It had been three long months, and I still missed Scott like a phantom limb. He hadn’t called me, and I had no way to reach him. My phone had been ruined when I’d rescued yet another hiker from the river days after Scott left, so I no longer had his number.

Letting him go had been the worst mistake of my life. My time was coming due soon where I could put in for an early retirement, and I’d been tempted more and more with each passing day. If I went to that Hollydale place, maybe they could help me find Scott and I could plead for another chance. Surely, we could work something out.

Shaking my head, I cast my line again and settled back against the river bank. Mike had been good enough to let me use the cabin this weekend. It wasn’t the same without Scott here—but then again, nothing was.

“I just wish I had another chance; I’d do anything to be with him. Why was I such a fucking idiot?” I said aloud as I jerked on my fishing pole to try and interest a fish enough to bite. No sooner than I’d spoken, then a flash of white caught the corner of my eye.

Glancing toward the beaver dam where I’d first met Scott, I saw an albino beaver just before he dove under the water. Surely that couldn’t be the same one I’d seen day of that freak snowstorm. But then again—I knew albino beavers were fucking rare. Nah. It was definitely a figment of my imagination.

Putting the beaver out of my head, I leaned back against the bank again and made a quick decision. Once the upcoming Canada Day celebrations were over, I was putting in my retirement papers and heading for Hollydale. Life is short, and dammit—I missed my omega. I’d never find another guy more perfect for me.

The fish weren’t biting, and I had the sudden urge to get out of here anyway. Without hesitating to second-guess myself, I grabbed my gear and went back to the cabin. Less than ten minutes later, the cabin was locked up and my stuff was stowed in the back of my Jeep.

I was working a temporary job in Winnipeg on Monday, so I figured I would start heading that way. But first, maybe I’d stop in Côte-d’Érable and see if Martha didn’t have a way to contact Scotty. Shit, I should’ve thought to ask her before now. I’d have to apologize for being an idiot when I asked her.

About five miles out of town, I squealed to a stop and stared in dismay at the rapidly flooding road in front of me. What the heck? I was alarmed by how fast the water was spreading, and by how quickly the road was washing away. I had no choice but to go off road or get caught in the flash flood.

After a quick glance at my phone showed that I had no signal, I tossed it down on the passenger seat beside me with a huff of frustration and considered my options. Yeah, I was definitely going to have to go off road—there was no other choice at this point because the road behind me was flooding now too.

I put the Jeep in low gear, and carefully drove off road in the direction of the nearest town. When I found that way was blocked with water too, I altered my planned route and headed for another town that was a little further away. Once I drove over the first hill, I’d be safely away from the flooding.

Fifty-eight nerve-jangling minutes later, I pulled into the small border town of Stafford, and found myself on the American side. I was relieved to hear my phone beep as it acquired signal again as I pulled into the parking lot of a small diner to place a call into headquarters.

“Hello, this is Constable Gagnon, reporting in. I was on the road headed to Côte-d’Érable and nearly got caught in a flood. What’s going on?”

The dispatcher’s voice sounded stressed as she explained. “The best guess we have at the moment is that one of the beaver dams broke and caused the flash flood that you saw when the river broke through.”

“Well I’m just sitting here in Stafford, it was the safest place that I could get to from where I was. Tell me where you need me, and I’m on my way.”

“Not necessary, Constable. You sit tight—the computer shows that your off this weekend anyway. We have people on the flooding already, and the roads are impassable so I don’t believe that you could get here if you wanted to without going off road, and even that would be iffy. I’m sorry, but chances are you may be needed there locally anyway. I’d just hole up there in Stafford and check-in with your superior on Monday.”

“All right then, thank you.” I ended the call and shoved my phone into my pocket. The scent coming from the diner had my stomach rumbling; I pulled my keys from the ignition and decided to go grab a burger.

Settling into a booth the hostess led me to, I took the menu with a grateful smile. I looked up after she’d walked away and froze when a waiter across the room walked past my line of sight. Damn, how lovesick was I when a random waiter made me think of Scott?

Shaking my head, I looked back down at the menu but zoned out because my mind was in another place—or on another person, I should say. I startled back to reality when I heard my name being called. I looked up to see the waiter that resembled Scott looking at me in shock.

It took a moment for me to realize that he wasn’t a Scotty look-alike—he was my Scott! Dropping the menu, I jumped to my feet. We ran toward each other with our arms held out. Right as Scott reached me, I grabbed him by the waist and swung him up in the air as I spun in a circle and smiled up into those beautiful moss-green eyes.

I lowered him finally, and his arms went around my neck as we kissed. Our movie-perfect moment was broken when I realized that everybody was clapping. Breaking the kiss, I held his hands as I took a step back to admire him. As I gave him the once over, I did a double take at the small belly bump that was sticking out from his apron.

“Are you pregnant?” I blurted out without thinking.

Scott blushed and looked down at his stomach shyly. “My phone was destroyed and I had no way to reach you, or I’d have told you already. I’ve been waiting for permission to enter Canada legally so that I could come look for you. In the meantime, I’ve been staying here in town. I hope you’re not mad. Not about me being here—I mean, I hope you’re not upset about the maybe-baby being a reality now.