Page 4 of Dragon Daddy's Second Chance

***Wren***

Wren stood at the bedroom window of the cabin she was sharing with Susan, looking out into the trees, but she wasn’t seeing the birds that filled the branches or the ocean that rolled onto the beach in the distance. She was thinking about Blake, wondering why after all this time, the sight of a man who looked a little like him could completely destroy her.

Deep down she knew that the choice she’d made all those years ago had been the right one. It never would have worked between them, they came from different worlds. Too much had separated them, and she firmly believed that Blake had known it as well; it was the only explanation for his hiding his wealthy family and privileged background. Feeling the anger rising over her other feelings, she indulged it, preferring the emotion to the pain of her broken heart and missing him, but it didn’t last long, and the ache in her heart was soon back.

“What are you doing in here staring out the window?” Susan asked. “There’s a beach just waiting for us out there. Get changed and let’s go, I don’t want to waste a minute of our time here.”

She turned to face her friend, forcing herself to smile. “Sorry, I got distracted, I’ve never stayed in a cabin that sits up in the trees,” she said. “Have you seen all the birds out there?”

Susan studied her for a second. “You’re lying,” she finally said with a sigh. “You’re thinking about Blake again, aren’t you?”

“I’m sorry, I just can’t help it,” she said, sitting down onthe bed. “I don’t want to feel like this, I want to forget him. I want to move on with my life…”

“Then get changed, and let’s head down to the beach,” Susan said. “I bet there are some single men on the island. Maybe if you just tried talking to one of them it would help. There are lots of other fish in the sea.”

She looked over at Susan, who had a silly smile on her face, and groaned. “If that was a joke, it was a terrible one,” she said, then laughed. “Okay, maybe it wasn’t terrible, but come on, fish in the sea?”

“But it made you laugh, so it was worth it,” Susan said, grinning at her. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving, let’s pick up something to eat in the village and take it with us. I saw a sandwich shop, I bet they could pack us a picnic.”

At the mention of food her stomach began to growl. “It has been a long time since we ate,” she said. “A picnic on the beach sounds great, then we can swim it off.”

“Not me, I’m going to sleep it off,” Susan said. “We’ve been up since before dawn. I don’t know how you have the energy to swim, but the walk down there will be about as much as I can handle.”

“You know how I get around the water,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I didn’t realize how much I missed it. The ocean feels like home, I never should have left it.”

“Well, you can always come back,” Susan said, then hesitated. “Wren, your parents want to see you. They know that they messed up, they want to make it up to you and be there for you now.”

The memory of the night her parents kicked her out of the house surfaced in her mind. She still remembered every ugly word they’d said to her, remembered the pain and humiliation of having her clothes thrown across the front yard. It was impossible to forget her father screaming at her from the front porch as she stuffed everything into her car orerase the feeling of devastation when she realized that the two people who should have loved her no matter what were turning their backs on her when she needed them the most.

“That’s not going to happen,” she said, shaking her head. “We’ve been over this a million times. You know how I feel, so let’s not bring it up again.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Susan said. “I’m just being selfish. I want you back home, Wren. Dublin is so far away, I worry about you all the time alone in that big city.”

“I’m not alone, Susan,” she said. “I have friends and neighbors, people who truly care about me. I wish we could see each other more often, but I have bills to pay and responsibilities that I can’t ignore.”

“I miss you,” Susan said. “But we’re not supposed to be worrying about real life right now, we’re on vacation. Let’s go get some food and hit the beach.”

After climbing down the ladder that suspended the cabin up in the trees and protected it from being washed away during a hurricane, they took the path to the village. “This is so amazing,” Susan said when they stepped off the path. “It looks just like what you’d think a tropical village should look like. I feel like I’ve stepped onto a movie set.”

Smiling at her friend’s enthusiasm, she looked around at the huts forming a circle around a grouping of tables under a big canopy, unconsciously scanning the faces for Blake. When she realized what she was doing, she looked over at her friend, hoping she hadn’t noticed, but Susan was already on the move, heading directly for the sandwich hut and their lunch.

She was a few steps behind her when the back of a man’s head caught her attention. Her heart began to pound as she stared at him, and she had to take a deep breath when a wave of dizziness hit her. Thinking that her worst fear was coming true, she studied the man, too panicked to move, sure that itwas Blake, and telling herself that she needed to get out of there.

“I have to go,” she finally said, grabbing Susan’s arm. “I have to get out of here.”

“Hey, hold on,” Susan said, following her gaze. “It’s not him, Wren, calm down.”

“It is him,” she said. “I’m not imagining things, he’s the right height, his hair is the right color…”

Her words died away when the man turned to face them, and their eyes met. Relief flooded her when she realized it wasn’t Blake, but she kept staring at the man. She finally managed to tear her eyes away, feeling a blush rising on her cheeks, and then, to her horror, the man started toward them. The people in line behind them blocked her exit and she was forced to stand there as the man closed the distance between them, a confused look on his face.

“Do I know you?” he asked. “You look really familiar.”

“No, I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m sorry I was staring, you look a little bit like someone I used to know.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I’m Sam, by the way,” he said, sticking out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

She shook his hand. “Wren,” she said. “Have you been on the island long?”

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