Page 80 of Built of Second Chances

Tessa nodded, memories flooding her. She’d been terrified that day, even more terrified than when she’d woken up from her coma. He’d been so angry. A few months later and she was happier than she’d ever been.

Flynn popped up to the dock and she handed him the ropes to tie the canoe. Then he lifted her easily. All those months ago, it had been embarrassing for him to see her weakness. Now, it didn’t bother her at all. He knew everything about her, knew the reasons for her scars. And he loved her anyway.

Inside the cabin, she fired up the pellet stove. The cabin blocked the wind, but it was still cold inside. Flynn grabbed the quilt off the bed and moved to wrap it around her. “You’re freezing.”

That made her laugh. “So are you. Thanks for counting turtles with me. You didn’t have to do that.”

He grinned. “As a kid, I never imagined paddling a canoe while there was snow on the ground and searching the bottom of a lake for snoozing turtles.”

“Me neither.”

He hugged her and swayed them slightly back and forth. “Ever think about going back to school and getting the qualifications to teach math like you always wanted? You’re free to do that now.”

She opened her mouth to respond, but realized she didn’t have a ready answer. “I honestly haven’t thought about it.”

He kissed her nose. “Think about it. You’ve got choices now. You need to do what makes you happy.”

She did have choices. In large part to the man holding her closely. She shifted the thoughts about in her head. What did she want?

And that answer cleared it all up for her.

Tessa used a finger to lightly poke Flynn’s chest and he backed up a step. Then another. She moved with him, kept her other arm around him.

“What are you doing?”

She grinned at the confusion on his face. “I’m doing what makes me happy.” Then she poked him again. Her cowboy went willingly and when his legs backed into the bed, he grinned.

With a final poke, he tumbled back to the bed, with her in his arms.

She rubbed the spot she’d poked then kissed it. “Remember the last time we were here?”

Flynn nodded and sighed. “Everything was such a mess back then. I was so angry.”

“You had a right to be.”

He rolled them over and then took his weight on his elbows. “No. I didn’t.”

She smiled. “Your world had been turned upside down. Everything you’d thought about me for the past decade was proven wrong. You were entitled to a hissy fit or two.”

Flynn’s eyes widened. “Hissy fit? I don’t have hissy fits.”

Tessa laughed. “If you say so. You were entitled to storm off in a manly fashion.”

He nodded, eyes twinkling. “Much better. Although I think there might have been a bit of cowboy swagger in there.”

“Sexy cowboy swagger.” She ran her fingers along his scruffy jaw. “You know what I was thinking then?”

“You were thinking of disappearing on me.”

She nodded. “Aside from that. I was thinking that I wanted to stay right here in this bed with you forever. I wanted to forget the past, forget the threats, forget the fear. I wanted to strip you naked and lick you from top to bottom. I wanted you to hold me and make love to me. Forever.”

Flynn’s eyes had misted as she spoke. “I wanted all that, too. Even through the anger and the confusion and the fear. I wanted that future with you from the first moment.”

“And now we have it. Our second chance.”

He kissed her, long and deep. Emotions swirled inside her and each one was positive and happy.

“I don’t want to go back to school. I don’t want to teach Math anymore. Instead, I want to stay right here at Midnight Lake and count turtles and birds and frogs. I want to figure out how we can learn from them to help cope with climate change, and how we can stop screwing up the earth. I want to watch you and the others make the world a safer place as Tansy figures out how to make everything better. I want Midnight Lake and I want you.”

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