Page 27 of Dragon Daddy's Second Chance

“Dad doesn’t fuss over me like you do,” Theo complained. “He just lets me get on with it.”

Wren had to blink back tears when she heard her son call Blake dad, and had to clear her throat before she spoke. “Well, that’s fine for your dad, but your mom is going to worry and fuss,” she said, grinning at him. “It just means that I love you.”

“I love you too,” Theo grudgingly said, then let her give him a kiss.

“Have fun fishing,” she said, turning away from him, surprised to see Susan walking down the beach toward them.

“Are you mad at me?” her friend asked when she got close enough. “I wouldn’t blame you if you were, but you have to believe me, I didn’t know they were coming.”

“It’s okay, Susan, I know you would never do that to me,” she said. “We should sit down. That was a long walk on that ankle. You shouldn’t have come all the way down here.”

“I had to make sure we were okay, a little pain was worth it to know that you’re not mad at me,” Susan said, limping a little as they walked to the chairs. “How are things going with Blake and Theo?”

“Great, actually, Theo seems to accept Blake is his dad; they’ve been getting along really well,” she said, then shrugged her shoulders. “I know it won’t always be this easy; they have a lot of bonding to do, but I think this was the perfect place for them to start that process.”

“Where is Blake?” Susan asked. “I thought I saw him at themarina when I was walking over here, I could have sworn your sister was with him.”

She let out a groan. “That can’t be good,” she said. “Lisa and I got into this morning about me talking to Mom and Dad. She wants me to fix things with them because it’s ruining all their lives. As usual, she made it sound like it was all my fault and demanded that I forgive Mom and Dad so her life could go back to normal.”

“I can’t blame her. The gossip still gets going sometimes about that night, and let me tell you, people are not very kind about it,” Susan said, shaking her head. “No one ever says anything when I’m around, but your parents aren’t exactly popular in town, and I guess that spills over onto your sister.”

“I had no idea,” she said, then looked over at Susan. “Does it make me a terrible person because that makes me just a little bit happy?”

Susan shook her head. “No, I feel that way too,” she said, then hesitated. “Wren, I’m going to suggest something, and I just want you to listen before you shut me down.”

She had a pretty good idea what her friend was going to say. “If you’re going to suggest…” she started to say, but Susan cut her off with a look. “Okay, fine, I’ll listen, but I’m not making any promises.”

“I think you need to talk to your parents, not so they can apologize to you, not so you can forgive them and fix things,” she said. “I think you need closure. I think you need to tell them how you feel so you can move on. Until you do, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to heal completely. If that’s really a door that you’re ready to close, then do it, if not, well…”

Silence fell between them, but she was thinking about what Susan said, turning it over in her mind, trying to look past the torrent of emotion that swirled to life when she thought about facing her parents. She wondered if Susan was right, if avoiding them was only making it harder to let go ofwhat happened, if she was intentionally keeping the door open so she could hold onto her pain and anger. Maybe it was time to face them, time to look the ghosts of the past in the eye and put it all to rest once and for all.

“You might be right, I might need to get some closure,” she said. “Dragging all of this hurt and anger around with me is exhausting. Blake and I are going to start over, and I think this is something I have to do to really move on from the past.”

Susan reached out and took her hand. “I know it’s not going to be easy,” she said. “I’ll be right by your side if you want me there.”

“I wouldn’t dream of doing this without you there,” she said. “You’ve been there for me since we were six years old. You’re more than just my best friend, you’re my sister.”

CHAPTER 16

***BLAKE***

Blake was almost to the boat that would take him over to the big island when he heard someone calling his name, and turned to see Lisa hurrying down the dock toward him. “Blake, I didn’t think you heard me,” she said, flashing him a big smile. “You’re not leaving, are you? Wren will be so upset.”

“Just for a few hours. I have some business in Bermuda that can’t wait,” he said, instantly on his guard. “I’ll be back later this afternoon.”

“Oh, take me with you,” Lisa said, clamping her hands onto his arm. “I would love to do some shopping. We left on this trip so quickly that I barely had time to pack anything, and you know how girls love their clothes. I’m sure there’s room in that big boat for one more.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I mean, I think you’re supposed to clear it with Max before you leave the island or something,” he said, taking a step back. “Maybe you should check with him first.”

Lisa stuck with him. “Please, Blake,” she said, grabbing his arm again, this time making sure her breast brushed his arm. “He won’t even notice that I’m gone, and it would make me so happy.”

“It’s not up to me, Lisa,” he said, pulling away from her. “I can’t stop you from getting in the boat, but you’re not coming with me, I have things to do in town.”

Lisa began to pout. “Why are you being so mean to me?” she asked, then pushed her way past him and jumped into the boat. “I don’t need you to babysit me, I’ll be just fine on my own.”

Blake climbed on board and sat down as far from Lisa as he could get, then signaled to Brian that he was ready. “I have to radio in that I have an extra passenger,” he said. “It will just take a second, Mr. Watson.”

“Blake please, you’re the one in charge here,” he said, then looked over his shoulder. “I don’t suppose you could get rid of her.”

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