A neighborhood fundraiser added another 18,000 for landscaping, a shade pavilion, and a brass dedication plaque. 40 volunteers showed up on build day. We finished in three weekends. The salt-stained concrete where Brenda's spa used to sit was replaced with rubberized safety surfacing in blue and green, Elena's colors. Doug Caldwell pleaded guilty to misuse of public office before the case ever reached trial.
He lost his seat on the planning commission, received 200 hours of community service, and paid a $12,000 fine. His license for notarizing county documents was revoked. He never looked me in the eye again. Brenda and Doug listed their house 3 weeks after the court ruling. They sold it at a $40,000 loss.
The buyers were a young couple with twin daughters who told me they'd chosen the house specifically because of the splash park next door. "It's like having a free water park in your backyard." the wife said. I didn't tell her the full story. She'd hear it eventually. On the morning Brenda left Willow Creek for the last time, she drove her white Escalade down Pecan Lane past the new splash park.
It was a Saturday and the spray jets were running. 60 kids were screaming and laughing chasing each other through the mushroom fountain while their parents sat under the shade pavilion. The brass plaque on the entrance post read, "Willow Creek Community Splash Park built with recovered community funds designed by Garrett Holloway." Brenda drove past without turning her head. She accelerated through the stop sign at the end of the street and was gone.
I used the settlement money, the $8,200 for pool repairs, the voided $15,000 lien, and a modest damages award to establish the Elena Holloway Memorial Swim Scholarship. It funds free swimming lessons for children in Willow Creek and three surrounding neighborhoods. Colton helped me design the application form. He wanted to include a question, "What does water mean to you?" We kept it.
The night of the splash park's grand opening, after the last family had gone home and the spray jets had been turned off for the night, Colton and I walked back to our house and swam in our pool. Just the two of us. The waterfall poured over the limestone. The LEDs shifted from blue to green. The saltwater was warm and still.
The railing I'd re-bent after the pool invasion held steady under my hand. Colton floated on his back, looking up at the stars. "Dad?" "Yeah, bud?" "You think Mom would have liked the splash park?"
I looked at the water moving through the stones she'd chosen, under the lights she'd picked, in the shape she'd drawn from a hospital bed. "She would have loved it, buddy. She always said water should bring people together." He smiled and dove under. I watched the ripples settle in the blue-green glow and listened to the waterfall.
Elena's waterfall. Still running. Still beautiful. Still ours.