Page 10 of Second Chance Valentine

“I think I can round up some guys to help with the clean up.”

“This is amazing, Bran. Thanks for doing this.”

“Of course. I’m happy to do it.”

His face lights up and I’m reminded of the sweet boy I fell in love with. My Bran, who would do anything for anybody. My heart breaks a little thinking about this sweet man who wears his heart on his sleeve, watching people struggle and suffer and not being able to do anything about it.

“I need to go. I’m meeting Mariah and Fi for lunch,” I say, pushing the thoughts from my mind. I need to move forward. There’s no point looking back.

???

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Fiona, bachelorette for life, is fanning her eyes as if tears are about to burst forth at any moment.

“Come on. Even I can see how romantic it is! The love of your life has a near death experience and all he can think about is getting back home to you?”

“He cooked you dinner and sprung into action to make your gymnasium dance dreams come true.” Mariah says, with the same dreamy look in her eyes.

“Well, I think that’s a bit overdramatized.” I roll my eyes. “Anyway, I think it’s just a reaction to trauma. Something bad happened to him. It’s only natural for him to want to come home and get readjusted. He’ll get bored soon and want to travel the world again.”

“Did he say he was only here temporarily?”

“Well, no. He said he was home for good. But I’m sure he’ll change his mind.”

“You’re afraid he’ll change his mind.’

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m not afraid, because it doesn’t matter. Either way, it doesn’t really affect me.”

My two best friends exchange glances. “What if he does stay?” Mariah asks. “What if he doesn’t give up or get bored and all he wants is forever with you?”

I can’t bring myself to answer that question. What happens if you spend too long convincing yourself you don’t want something you can’t have?

EIGHT

Branson

The familiar scent of leather and horses surrounds me as I watch Baylor gently rub his hands over the gelding, getting him used to being touched. The calming effect of being around horses is another thing I forgot while I was away.

“Hand me that saddle blanket,” he says in a quiet monotone.

I tug the striped wool blanket off a nearby hook and pass it to him. As he allows the horse to sniff the blanket and then gently rubs it on the horse’s shoulder, there’s a softness in his eyes that replaces that dark intensity that usually resides there. The process of “sacking out” or getting the horse used to things touching them in a way that helps him feel safe and relaxed seems to be working on Baylor just as well as the horse.

“I need your help with something.”

“What’s that?” Baylor says, his eyes still fixed on the beautiful white horse in front of him.

“I’m cleaning up the old Evergreen School gymnasium and I need some extra hands to help me.”

Baylor glances up, his brows furrowed. “Why?”

“A lot of the senior citizens in town remember having dances there when they were teenagers. They’re planning to have a Valentine’s Dance there to recreate the parties they used to have. For nostalgia and all that.”

His eyebrows raise. “How did you get wrangled into this?”

“Well… Ginger was trying to figure out where to have the dance and she mentioned something about the old gym. So I asked around and got the ball rolling.”

“Ahhh,” he says, nodding with a smug look on his face. “Ginger.”

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