When Missy and Dan had gone, Chance unlocked the door of the cabin and let Hope go in ahead of him. “I know it’s not up to the same standards you’re used to, but the resort is the best the area has to offer and …”

“Oh, shush!” said Hope. He narrowed his eyes at her and she laughed. “You can’t say anything. Missy gets away with telling you to shush.”

He rolled his eyes. “I knew getting the two of you together was a bad idea.”

She came to him with a smile and slid her arms around his waist. “You don’t mean that. You love it really, don’t you?”

He nodded. “I do, though I’m sure I’ll live to regret it.”

“You probably will, but not today. Maybe after we have lunch together tomorrow.”

“You’re going to do that?”

“I’d like to. You know what girls are like; we like to get the menfolk out of the way before we can really talk.” He raised an eyebrow. He didn’t think of her as a girly girl or a gossipy one. She smiled. “You know I’m only playing with you. I’d like to get to know her better, but my real reason for suggesting it is to give you some time by yourself. I’m sure there are things you want to do. Places you want to go.” She shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll need some time alone in your head.”

He nodded, grateful that she understood him so well and didn’t want to try to change him—or to be with him every minute of the day. Until he’d met the girls who were now Remingtons, he’d believed that most women were clingy and needy. He knew better now and was glad Hope was as independent as she was. “Well, if you want to have lunch with her, I’m sure I can entertain myself for a while.”

She smiled. “You take as long as you need.”

“Thanks, honey. So, that’s tomorrow afternoon taken care of; what do you want to do with the rest of our time here?”

She shrugged. “My plan is simply to follow your lead. This is your place; we’re here to see your family and your friends if you want to. Do you have any interest in going out with them all tomorrow night?”

Chance blew out a sigh. “Can we play that one by ear? I’d love to see them all, but seeing them all at once is a bit overwhelming. But then maybe it’s better that way. If we get them all out of the way in one go, it’ll be quicker than making time to stop and see different ones. What do you think?”

“I think we should play it by ear, like you say. I’m happy to go along with anything and you need to see how you feel at the time.”

“Yeah.” He knew he’d have to see how he felt. “So far, I’m doing okay. I like having you here. I like that my dad and Miss love you so much.” He hesitated, not sure if he should continue.

“But we don’t know how you’ll feel as the weekend goes on. It might feel wrong for me to be here.”

He nodded, glad she understood.

“It’s okay. I was thinking the same thing. I’m sure it’ll get harder as the memories hit you. Certain places, certain people will act as triggers.”

“Yeah. I’ve said I’ll see Gabe and , and that’s probably the one I’m most concerned about. I’m probably closer to them than the others; we were in the same grade. But I’ll admit that I feel bad introducing you to Renée.” He closed his arms tighter around her. “I know it’s dumb. I know she’ll love you, and she’s told me over and over that she’s happy for me. But she’s Chloe’s sister, you know?”

“I think I do know. I think it’ll be tough for you. But I do want to ask you something.”

“What?”

“If she’s okay with it, would you ask if I could meet her?”

“I’ll take you with me, if you want to go.”

“I do want to go, but I think you and she would be more comfortable if I’m not there. At least not for all of it. I could meet you after a while, or if she’s okay with it, I could meet her by myself later.”

Chance nodded slowly. “Maybe that would be better.” He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “I don’t know if I should say this, but I want to go to the cemetery.” He felt himself tense as he waited for her reaction. He felt like he’d just told her he wanted to go cheat on her while they were here.

She didn’t seem to see it that way, though. “I didn’t think there’d be any question that you would.”

“You don’t mind?”

She looked up into his eyes. “Chance, you need to accept that I really don’t mind. I understand.” She sighed. “We all deal with grief in different ways, but I think wanting to go to the cemetery or wherever we feel close to our loved ones is pretty universal.”

