The month that’d passed since Kai and I had patched things up seemed to have gone by in a whirl. Between the rush of work and our time spent together during and after, it felt to me like it’d been a helluva lot longer than thirty days that’d had passed.

It also felt to me like this was how things were supposed to be all along, like all the other relationships I’d been in before this one were just leading up to this, preparing me for being the best partner I possibly could be. Because that’s exactly how I felt like I wanted to do right by Kai; like I wanted to give him my very best at all times.

Maybe that was just the rush of new love talking, but it felt real, especially as I watched him move around the bar gracefully, almost like a figure skater. He had the body for it, and he had the looks. There was something almost elegant about the way he moved, the way his muscles flexed and his smile shined while he took drink orders and gleefully made them for the customers.

Second Chances had once again almost filled up, no doubt thanks to the decision by Dan to throw another little impromptu concert of his. While I appreciated how much business it brought in, and how much the town seemed to love him and his talent, I had to admit the amount of work it created for us at the bar was a little overwhelming.

But thanks to Kai, who was an excellent addition to the team overall, it didn’t feel half as bad as it normally would’ve. I still couldn’t believe he was here, that he hadn’t run off back to Sweden, that he’d decided to give us our little second chance. More than once I told him that when we were lying in bed after another steamy session of lovemaking, and he always laughed at me, always said, where else would he rather be?

That more than anything else convinced me that we’d both made the right decision. We belonged together, and anyone who couldn’t understand or see it could be damned. It made me happy to see him happy, and it was as plain as day. After he’d phoned his parents and told ‘em that they could more or less screw off, that he was done with their games, he seemed to have changed into a completely different person. No longer haunted by the specter of money, he was free to be himself and though I never would’ve thought it possible, seeing him like he was always meant to be made me love him even more.

Where many people probably saw him as trouble, no doubt thanks to his good looks and charm, I saw the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It didn’t even feel remotely crazy to me to be thinking that way this early on. The passion we had was real, and it was intense. It wasn’t just Kai who’d blossomed; I had too. It was hard to be angry at the world, or depressed about past failed relationships, when I had the man of my dreams in my bed with me pretty much every night. How could it be any better?

“Whatcha thinking?” Kai asked as he sidled up next to me. I’d been standing there staring at him, not even noticing how obvious I’d been until he was beside me.

“How beautiful you are,” I said with a smile, and he rolled his eyes at me.

“Are you ever going to stop saying that?” he asked.

“Not until you stop being beautiful, so no, not a snowball’s chance in hell,” I said.

“I had no idea you were such a romantic,” he said sarcastically, though he winked at me.

“I’m not even being romantic, I’m just being honest,” I said. He pecked a kiss on my cheek and spun away back to the bar to attend to the person who’d just lined up for a refill. It was hard to believe, even with the wetness on my cheek from his kiss drying, that he wanted to be with me, that I got to keep him for as long as he’d have me.

I thought back to the times when he’d told me he didn’t feel like he was worthy of me, and it brought a laugh to my lips. If anyone wasn’t worthy, it was me. Kai was the whole package: good-looking, great personality, and hard-working. He could’ve had anyone he wanted, literally anyone, and he’d chosen loud, imperfect me. I still didn’t quite understand it, but I was thankful for it nonetheless, and I would’ve done anything to protect it.

The strum of Dan’s guitar rang out through the bar, and immediately everyone erupted into cheers. He was just tuning it, wasn’t even ready to start playing yet, but already the crowd was rowdy and ready to hear him sing. I had to admit, he had a great voice, almost like honey in my ears. He tapped the microphone a few times to make sure it was active, smiled, and sat down on the stool in front of the microphone.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for coming out tonight, we appreciate it,” Dan said to applause. “I’m not sure why you guys keep coming out to hear me howling, but I’ll keep doing it as long as you keep coming,” he said, and everyone laughed, including me. “I’m going to get started here shortly, but before I do, I wanted to say a few words,” he said, and the crowd went quiet.

What was he doing? This wasn’t part of the plan, but then again, I never knew what the hell was gonna come out of his mouth when there was a microphone in front of it. He’d always had a habit of catching us by surprise, of saying things no one could predict.

I glanced over at Kai, who was looking at me for guidance like I had any idea what was coming. I shrugged at him, and he shrugged back.

“The last few months have seen a lot of ups and downs for us and for this bar,” Dan started as he pulled his guitar up into his lap and aimed his pick at the strings. “But it hasn’t been all bad. You know, lots of people ask us why we decided to rename the bar to Second Chances, and I’ve never really had a good answer for until recently,” he said. “Okay, that’s not entirely true, I’ve had a reason for it, but it wasn’t one I wanted to share because it was too personal.”

“Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!” someone started chanting, pumping their fist in the air, and within a matter of seconds it’d caught on like wildfire. The whole bar was cheering for Dan to tell the story.

“All right, all right. You got it. So, the obvious answer is that we chose the name because it was the bar’s second chance, right? But there was more to it than that. As you all know, my lovely fiancé Jason and I put a lot of work into remodeling the bar not too long ago—but we also put a lot of work into remodeling our relationship,” Dan said. A chorus of “Awws” swept through the crowd.

“I know, I know, it’s too cute to handle. At the time, I thought we were just really lucky, that it was a perfect storm of events, but I’ve realized since then that that’s not exactly the case,” Dan said. “Anyhow, to get to the point here, things have been quite busy for us ever since we did the remodel, so busy in fact that we had to hire someone new to help us out. His name is Kai Eriksson, and we really couldn’t ask for a better bartender, so how about a round of applause for him tonight?” Dan asked, gesturing over to Kai. Kai’s face had turned bright red. I didn’t think it was possible to embarrass him, but then again, I didn’t think it was possible for me to be with him either.

