no time traveling just go fetch our runaway dog and I'll go back to the house for some towels for the both of you and a fresh cup of hot chocolate."
"Fin get away from you again?"
This voice Colton doesn't recognize at first. Mostly because the owner of said tone hadn't been seen in town in a long, long time.
"Elliott, no."
Rose?
"Mom, El." Alice seemed so happy now as the shadow of the speaking teenager moved as if hugging each newcomer in turn when they walked close enough. "Gran made dinner. Wanna join us?"
"Finally decided to rejoin the world again huh." Del was saying as Colton sneaked closer as quietly as he could in his waterlogged state.
"Mom come on." Rose's voice complains making the creeping man stop completely on his wife's next laugh-filled words.
"Oh, come on, Kathren. For one I'm just happy. I've missed seeing you actually smiling and happy for once since you've come back here." Del counters "not to mention the fact you've finally proven your father right; Lord rest his soul when you two finally decided to start seeing each other as more than just friends."
"Okay and on that note, I'm going to go Finn hunting." Alice's voice steps in as the listening father becomes rooted to the spot in his shock at the words.
"Yeah, I'll come with you." Rose- No Kat's- voice follows.
"Uh, don't you mean we'll come with you, Right Kat?" Elliott's voice corrects as Cole catches the taller man dipping his head to press a kiss against the dark hair of the woman at his side.
"Not tired of me yet huh?" his adult daughter laughs in teasing leaning more into her boyfriend's hold.
"Not a chance, Katty Kat."
"Oh, please don't start that again." His daughter complained, "and no, just for that you go back to the house with Mom and help finish up dinner."
"Oohhh" Alice snickers "You're in trouble."
"Alice." Del scolds but even Coleten can hear the amusement in his wife's voice.
"What?" the girl who was turning out to be his own grandchild asks in mock offense at the rebuff.
"Go on, El." Kat was shooing away as her listening father inched closer all thoughts of following once again vanished Finn lost in the realization of what he was hearing from the start of the tree line.
"Kat come on."
And just like that it was as if Colton was back unintentionally eavesdropping on a talk with his should-be teenage daughter and her best friend.
"Okay, you two enough with the mushy stuff. We need to find Fi…"
Alice was stopped by the rush of paws before the dog skidded to a stop at her side. His coat was heavy with pond water and the biggest puppy grin on his face as he looked up at her.
"Oh, Finn. Look at you." Del huffs "You know one of these days I'm going to find some way of keeping your furry hide from that pond." she threatens with only mild venom in her words.
"I've got him." Elliott promises already dipping to pick up the water-coated dog before the returned pooch has a chance to bolt again.
"Alright, now all of you back to the house before it gets any darker or colder." Del was instructing. "I'm going to go check on Miss then I'll join you."
The other three nod in agreement with Colten making the quick choice to follow his wife from a safe enough distance once his legs unfreeze enough for him to walk as the others break away towards their own destinations.