He nodded. “Thanks. You know, it’s not like it was when we first met. Back in Oregon, I didn’t think I could let myself feel for you, without detracting from Chloe somehow. Now I’m coming to see that maybe the way I’ve cared for Chloe; as if she were still here, is detracting from you somehow.”

“But it’s not; I don’t mind.”

“I know. Let me see if I can explain it better. It’s not so much that it’s taking anything away from you, as it’s taking something away from us. I want to be all in with you. I want us to be a team, a real couple, like my dad and Alice and Missy and Dan. It can’t be that way until I let go …”

“You don’t have to let her go!”

“I do, honey; I get that now. She’s already gone, she’s been gone for nearly nineteen years. I’m not holding her here, I’m just holding on. But what I’ve been holding onto is the pain. That’s what I need to let go of—the pain and the anger.”

She nodded slowly.

“Does that make sense?”

“It does. It makes all the sense in the world.”

“Yeah. I just wish I’d figured it out sooner.”

“You’ve figured it out now; that’s all that matters.”

He smiled. “I love that you always try to find the bright side.”

“I’m hoping I’ll be able to teach you to do the same.”

“Me too.”

~ ~ ~

A little while later, they sat out on the deck in front of the cabin. “It’s just so beautiful here.” Hope realized that must be the fifth time she’d said it.

Chance smiled. “You mean it, don’t you?”

She laughed. “I really do. I wouldn’t keep repeating myself if I didn’t.”

“I’m glad. It’s a great place, and I feel a kind of loyalty to it. I wanted you to love it, but I didn’t think it’d be grand enough for you. It’s just a small town, and the resort isn’t …”

“Would you please stop that? I love small towns, I grew up in one, remember? This place just feels good. And okay, so maybe the resort isn’t the Ritz, but it’s well-kept and from what I’ve seen so far, it’s well run. I don’t need, and if I’m honest, I don’t really enjoy the fancy places. They rarely feel good; more often than not they’re snooty.”

“They are, but you’re not.”

“I hope not.”

“You’re not. Not one bit. I should get over worrying about whether things are good enough for you, shouldn’t I?”

She smiled. “I wish you would. I’ll let you know if I don’t like something.”

“Good, then I can relax.”

“Speaking of which, do you think we’ve done enough relaxing? I mean, I love sitting here, the view is amazing, but I’d like to get out and do something, if you want to?”

“I’d love to. What do you want to do?”

“Anything. We could go for a walk. We could go up to the lodge and see if your friend is around if you want to see him. Or whatever you think. You know what there is to do and who you want to see.”

Chance pressed his lips together and she waited, wondering if she was pushing him too hard or if he’d rather just hangout and hideout here. “We could go up and see if Ben’s around?”

She nodded. “Let’s do that. It’ll be fun to explore the resort, too. I love what I’ve seen so far.”

Chance got up and offered her his hand. On the way out, he grabbed his baseball cap from the table in the hallway.

“I wondered if you’d wear your cowboy hat and boots here.”

“I do most of the time, because I feel kind of naked without them, but since I picked this thing up,” he tugged the peak of his cap, “I feel better. I’ve still got something on my head and I don’t get the odd looks.”

She laughed. “Odd looks? I think you look sexy in your hat.”

He shook his head at her. “Apparently a lot of guys wear them for just that reason. Which is why I don’t like to. I don’t want to look like a poser.”

She laughed. “But you’re not, you’re the genuine article, the real McCoy.”

“I am a genuine cowboy, yeah, but I don’t want to be stopped and get into a conversation about it, so the cap’s good. You don’t like it?”

“I do. I think that’s sexy, too.”

“You think everything’s sexy.”

“I do, everything about you, that is.”

He shook his head at her. “You’re a sweet talker. Maybe we shouldn’t stay out too long. I’ll show you something sexy when we get back.”

“Ooh, yes, please!”

He chuckled and led her out of the cabin. “Come on, let’s go before I change my mind and show you right now.”

