Page 44 of Wynter's Second Chance

I stepped closer, taking the carrot from his outstretched hand. His fingers brushed mine—just for a second, quick enough to pass as nothing but long enough to leave a spark in its wake.

Clearing my throat, I focused on positioning the carrot just right. “There. Our snowman officially has a nose.”

“Good work, team,” Taran said, stepping back with a grin.

Rory tilted his head, inspecting the snowman’s face like a sculptor appraising his work. “He’s missing something. We still need a smile.”

“Pebbles?” I suggested.

“I’ll get them!” Rory dashed off toward the edge of the yard, his boots kicking up sprays of snow as he went.

I watched Rory go, then Taran caught my eye. His smile softened, small and private, and it hit me square in the chest with the force of something much bigger.

This. This was what I’d been missing without even knowing it—a family, laughter, something to hold onto. And Taran? He was at the heart of it, grounding me in ways I never thought possible.

Rory came trotting back, holding a handful of small stones he’d plucked from beneath the trees. “Got them!”

He crouched by the snowman’s face, carefully pressing the pebbles into the snow to form a crooked grin. When he stepped back, brushing his gloves together, his whole face lit up. “There! Now he’s perfect.”

I couldn’t help but grin at the pride in his voice, the way his smile stretched wider than the snowman’s.

Taran smiled too, easy and fond. “Nice work, kiddo. Team effort.”

Rory beamed, his gaze shifting between the snowman and us. “Yeah. We make a good team, don’t we?”

Taran and I exchanged a glance over Rory’s head. There was something unspoken in that moment, something warm and certain. For just a heartbeat, it felt like we were already a team. Not just in the snow fight. In everything.

Without a shadow of doubt, if love was the mission, then Taran and Rory were my home base. I loved them both.

CHAPTER 20

TARAN

“Wynter—Rory’s missing.” Taran’s voice shook so badly it was barely recognizable.

His words didn’t register. Missing? Missing? Then my heart dropped like a stone. I tightened my grip on my phone. “What? Missing? How?”

“He didn’t come home at five like I told him to, so I called Matthew’s mom, Nancy. She said he left two hours ago. She watched him walk toward the house and go through the gate. She even waited until he went in before she turned back inside. But he isn’t here, Wyn! He isn’t here!” His voice cracked into a shriek.

“Taran, stay put. I’m coming right over.”

“I—what should I do? What can I do? I?—”

“Did you call the police?”

“Yes! They’re already mobilized, and some members of the community are searching. But I feel so helpless, Wyn. What if something happened to him?”

Taran’s voice cracked under the weight of his fear, and it twisted something deep inside me. This wasn’t just worry; it was the kind of bone-deep dread that only a parent could feel.

“Call the moms of the kids he plays with. Maybe he went to someone else’s house,” I said, keeping my tone steady, even though I felt his panic tugging at me. He didn’t need me to spiral with him. He needed me to be solid. “I’ll be at your place in five.”

My mind raced through possibilities—most of them harmless, though I couldn’t stop the darker scenarios from sneaking in. But I couldn’t afford to let doubt or fear take over. Taran needed me to think clearly, to be the calm in the storm he was weathering.

He had to stay positive.Wehad to stay positive. Rory was smart and resourceful; the kid wasn’t careless. I held onto that thought like a lifeline. Whatever was going on, we’d find him. Taran couldn’t afford to drown in his fears, and neither could I. I had to be the one to keep him grounded.

I ended the call and gripped the steering wheel tightly, my knuckles whitening. I started the truck and floored it toward Taran’s house. The roads were slick with ice and patches of packed snow from the last storm, but I barely noticed. My hands gripped the wheel like a lifeline.

Taran’s call had come while I was parked outside the sheriff’s office, after finalizing arrangements for Lisa to receive the summons for our divorce. Just a couple of days ago, I’d had one of the best Christmases of my life. Spending the day with Taran and Rory had felt like stepping into a world I’d only dreamed of—a world where I belonged. While Taran was out that morning, the electronically generated summons had arrived. I was working out the details for delivery to Lisa with the sheriff, never imagining that I’d get a call like this from Taran.

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