“I’m sorry,” he said softly, his face turned down. “For everything. I’m not trying to fuck up your life. I’m trying to figure out my own.”
“Let me know how that goes. Even at forty, I have no clue what I’m doing,” I said, unwisely putting my true thoughts out there for him to hear. “I’m totally alone, and I have no clue how to fix all the parts of me that are broken.”
He turned toward me, his blue eyes burning. “You are not broken. And you are not alone. Your sister thinks you hung the moon. JJ and Karl adore you. And you’re growing on me, eye daggers and all.”
“I think I’m just realizing that I want more. A partner, a permanent home. A dog and kids and sneaking kisses between bath time and story time.” I gestured toward the lake, my face heating in embarrassment. Shit. Why had I admitted that?
“Then go get it. If there is anyone on this earth who can move mountains, part rivers, and alter the space-time continuum, it’s you, Dragonfly.”
I huffed, even as my heart stumbled. “That is very flattering.”
“It’s the truth.”
“But it’s not,” I argued. “I may be a badass at business, and I may own a lot of trees, but that’s about all I’ve got going for me.”
“I get it.” He nodded thoughtfully. “I can’t see the future, but I’d bet everything I have that Chloe LeBlanc will stomp all over the universe with those damn heels and make things happen. You’re still figuring out your plan. Nothing wrong with that.”
“At forty?”
He placed his mug down on the dock and put his arm around my shoulders. It was intimate, but not sexual, and despite myself, I liked the feel of him close to me. Not that I’d admit it.
“Life would be so boring if we had all the answers. Don’t you think the work is the reward? The dreaming and the sacrifice and the evolution?” he asked, the heat of his body soaking into me. “Changing who we are as we learn more about ourselves and the world around us?”
Damn. It was too early for this. “Now you’re a poet?”
“You bring it out of me.” He chuckled. “For years, I’ve been miserable. Stuck in my own head and making the same unsatisfying decisions over and over again. And then I realized that I didn’t have to. I can be different. I can do different.”
I tipped my head back and surveyed him. “What made you realize that?”
“Seeing you that day in Boston.” His dark brows pulled low, his expression thoughtful. “You woke me up, Dragonfly. Suddenly, I was experiencing the world fully again.”
The lump in my throat was so big I thought I’d suffocate on that dock. How could I possibly respond to that? Why did he have to be so honest and vulnerable? It was really attractive, and in my emotionally delicate state, I could not handle this introspective version of Gus.
I turned my attention to the sun, which was almost fully risen. An explosion of golden light reflected off the deep blue water. There were only a few clouds overhead, allowing the colors to flood the sky.
“It’s beautiful,” I said. “I’ve missed Maine.”
“This place is in your blood, Dragonfly. It’s not the kind of thing you can just pick up and forget.”
He wasn’t wrong, though I wouldn’t tell him that. “I tried,” I said softly. “I tried to erase every part of this place from my soul. Without my mom, it didn’t seem like a place worth saving.”
He squeezed me tight. “I’m glad we got you back.”
“Only for the summer,” I warned, even as I melted into him.
“Right,” he said, though his tone was skeptical. “But we’ll take it.”
We stayed on the dock until the sun was fully up and my skin had warmed from its rays.
Despite the anger and confusion and frustration that had been my almost constant companions since I arrived in Lovewell, I couldn’t deny how perfect this moment was.
Until, that is, an ear-splitting noise shattered the peace.
We scrambled to our feet and scanned our surroundings as the noise echoed around us again. A huffing and groaning sound, but low and deep, like the mooing of a cow crossed with a demon’s cry.
Gus, standing rigidly, put an arm out to protect me.
“Do you think it’s a bear?” Despite growing up here and spending my entire life in forests, bears still scared the shit out of me.
“No, unless it’s been shot and is slowly bleeding to death,” he said. “It’s far too…” He trailed off as he looked around. “Unnatural and alarming to be a bear.”
It was louder now, and my stomach churned. What could it be?
Sticking close, we cautiously made our way back toward the house, our heads on swivels, surveying our surroundings.
“Oh shit,” Gus said beside me, beginning to laugh.
“What?” I craned my neck, eyeing the marshland at the edge of my property.
My stomach dropped at the sight. “Oh, sweet Jesus.”
It was a moose.
No. It was two moose. Having some kind of sexual encounter.
Gus’s cheeks flushed as he laughed and laughed. “God, that sound. I’ve never heard it so close up.”
“Gross. It’s truly horrible. Do you think it’s consensual?” I turned my back, laughing so hard at the insanity of the sight that tears streamed down my face.