As they walked up the path between the cabins, Hope looked around taking everything in. She sniffed the air. “It even smells good here.”

“Yeah, it’s the mixture of pine and lake, I think. To me it’s the smell of home.”

She nodded, wondering if she’d made him remember too much. She knew smells were strongly associated with memory.

As they got closer to the center of the resort, Chance pointed at the big two-story building with decks out over the lake. “That’s the Boathouse. It’s like the hub of all social life around here. People meet up for breakfast, the girls meet up for lunch on Saturdays. There’s live music on the weekends; the house band is really good and they’re good guys, too.”

“It sounds wonderful.”

“It is, it’s a good place.”

“Has it always been here?” What she really wanted to know was how many memories it might hold for him.

“It has, but not like it is now. When I was a kid it was more of a bar with a bit that served some food. Ben added the decks a few years back, and he brought in the band and started serving breakfast. He’s done a lot to turn the place around.”

“He’s done a good job of it.”

Chance smiled and pointed at a guy who was coming down the steps from the main lodge. “You can tell him that, there he is.”

Ben looked at them and smiled. “Chance! Damn, it’s good to see you.” He smiled at Hope. “And I can’t tell you how happy I am to meet you.” He held his hand out. “Ben Walton. I’m an old friend.”

Hope smiled as she shook with him. “It’s lovely to meet you, Ben.”

Chance nodded. “I don’t know how much time we’ll get this weekend, but you need to get to know Ben and Charlie.”

“We’d love to hang out with you. In fact, let me know when you’ve got some free time and we’ll come up there to visit,” said Ben.

Chance laughed. “Miss wasn’t lying when she told me your workaholic days are over then?”

Ben laughed with him. “No, she wasn’t.” He looked at Hope, wanting to include her. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to running this place. People have always given me a hard time about how much I worked, but I got married last year and my priorities have changed.”

Hope smiled. She already liked Ben immensely; he was just one of those people who put you at ease and made you feel like an old friend. “I’ll bet your wife’s happy about that.”

“She is. She wanted me to ease back a bit and I have, now it’s me asking her to take more time off.”

“What’s she doing?” asked Chance.

“She set herself up a marketing company. She manages social media and online marketing for pretty much everyone in town, or at least it seems that way. She does work for Holly and Laura for their stores, and Lily for the riding stables. She even set up the main tourism site for the town, and, of course, she does all the marketing for the resort.”

“Wow, she must be busy,” said Hope.

Ben gave her a rueful smile. “Now you see where I’m coming from. I’ve finally slowed down, and she’s working all the time. I can’t complain. It’s good to see her happy doing something she loves.”

Hope nodded. She was hoping to find herself in that situation soon.

“I can’t stop for long right now. Kenzie needs me to bring her some change in the bar. Do you want to come in for a drink?”

Chance pursed his lips. “Who’s in there?”

“I left about half an hour ago, but it was quiet in there.” He cocked his head to one side. “Let’s see. No one who’d pounce on you, I don’t think. Emma was in earlier with Jack’s mom and the baby, but they left before I did. April and Eddie were here, but I saw them leaving just now. No. I don’t think there’s anyone who would want to hog your time.” He smiled at Hope. “He’s a popular guy around here.”

She laughed. “It seems he’s a popular guy wherever he goes.”

“Yeah, he just wishes he wasn’t,” said Chance. “Just because there’s no one in there now doesn’t mean they won’t come in once we’re there.”

“No, sorry. I can’t guarantee that.”

Chance blew out a sigh. “Okay, we’ll risk it.”

Hope punched his arm. “It’s okay, you just need to give me a signal or something if you want to leave. I can come up with a reason I have to go and then you can blame me and not seem rude.”

Ben laughed and looked at Chance. “She knows you well, then?”

“She does, and she loves me, despite my flaws.” Hope wasn’t sure whether she or Ben was more surprised to hear him say that. Chance shrugged, looking a little surprised himself. “And I love her even more for understanding me.”

