Page 2 of Second Chance for the Grump

I crinkled my nose and pretended I saw something really interesting in Charlie’s bag. She didn’t have to elaborate on who she meant. We both knew. That didn’t mean I wanted to hear it again. “I can’t.”

“Oh really? So you know other super-smart military types with experience in tracking people down and stealing shit?”

I opened my mouth, closed it, and opened it again. “No.”

“That’s what I thought.”

“But, River…” I struggled with my excuse. It wasn’t as easy as she made it seem. Yes, someone in my past came to mind when I thought of getting Charlie back, but he was complicated.

Like, we had a wild week together two years ago, and then I never heard from him again—kind of complicated.

“He gave you his phone number when he left and told you to call him.”

I nodded. “He did… but I didn’t.”

River didn’t know the entire story. I might have left a few parts out. Like the sections of the story where Rowan asked me to leave life behind in Maple Lane Falls and move to remote Alaska with him to live on the side of a mountain in a small cabin. Also, the part where I said no.

And I didn’t regret it.

Mostly

The week before Rowan came to town, my mother received her cancer diagnosis. The illness took her within six months. No way would I have missed out on those last few months with her. Of course, I didn’t explain any of that to Rowan at the time. It seemed too heavy a topic for a weeklong tryst, and I hadn’t accepted it myself back then. I barely accepted it now.

“Well, you were stupid back then. The least you could have done was sext with him a few times.” She smacked her lips together in disgust at my actions. I’d heard about her displeasure a lot over the last two years. “And you’re going to call him now.”

Ugh, my heart ached for Charlie as I clutched his bag to my chest. “Fine,” I said and let out a deep sigh. I’d do anything for Charlie.

River stared at me with her head tipped to the side. She finally jerked it toward me and stared at the pocket where I’d shoved my phone earlier.

“Not here!” This was not the type of phone call you made from your best friend’s car.

She rolled her eyes so hard it must have hurt. “Girl, you’re going to tell me all about it anyway. What’s the difference?”

“I need privacy.”

We argued for another five minutes about whether I needed to fix my hair before I called him. River decided that was outrageous since it’s not like he’d see my face over the phone, but you never knew.

Only when I was locked up tight—alone—in my bedroom did I pull my phone from my pocket and find his number on my contact list. The digits sat on the screen with my finger hovering over the call button.

I lowered the phone. No way could I call him two years later. He’d probably forgotten about me. I’d seem like a weirdo.

“Just call him already, Maisey. I’ve got to pick up dinner on the way home,” River yelled from my living room.

She refused to go home until she had confirmed that I had reached out to Rowan.

“Fine!” I hollered back at her through my closed door. My finger grazed the screen, and I accidentally hit the call button. “Shit.”

Could I cancel it?

Rather than stop the call, I pressed the phone against my ear.

“Hello?” Rowan asked. “Maisey?”

My heart collided against my chest at the sound of his voice. All the memories from two years ago rushed forward again, things I’d done my best to forget. Like the way he touched me. How he whispered in my ear. The way he told me all about his homestead in Alaska.

“Rowan?” I asked, even though I remembered the sound of him. No one else on the planet sounded like Rowan.

“Do you need something? Are you okay?”