Page 3 of Dragon Daddy's Second Chance

Susan reached over and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry, Wren, I just hate to watch you wasting your life,” she said. “But I don’t want to fight either, I just want you to be happy.”

CHAPTER 2

***BLAKE***

After thanking Montgomery for letting him captain the boat, Blake threw his duffle onto the dock and climbed out of the boat, wondering if Max was going to meet him. He spotted him a second later, hurrying down the shore with a big smile on his face and decided that his friend looked happier than he’d ever seen him. Hoping that the island would be as good for him, he grabbed his bag and started toward Max, looking forward to catching up.

Just as he reached the shore, he caught a glimpse of the redhead from the boat as she disappeared down a path that led to what looked like a village. “Hey, buddy, it’s been too long,” Max said, smiling at him. “You haven’t changed a bit in all this time.”

“You either,” he said, craning his neck to look around Max, disappointed when he realized the woman was too far away to see her face.

Max backed up a couple of steps and then turned to see what he was looking at before looking back at him, but he wasn’t paying attention to his friend, he was watching the woman walk away, the sway of her hips so familiar it stirredhis blood. Forgetting Max was there, he started up the shore toward the little collection of huts, intent on catching up with the woman.

“Hey, you want to wait for me, this is my island after all,” Max said, catching up with him. “What’s with you anyway?”

“I think I see someone I know,” he said. “I have to see if it’s really her.”

Max followed him silently, but he didn’t miss the concerned look on his face, and wanted to assure his friend that he hadn’t lost his mind, but he wasn’t sure that he hadn’t. When they got to the village, he stopped and looked around, but there was no sign of the redhead and disappointment shot through him, a feeling so familiar he just let out a sigh.

“I don’t see her now,” he said, turning back to Max. “But if she’s here, you’d know. Maybe you could look her up or something. Her name is Wren Bennett. Well, it used to be, but I guess she could have gotten married or something.”

The thought that she might have married someone else made him feel a little sick, but it had been almost six years since he’s seen her, just because he couldn’t move on didn’t mean she was stuck in the past as well. Taking a deep breath, he fought the feeling off, and looked over at Max, surprised to see the concern on his face.

“Are you okay?” Max asked. “You look a little…frantic, I’ve never seen you like this before. Who is this woman?”

“I told you, Wren Bennett,” he said, beginning to get impatient. “I just need you to check your records or whatever, I need to know if she’s here.”

Max hesitated for a second, “I’m sorry, Blake, I really wish I could help you,” he finally said. “But those records are confidential. Even if she’s on the island I would be invading her privacy if I told you she was here.”

“So, you won’t help me?” he asked. “This is really important Max, I need to know if it’s her.”

“I can help you look for her, but I can’t tell you what’s in the records, especially since I don’t know who this woman is,” Max said, shaking his head. “It would be breaking rules I’ve put in place for everyone to follow, maybe if you told me a little more about her it might help.”

“Never mind, it probably wasn’t her anyway,” he said. “I know how you feel about love, you don’t want to hear about it.”

“I may not believe in love, but I can see that this woman messed you up but good,” Max said. “You’re my friend, Blake, that hasn’t changed. I want to hear about it, maybe talking about her will help.”

“I wish it was that simple,” he said, then sighed, “but I suppose you do deserve an explanation for my crazy behavior.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” Max said. “Let’s get some lunch. We can talk while we eat. You’re probably starving.”

Max sent him to find a table while he grabbed the food, then sat down across from him and started eating, giving him some time to gather his thoughts. “I met Wren the summer after we graduated from college when I went over to Ireland to work on the fishing boats,” he said. “Remember how angry you all were at me when I refused to tour Europe with you all?”

“We couldn’t understand why you turned down that trip to wrestle with fish,” Max said, shaking his head. “I think now I understand why you did it, but back then, I just thought you were crazy.”

“I wanted to do something worthwhile for a change,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I was struggling with what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I didn’t think working for my dad’s company was the direction I wanted to take. I thought working with my hands might make things a bitclearer, and for a while, a few weeks anyway, I thought I had it figured out.”

He paused, remembering the moment he’d realized that he was in love with Wren, then let out a long sigh, hating the way just thinking about her filled him with warmth. “Wren was the daughter of the captain I signed on with. She was only eighteen, but the moment I saw her, I knew deep down that she was the one for me.”

Max paused with a bite halfway to his mouth when he stopped speaking, then set it back down and studied him for a second. “I wasn’t going to say anything if that’s why you stopped talking,” he said. “I don’t believe in love at first sight, but that doesn’t mean you didn’t feel something.”

“It was love, Max, the kind of love that lasts a lifetime. Trust me, I know, it’s been almost six years, and I still haven’t gotten over her,” he said. “It’s hard to understand if you haven’t felt it, so I understand if you’re skeptical. Honestly, until it happened to me, I didn’t really believe in love either.”

“What happened?” Max asked. “I take it there was no happily ever after.”

He shook his head. “I’m not sure what happened. One minute we were planning our lives together; I was going to work with her father while she went to nursing school, then we’d get married and start a life together,” he said. “I was just about to propose when she broke things off and disappeared. No one would tell me where she went, not her father, not her mother. I begged and pleaded but nothing I said made any difference. I finally went home, taking my broken heart with me. After that, I really didn’t care what happened to me, so I gave into my parents and started working for my dad. They’ve been trying to marry me off for years, but Wren is the only woman I want.”

Max sat back in his chair, then shook his head. “Six yearsis a long time to be hung up on someone,” he finally said. “I guess we’d better try to find out if she’s really on the island.”

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