Ben grinned at them. “You have no idea how happy I am for the two of you.”

“I think I do, I’m just as happy for you and Charlie.” Chance turned to her. “This guy was about as much of a lost cause as I was. Charlotte left here when they were both eighteen, but he never gave up on her. It took them all this time, but they’re finally back together now.”

Ben nodded. “Everyone thought I was crazy not to give up on her and move on, but I couldn’t. This guy,” he nodded at Chance, “was the one who kept telling me not to give up.” He grinned suddenly. “Do you know what he used to tell me?”

Hope shook her head.

“He told me over and over again, where there’s life there’s hope.”

The little hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she smiled at Chance, who nodded. “I just had no idea how true that would turn out to be.”

Ben smiled. “Sorry, I really need to get this change to Kenzie or she’s going to be pissed.”

Chance laughed and explained to Hope as they followed him inside. “Kenzie is awesome. You’ll love her. She works for Ben and manages the bar, but sometimes you’d think he works for her.”

Ben looked back at her and nodded. “Either that or you’d think she’s my mom the way she carries on.”

They followed him across the square and into the bar of the Boathouse. Hope loved it. It was so welcoming. There was a great feel to the place. Ben ducked behind the bar when they reached it and opened the cash register to tip the change into the drawer.

A slender, blonde woman came out from the back and scowled at him. “Don’t tell me you’re trying to sneak it in there? What took you so … Oh!” She grinned at Chance and came over to greet them. “Hi, Chance! It’s good to see you. And you,” she nodded at Hope, making her feel a little less welcome than she had been.

Chance scowled at her and Ben turned back to join them. “Now, Kenzie, I want you to play nice, okay? This is Hope. Hope is Chance’s lady and the reason we get to see him, and more importantly, the reason that he’s happy these days.”

Kenzie’s face softened as she smiled. “You’re happy?” she asked Chance, who smirked and nodded. She turned to Hope. “In that case, it’s a real pleasure to meet you, lady.”

Hope grinned, thrilled at the sudden change in Kenzie’s demeanor. “And you.”

“Sorry if I was a bit off at first. I’ve never seen him bring a woman in here. I tend to be a bit protective of these guys.”

Ben nodded vigorously. “Kenzie cares about us all—ferociously.”

Kenzie laughed. “I’m not ferocious. I just like to look after my own; and since you’re with him,” she jerked her chin at Chance, “you are now officially one of my own. So, what can I get you? It’s on me.”

“I’d love an orange juice, please.”

“Okay, and what about you, Chance?”

“I’ll take one of those, too.”

When she left them to get the drinks, Ben winked at Hope. “Don’t mind her. She’s got a heart of gold underneath the brash exterior.”

Kenzie came back and raised an eyebrow at him. “Did I just hear you call me trashy?”

“No!” said Ben.

“Hell, no!” added Chance.

“What I said was brash; you can be a bit brash.”

Kenzie shrugged. “Probably. Take me or leave me, I am what I am. You can call me trashy if you want as long as you still love me.”

“You know I do, and Charlie does, we all do.”

“Good, that’s okay then. Excuse me.” She left them to go and serve a couple who’d just come in and taken a seat at the other end of the bar.

Chance shook his head as he watched her go. “She’s a piece of work, that one.”

“I like her,” said Hope. “She’s real.”

Chance laughed. “That’s one way of putting it.”

“Uh-oh. I told you I couldn’t guarantee that no one would come in. I forgot Jack and Pete were getting back from Seattle this afternoon. Here they come.”

Hope looked at Chance nervously. “It’s okay,” he said. “They’re good guys. Jack’s a relative newcomer; Pete’s the most logical and unemotional of the bunch.”

Hope watched the two men make their way through the bar. They were both good-looking guys; nothing like Chance, but in a clean-cut business kind of way. They were both tall and muscular—one of them dark almost Latin-looking and the other much fairer, blonde with blue eyes.

