Page 58 of The Coffee Bar on Camellia Court

Juno considered his words. Were either of them prepared to jump into this so quickly? Had they given this enough thought? They weren’t the same people anymore, and what if the feelings they so obviously both still had were for the people—the children—they’d been fifteen years ago? How would they know if they didn’t explore them?

"I don't want to waste it either," she said finally, turning back to him. "But we're not kids anymore, Alex. We both have complicated lives. You're just starting to figure out how to be a father.” She hesitated, then added with a wry chuckle, “And I've got Leonard now."

"I know.” Alex shifted on the dock beside her, turning to face her. Then he took her hand in both of his. “I know,” he said again. He met her gaze and held it, and then in a gentle, sincere voice, said, “But I have a feeling those things might actually be easier if we faced them together.”

Juno considered his words. She’d faced all the hard parts of her life completely on her own while growing up. It was called survival. Moving back to Autumn Lake had brought with it a circle of friends, a community that absorbed her with no hesitation, and a sense of no longer being alone in the world. But old habits, old instincts, were hard to break. Inviting someone else into the difficult parts of her life felt both scary and freeing at the same time.

“I might not be very good at this,” she admitted. “I’m not really a team player.”

Alex chuckled good naturedly. “Well, I think you’re very much a team player… as long as you’re the team captain.”

She poked him in the thigh. “You got that right.”

Alex sobered. “I have messed a lot of things up in my life, Juno, but I’m working on changing that. Fixing the mess I’ve made between you and me is one of my top priorities. I’m not asking for promises from you. Like you said, we both have a lot going on right now.” He couldn’t squelch the grin when he glanced over his shoulder at his parents’ house where his daughter was enjoying an evening with her grandparents for the very first time. “But I want to explore the possibility of us. I want to see where this goes, this second chance we have, and I hope you do, too.”

Possibility. It was both less and more than she'd expected—less pressure, more potential. After everything they'd been through, maybe possibility was exactly what they needed.

"I'd like that," she said softly.

With his eyes locked on hers, Alex lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles.

"That makes me very happy," he said simply.

The gesture was so unexpectedly tender that Juno felt herself blushing. The Alex she remembered had been passionate but sometimes careless. He'd grown up, just as she had, and like her, his passions had been tempered by pain. Instead of hardening him, though, this man before her was more deliberate, more thoughtful.

They sat side by side, shoulder to shoulder, just holding hands, and as the conversation shifted to lighter topics, Juno found herself relaxing completely for the first time in days. The weight of her father's unexpected return, the shock of discovering Alex had a daughter—all of it seemed manageable here, with the lake stretching out before them and the easy rhythm of their conversation.

Finally, sensing Alex’s growing discomfort, Juno suggested they move to the chairs so he could prop his foot up again. She stood and offered him a hand up.

When he was on his feet, he didn’t let go of her hand, but slowly, gently drew her closer, his intention clear in his eyes.

Juno met him halfway. The kiss was gentle at first, almost tentative, a question more than a demand. But when she moved her hand up to his shoulder, he deepened the kiss, one hand sliding up her arm to cup his fingers around the back of her neck.

It felt both familiar and entirely new—the same electricity she remembered from their teenage years, but tempered now by maturity and shared understanding. When they finally broke apart, Juno was slightly breathless.

"I've been wanting to do that for a very, very long time," Alex admitted, his voice husky. “As in, for years now,” he added.

"I've been wanting you to," Juno confessed, her hand still resting on his shoulder. “For years now.”

They stayed on the dock until the sky darkened and the stars filled the canopy above them. Finally, Alex reluctantly suggested they head back up to the house. "I promised Lena I'd tuck her in."

"Of course," Juno agreed. "I should get home anyway. I've got an early morning tomorrow."

They packed up the remains of their picnic and walked hand in hand back to the house. In the kitchen, Roxanne met them with news that Lena was already bathed and in her pajamas, that Dwight was reading aHardy Boysbook to her. “She’s quite enamored with the mystery-solving gang. And can you imagine? That child has no idea who Scooby-Doo and the Gang are! I told her to ask you about them, Alex.”

"We'll have to watchScooby Doo and the Loch Ness Monster,"Alex said with a nod. "One of my favorites."

"I think you made me watch that back in the day," Juno exclaimed, a sudden flashback of caber tosses, an old Highland castle, and a red-eyed Loch Ness monster being commandeered by two big Scottish lads. "You'll have to let me watch it with you for old times' sake."

"It's a date," he declared, holding up his hand for a high-five.

Alex headed down the hall to say goodnight to Lena, leaving Juno alone with his mother, who was washing the last of the evening's dishes. As pleasant as Roxanne had been that evening, there was an undercurrent of awkwardness between them, a reservation on Mrs. Frampton’s part. She’d felt it as a teenager, but had chalked it up to all of her many insecurities. So to sense it now was unsettling to her. She was no longer that scared, lonely kid in desperate need of a place to belong.

Shedidbelong here in Autumn Lake, just as much as the next guy.

But did she belong with Alex? Could she ever really feel like part of the Frampton family? Or would his mother always hold her at a distance?

"I haven’t seen Alex this happy in a long time," the older woman observed quietly.

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