“Yes ma’am.”
“Are you headed back over there now?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Don’t waste a moment. You never know how long your timeline is. Make every single day count and you’ll have no regrets.” She pressed her palms together. “I think you might be exactly what she needs in her life. I have a very high regard for you both.”
She started up the steps but stopped and turned. “Another thing. She was supposed to start a home-based business when she moved here, but there was a snag and she’s going to have to teach instead. Be a good listener. I bet you can figure something out together.”
“Thank you.” He headed to his truck, flattered and empowered by Maeve’s words. Was there actually a chance that he and Amanda could be together? When Jack was alive, she was off-limits. Back then, he didn’t care how broken his heart was—he loved them both and he wouldn’t put Amanda and Jack’s marriage at risk. But now…No one would sweep in and take her away from him this time.
He jumped into his truck and sat there and cried. Not tears for Jack. Not tears of anger. Tears of hope.
He’d thought the location here on Whelk’s Island had been perfect because of its proximity to Camp Lejeune, but was it meant to bring him back into Amanda’s life all the time? He’d never been one to believe in coincidences, but now faced with one, he could only hope.
The little voice in the back of his mind told him not to get ahead of himself. If nothing else, I have fences to mend. I’m grateful for that second chance.
As he steered the truck back onto the road, his heart beat so hard that he hoped he didn’t wreck on the short drive over to Amanda’s. That would be his luck. I’ve got to see her again. Second chances like this don’t happen…Not to me.
He pulled in front of the house. That little shanty looked like a home now.
The message on that shell still sitting in his glove box popped into his mind. Can there still be a chance?
He hadn’t specifically said he was coming right back, but by the time he opened his truck door, she was already heading out the front door with a huge smile on her face.
“This is us.” She spread her arms wide as he approached the gate. The hinge creaked as she pushed it open. “I’ve used a whole can of WD-40 on that thing. There’s no hope.” She swatted at it.
“Redneck burglar alarm. Consider it an upgrade.” He followed her into the yard. “And there’s always hope.”
They walked past Hailey and Jesse seated at a kid-size plastic table under a tree in the shade. Hailey sat at the head with two teddy bears and a baby doll, and Jesse was sipping from teensy pink plastic teacups. Hailey wore a tiara and held her pinkie extended. No surprise there. It’s why he’d always called her Lightning Bug. She had a sparkle to her, that kid. Always had, just like her momma.
“Do you feel like this is a dream?” He tried to keep his tone from sounding too wistful.
“Sort of. I keep thinking about how mean I was to you.”
“Stop. Don’t apologize. It was a terrible time for everyone. I’m just pleased to see you looking so happy. You look just like I remembered.” He followed her to the picnic table and they both sat down. “Hailey has gotten so big. She’s losing that little-girl look.”
He still remembered the day he and Jack stood at the nursery window at the hospital, looking at that little pink face peeking out from under the blanket. Her hands were so tiny. When Jack laid Hailey in Paul’s arms, Paul was afraid her fingers might break if he touched them.
He and Jack had passed out pink-label cigars for days. By the time Jesse was born, they didn’t bother with the cigars. Instead they filled the entire bed of Jack’s pickup truck with boxes of Krispy Kreme “It’s a Boy” doughnuts with blue filling. They’d even taken a picture of Jesse holding one of them. Well, not holding it, exactly. More like it dangling from his arm like a giant inner tube. He wondered if Jesse’s favorite color was still blue.
“Wow, you’ve been busy with this place. What a difference.” He glanced around the yard.
Pride perked at the edge of her smile. “Yeah, I paid my real estate agent’s son to mow down everything that wasn’t a tree so I could start from scratch. It made a huge difference.”
“I like what you did with all the planter boxes. Your herbs?”
“Of course.”
Hailey kept staring at him, and he wasn’t sure what to say after this afternoon. Amanda noticed it too.
“Hailey and Jesse, Paul was Daddy’s and my best friend. He was even there when you were each born.”
Hailey got up and walked to their end of the table. “I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, Lightning Bug.” When Hailey giggled, all those peekaboos, goodbye waves, and memories of carrying her from the car to the house came crashing in on him. “I’m sorry I’ve been away.”
She reached out and touched his hand. “I’m glad you got to come back.”
Unlike Jack. Those unspoken words hung on his heart. “Yeah.”
“Don’t ever leave us again.” Hailey’s lips pulled into a tight line.
“Hailey, that’s not polite.” Amanda looked mortified.
“That’s fair,” he said. “I don’t want to leave again, Hailey. And, Jesse, do you know how big you were the last time I saw you?”
Jesse was a pint-size version of his best friend. Paul held his hand down at about the midpoint of his thigh. “Not much bigger than this high.”
“I was little.”
“You’re a big boy now.”
Jesse lifted his arms and made muscles. His body quivered as he struck the pose.
Paul reached over and squeezed his bicep. “Wow. You are strong.”
“From digging moats. I’m a really fast digger. It makes your arms burn.”
“I taught him everything he knows.” Hailey stepped in front