“Chance Malone!” said the fairer of the two. “It’s good to see you. Miss said you might be here this weekend.

Chance smiled. “Typical Missy, she knew I was coming, but she didn’t know if I’d show my face more like it.”

The guy grinned. “I didn’t like to say it that way.” He smiled at Hope. “Hi, I’m Pete Hemming, and you, I already know, are the one and only Hope Davenport.”

Hope smiled and shook hands with him. “It’s nice meet you,” she said, wondering as she did why his name sounded familiar.

The other guy stepped forward. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Jack Benson and I should probably warn you about my wife,” he said with a chuckle.

Hope raised an eyebrow as Chance groaned and Ben and Pete laughed.

“Would it be better if you explained?” Jack asked him.

Chance shook his head. “No, you go ahead. I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Hope waited, wondering what was coming. Jack seemed to sense her tension. “It’s okay, it’s nothing horrible, it’s just been a standing joke around here since they were all growing up together. My wife, Emma, has had a crush on Chance here for the last, what? Twenty years?”

“Ha, it’s getting on for thirty now,” said Pete with a grin. “Don’t worry,” he told Hope. “She’s harmless and I’m sure you’ll get along with her, but she does tend to go a bit gaga over this guy. She loves Jack more than life itself, but there’s something about the cowboy hat that makes her knees go weak.”

Chance chuckled and tugged the brim of his baseball cap. “I’m hoping she might not recognize me in this.”

Hope smiled. “I can’t wait to meet her, I’m sure we will get along, we have the same taste in broody cowboys.”

Ben nodded at her. “I think you’ll hit it off. They’re only teasing. Emma and Missy have been best friends since they were eight. Emma had a thing for her best friend’s big brother like a lot of girls do.”

Hope smiled. She hoped that Emma wouldn’t mind them all joking about her like this. Hope would be uncomfortable, if she knew people were talking about her this way.

“Anyway,” said Pete, moving the conversation along, which Hope liked him for. “I don’t know if you know this, but our moms were best friends.”

“Oh! Now I know why your name sounded so familiar. I didn’t know anything about you till I told my dad we were coming here. He told me about your mom and how they lost touch, but he gave me your name and your parents number. I wasn’t sure if I should look them up.”

Pete nodded. “I know it’d mean a lot to them if you get the time.” He looked at Chance. “Or I’m sure there’ll be other opportunities if your weekend is all booked up.”

Chance nodded. His lips were pressed together and his eyes were narrowed, and Hope realized she’d forgotten to tell him about her conversation with her dad about how he knew Summer Lake. She turned to him. “You know how Dad and I have been talking more lately? He mentioned a while back that he knew Summer Lake and when I told him we were coming I remembered to ask him how he knew it.”

Chance nodded. He didn’t seem annoyed that she hadn’t told him, but there was something going on behind those pale blue eyes. She didn’t know what it was, but she didn’t want to ask him. She’d wait until they were alone.

“Are you coming out tomorrow night?” asked Jack.

“Maybe,” said Chance.

Jack smiled. “I hope so. I just want to warn Emma to behave herself if you are.”

Chance smiled. “She’s fine, I can tell you now, that for the last twenty years or so I’ve kind of looked forward to seeing her. She was about the only person who made me feel that I might just be lovable.”

“Aww,” Jack shook his head. “Can I tell her that? That’ll make her day.”

Chance laughed. “Yeah.” He looked at Hope. “Emma is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.”

“She sounds like it.”

Pete’s phone buzzed and he checked it quickly, then looked at Chance. “I know what you’re like about crowds. That was Gabe. He’d said he might drop in to talk business, but he’s on his way here with Renée to meet Michael and Megan.”

“Okay.” Hope expected Chance to down his orange juice and get out of there, so she was pleasantly surprised when he consulted her first. “Are you ready? Do you mind if we go? Or would you rather stay?”

She nodded. “Let’s go.”