Take a Chance on Me(71)

Oops. Too late for that.





Darek wasn’t sure how he’d gone from the turmoil inside to a place where he just wanted to forget the steaks roasting on the grill and wrap his arms around Ivy.

What had he been thinking, opening up his regrets, his mistakes for her full-on scrutiny?

Ivy was just so easy to talk to. She listened without judgment. With compassion. And talking to her somehow unknotted the anger in his chest.

Darek took a breath and turned back to the grill, waving his mitt through the smoke. “They’re going to think we’ve started the forest on fire.” He could feel his heart thundering through his ribs, sense her standing behind him.

It was just the adrenaline of the day, the way she’d taken his hand, helped extricate him from the embarrassment in town. Agreed to join him for dinner, giving him yet another chance.

He glanced across the lake, where a light flickered on at Jensen’s place.

A strange, unbidden longing went through him. Hey, Jens, wanna go fishing?

Darek blew out a breath, checked the steaks. Despite their crispy exteriors, they still seemed juicy. He slid them onto the serving plate. “Want to eat down by the lake?”

When he turned, he found Ivy already holding the bowl of tossed salad, plates topped with the napkin rolls in her other hand. He picked up the Cokes, tucked the dressing under his arm, and nodded toward a picnic table at the water’s edge.

She led the way, looking so pretty in that sundress, the wind playing with her hair. She’d probably be cold now that the sun was nearly gone. Maybe he’d help solve that.

Oh, see, here he was, moving too fast again.

Ivy set the bowl on the table and added the plates, side by side so they could watch the lake together. She set down the napkins and climbed onto the bench.

“When I was twelve, the foster family I lived with went camping. I lay in my tent all night, shivering, terrified of the sounds. But I loved the idea of eating outside. And by the end of the week, I couldn’t wait for the next year’s adventure.”

“And were you scared the next time?”

She dished salad onto her plate, then forked one of the steaks. “Yum. This looks delicious.”

He frowned. “Ivy?”

“I was moved three months later, right before Christmas. I never saw that family again.”

Oh. “I’m sorry.”

She lifted a shoulder. “It was okay most of the time. I got used to moving. The hardest was the time I almost got adopted.” He watched her tackle her steak, cutting it into tiny pieces before she picked up a bite.

“What happened?”

She sighed. “It was an older couple. Professionals. They didn’t have kids and wanted a son and a daughter, so they took in me and a boy about a year older. He was cute, athletic. Stayed out of trouble. Me, I was bookish.” She looked at him, a smile on her face.

Darek didn’t feel like smiling.

“One day the man left his money clip on the kitchen table, and twenty dollars went missing. I wasn’t sure if Brooks had taken it, but I certainly hadn’t. They interrogated me, and although I told them the truth, they didn’t believe me. I have a feeling Brooks pinned it on me, but . . . they sent me back about a week later.” She took another bite of her steak.

He’d lost his appetite. In fact, he felt sick. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I survived.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Ivy.”

She gave him a little frown. “Why?”

“Why aren’t you broken and angry and . . . ? You’re so put together.”

The laugh she gave sounded nothing like humor. More like chagrin, maybe. “I . . . just kept dreaming of something more, you know? I made sure I didn’t get attached. I had to believe that someday . . . well . . .” She seemed to be searching his eyes. Across the lake, a loon mourned, low and long.

“Had to believe that someday . . . what?” he said softly.

Ivy looked away, shook her head. “It’s so beautiful. I would never leave if I lived here.” She closed her eyes, drawing in a breath.

“I don’t want you to.” He didn’t know where that came from, how it even emerged from him, but it surprised her as much as it did him because her eyes flew open.

He cupped his hand on her soft cheek. “You are so beautiful,” he said. Then he leaned in and kissed her.

It was just as he remembered from their date under the fireworks, just as he’d been trying to forget—not wanting to, but feeling like he’d probably had no right to kiss her in the first place.

Maybe it was a fluke, all of this. This woman, who now surrendered to him, letting him kiss her, moving her hands to palm his chest. The way, with her, he felt redeemed. As if the last five years might be healed in her embrace.