Page 77 of Second Chance Alaska

“No, but I found this in the shed,” he said, handing Oliver a note.

With a shaky hand, he took it and read the letter in Tess’s handwriting:

Gone to live on Fishermen’s Peak with Ginger. Love you. P.S. Thanks for the paddleboard—I love it.

Oliver blinked, then reread the note. She was going to live on the island? His daughter had run away from home? What...why? He frowned as he looked up at Callan. “Was the paddleboard gone?”

Callan nodded. “At least we know where she was headed,” he said.

Grateful for a starting point at least, his fears of abduction mostly erased, now Oliver had to worry about whether his daughter had safely made it to the island several miles off the coast.

And why she’d decided to run away.

ANHOURLATER, the coast guard rescue vessel, with Skylar at the helm, was leaving the dock, and Carly hurried down the pier toward a devastated-looking Oliver.

The sight of him made her chest ache. All morning, she’d been worried sick about Tess to the point where she’d closed the store to look for her. Getting Oliver’s text about the little girl’s whereabouts had been both a welcome relief and another source of worry. The night before, the weather hadn’t been great. Had Tess made it to the island on the paddleboard before nightfall? Before the weather had gotten bad? Where was she now and why wasn’t she answering her text messages and calls?

And why on earth had she run away?

She slowed her pace as she reached Oliver and he turned to face her. His worried expression had seemed to age him; the tired look on his expression and the sag in his shoulders had her heart breaking for him. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but she hung back, unsure, their argument and the way they’d left things lingering in the tension surrounding them.

They needed to put everything else aside right now as they waited to find Tess, to bring her back home safely...but there was so much uncertainty and pain around them.

“Don’t worry. Skylar and the crew will find her,” she said reassuringly.

But the moment was too familiar—those reassuring words werefartoo familiar. Once again, the two of them were standing helpless on the docks, while the coast guard looked for his family. Her family.

“Thank you for being here,” Oliver said, his voice sounding hoarse as he stared into her eyes.

“Where else would I be?” she asked.

Despite everything, she loved him. She loved Tess. There was nowhere else in the world she would rather be right now than by Oliver’s side. He should know that she always had,wouldalways have his back. Be there for him no matter what.

But she hadn’t exactly supported him in regard to the lighthouse...

Her stomach knotted at the realization of the source of Oliver’s anger toward her. He thought she was turning her back on him in that situation. She wasn’t. She just hadn’t been able to tell him quite everything yet...

There was so much to say, so much to tell him and discuss, but now wasn’t the right time.

They stood there in silence, watching the coast guard boat move farther away, heading to Fishermen’s Peak. Lost in their own thoughts, their own emotions, they waited together.

The search for Tess lasted barely two hours, but they were the longest two hours of Carly’s life. A small crowd of parents and a few local store owners who’d heard about Tess’s escapade had gathered. All-too-familiar memories were haunting her thoughts.

Years before, standing there, waiting... It had been torture.

That day, old feelings had resurfaced and the pain of the tragedy had come sweeping back from where it had reluctantly been repressed.

When the news from Skylar came in that they’d found her, she’d touched Oliver’s arm gently, supportively, but his body language told her he needed space in that moment, so she’d kept her distance, allowing him to deal with the incredible sense of relief on his own.

She’d longed to hold him, to offer comfort and receive some in response, but she suspected his mind and heart were as conflicted as hers.

What mattered now was that Tess had been found. Safe. A little cold and wet, but okay.

Her paddleboard had been on the shore of Fishermen’s Peak and her cell phone battery was dead. She’d done all the right things by staying put, instead of trying to head back out on the rough water. She’d stayed close to the shore and had lit a small fire.

They continued to watch the coast guard vessel approach, and when it docked at the marina, Oliver raced toward it. Tess was on deck and she burst into tears immediately upon seeing her dad. She climbed off the boat, wrapped in a thermal blanket and holding the kitten, and Oliver opened his arms to her. She ran into them and Carly’s chest tightened at the sight of the two people she loved most in the world. She wanted to join in the embrace, wanted to hold them tight and never let go.

But her feet remained frozen on the spot as her conflicted heart told her the gesture may not be appreciated.

---