“Of course, no man is an island, so I feel like I should also give some recognition to our cook and resident jack-of-all-trades, Mike Baker,” Dan continued, this time pointing to me. I waved to the crowd as they cheered for me, but I still wasn’t sure where the hell Dan was going with his little monologue.

“Now, you’re probably wondering what on earth I’m babbling about, but bear with me here. The reason I point out both of these great guys is that they’ve also had a bit of a second chance, individually and collectively,” Dan said. Oh no, was he about to tell the entire bar about Kai and me? I wanted to run across the bar and snatch the microphone away from him before he could say anything else, but I knew that with all of the people around me I would never make it in time.

“That’s right, these two are together, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence,” Dan said over the second chorus of “Awws” that the crowd had let out upon the news of Kai and me being an item. “There’s something magic about this bar, about what happens in these four walls. We’ve always tried to be supportive of each other, always tried to bring people together, and I think that’s exactly what happened for these two. Before now, they had no idea who the other was. They came from two different backgrounds and cultures, but somehow this bar brought them together, and now they’re a beautiful couple with their whole lives ahead of them. And you know, I’m just so proud that this bar gave them that once-in-a-lifetime chance,” Dan said, and now my face caught fire. I looked over at Kai and found he was crying, though he was doing his best not to let it show.

Something coursed through me and pushed me to go to him. I didn’t fight it, instead waded through the people until I got to him, threw my arms around him, and gave him a hearty kiss. The crowd more or less lost it, which made us both laugh. I stared into his eyes, and while he looked back at me, the whole rest of the bar seemed to fade away. I couldn’t even believe how madly in love I was with this person, how different things were even from just a month ago.

“Isn’t that adorable?” Dan asked, and the crowd cheered in agreement. “So, before I start the song, and now that I’ve gotten to my labored point, I wanted to dedicate this one to these two lovebirds and to anyone in here who’s ever had to fight for love,” Dan said. “Here’s wishing both of you a lifetime of happiness,” he continued and strummed his guitar yet again. “This song is called Second Chances. I wrote it about exactly that, and I dedicate it to both of you because everybody deserves a second chance,” Dan said and moved right into singing the song.

I turned to Kai, who was still crying and pulled him closer to me as we listened, our heads pressed together. Without saying anything, he slipped an arm around my waist and led me out into the bar.

“What’re you doing?” I whispered into his ear.

“Just go with it, don’t ask questions,” he said. When we got to the center, he started to sway back and forth. He was dancing, or at least trying to get me to dance with him—too bad for him he had no idea how much of a disaster that would be. I stepped on his toes more than a few times, which made him laugh, but he didn’t seem to care.

That was the beautiful thing about him, about us together: he accepted my flaws, and I accepted his. We tried to teach each other things, tried to better each other. We’d only been together for a little while, but I could only imagine how different I would be, how different he would be, a year, two, three years from now. I couldn’t wait to see that future, couldn’t wait to make it a reality with him.

When the crowd realized what we were doing, they cleared a path so we could have a little more room. Kai led me around, pulling me this way and that, one his hands linked with mine, the other wrapped around my waist, making me feel like a true southern belle with his prince charming. Our foreheads rested together, and eventually, I found a rhythm such that we moved in circles in perfect sync.

“I love you, my little Swedish snake,” I said to him, and he chuckled in my ear.

“I love you too, my little Beauclaire bear,” he said, and though it was corny, it lit my heart on fire. He’d never called me that before, had never had any pet name for me, but now that he’d said it I knew it would stick forever—and I knew we would stick, that nothing would pull us apart.

“I want you to move in with me,” I said, and he froze, pulled himself away from me to look me right in the eye.

“Are you serious?” he asked.

“Damn right I am. I mean, it’s not like you got anywhere else to go, and the nights you don’t stay with me are the longest nights in the world. I don’t ever wanna go to bed again without you beside me,” I said. After he’d phoned his parents and told them he didn’t want to be a part of their life anymore, they didn’t take long to terminate the lease on the apartment they’d set them up in and his eviction was right around the corner—perfect timing for me.

“I would love to,” he said as he pulled me in close to him again. Though he tried to hide it, I knew he was crying into my shoulder thanks to the warm wetness I felt there.

“Why are you crying?” I asked as we continued to dance.

“Because this is too much,” he chuckled through his tight throat. “Or maybe it’s just right; I can’t tell anymore.”

“It’s right. It’s always been right, even when neither of us knew it or gave enough of a damn to figure it out,” I said, and he looked up at me, his eyes glistening.

“How did you get so wise?” he asked, smiling.

“I met you,” I said, and he sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Come on; I can’t take credit for all of that,” he said.

“Maybe not, but I ain’t takin’ credit for it either. You know what you can take credit for, though?” I asked, thumbing away his tears as we continued to dance to Dan’s smooth voice. I couldn’t hear the words he was singing, but it didn’t matter. I only needed Kai to hear what I was about to say.

“What’s that?”

“For saving me from myself,” I said.

“I don’t think I can take credit for that either,” he said.

“The hell you can’t. You know, when I was a youngin’, my mama and daddy always told me that life’s a bitch and then ya die. For the longest time, I believed ‘em,” I said.

“What changed?”

“You danced into my life, the same way we’re dancing now,” I said, and he smiled up at me.

“So, what do you think now?”

“I think that my life might’ve been a bitch before, but with you at my side, it ain’t ever gonna be that way again, and when I die, I’ll die the happier than a pig in shit,” I said, and he laughed into my shoulder.

“How romantic,” he said.

“Hey, you know how I do. I’m like America, baby: love me or leave me,” I said.

“Please, I already made that mistake once, I won’t make it again,” he said, and I kissed him again, praying we’d never part.

* * *

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