by Lucy Score
“Oh, well at least I’m not the only woman he lies to.”
Alli lifted a shoulder. “All I’m saying is I met your family, and I know there’s nothing you wouldn’t do to protect them. Beau came here thinking he was protecting me, and instead he got kicked in the balls with love. I think he was half in love with you before he even got here. When he finally showed me your letter, the folds were so deep I thought he must have read it a million times.”
Bristol sighed. “I get that he was protecting you. But he continued to lie long after he assessed my threat level.”
“Well, he’s a guy. He was in over his head, and he realized that nothing but the biggest, most heartfelt, most over-the-top apology was going to fix this.”
“Oh, really? And when am I going to witness that?”
Alli studiously avoided eye contact. “I guess we’ll see.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes surrounded by the twinkle of Christmas lights and the glitter of snow.
“I know I’m fighting it right now, but do you think there’s a possibility this was all… I don’t know… meant to be?” Alli asked.
“Like fate?” Bristol prompted.
“Think about it,” Alli said. “Hope dies, you make the call on donating her organs, and boom—my life is saved. Beau comes out here and falls head over ass in love with you, drags me out here, and we all just… fit. Your family is awesome. You’re exactly what my friends had growing up. Don’t get me wrong, Beau was awesome to me. But we both missed out on this. I don’t think any of this is a coincidence.”
“You think Hope is out there pulling these ethereal puppet strings?” Bristol wasn’t sure if she was appalled or comforted by the thought.
“I kinda do,” Alli shrugged.
Had Hope sent her Beau and Alli? Was that even a possibility? And what would it mean if she rejected Beau and his demands for a second chance. Would she be turning her back on her sister?
“So what do you want to do with your life?” Bristol asked, desperate to change the subject.
Alli snorted, effortlessly shifting gears back into her downward spiral. “I have no clue! I’m eighteen, and I have to redo my senior year of high school. I really don’t think I’d be a good trauma surgeon, though. I puke when I see blood unless it’s on the ice.”
“You don’t have to be Hope,” Bristol groaned. “You have to be happy. What makes you happy?”
“How the hell should I know?”
Bristol laughed. “What about puppies? Everybody loves puppies?”
Alli gave a mournful, one-shoulder shrug. “I guess they’re okay.”
“Okay, now you’re just being insane,” Bristol teased.
The corner of Alli’s mouth turned up. “It’s just a lot of pressure, you know? Second chance, Hope’s heart—it’s a really big deal, and I don’t want to screw it up.”
“Look at it this way. You get a second chance to really choose the life you want to have, not just whatever path you were on before. And my sister finally gets to have some fun living through you.”
“Go on,” Alli said with suspicion.
“My sister spent most of her last few years in classrooms and crashing in on-call rooms. She missed out on the normal fun rights of passage that the rest of us enjoy because she was so focused on her goals. For Savannah’s bachelorette party, Hope actually suggested we hit happy hour at the bar down the street from her hospital.”
Alli snorted.
“She had no clue what fun was, except for the Christmas Eve Carnival and her movie nights with Violet and me. You’re her second chance at fun. Make out with boys, do a naked 5k, jump in the car and drive to the beach with friends for a weekend. Make the most of your time here. That’s the best way to honor Hope’s heart and your own second chance.”
“Wow,” Alli frowned. “You’re really good at this.”
“Awh. Thanks. I need the practice. My daughter will be you in ten years.”
“Beau would have just been like ‘You have a new heart! Stop fucking it up and be happy!’” she said in a deep baritone.
“That’s a really reasonable impression of him,” Bristol said, taking her phone out of her pocket. “Listen, I’m going to text him and tell him you’re alive and well.”
“Ugh, fine,” Alli groaned. “But I don’t want to go back so he can hover over me and hound me about when I think you’re going to forgive him.”
“How do you feel about frozen pizza rolls and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” Bristol offered.
“Do these foods involve me not going back to the B&B?”
“You can stay at my place tonight. I’m sure you and your brother could use some quality time apart.”
“Yes please! As long as you promise not to tell me Hope also adopted eighteen children from third-world countries and won a Nobel Prize.”
“Deal. As long as you don’t try to convince me to give your brother a second chance.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Beau reluctantly agreed to not storm Bristol’s loft and retrieve his sister, and with Alli in borrowed sweats and hair ties, they foraged for late night snacks. Bristol paused, pizza rolls in hand, when she witnessed Alli dumping a handful of potato chips on the peanut butter side of the open sandwich she was artfully crafting on the counter.
Some people received reassurances from the dead in the form of butterflies or birds or dreams. Hope sent hers in the form of snow to the face and a blatant disregard for sandwich traditions.
“You want chips in yours?” Alli asked, glancing up at Bristol.
“Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
“There’s no reason to get all weird about it.” Alli frowned, and Bristol laughed.
She waited until Alli fell asleep on the couch under a blanket before tiptoeing back to her room and dialing Beau.
“Everything okay? She didn’t run off on you too, did she?” He sounded worried and wide awake.
“Everything’s fine,” Bristol promised. “She’s sound asleep on the couch. We talked and…”
“And did she tell you what the hell’s wrong with her?”
Bristol laughed softly. “She was feeling some unintended pressure to live up to her new heart.”
Beau swore.
“Don’t worry. I told her no one here is telling her she needs to follow in Hope’s footsteps. She just needs to live her own life to the fullest.”
Beau sighed, and Bristol could picture him running a hand through his messy hair.
“Thank you for that, Bristol. Sometimes she doesn’t want to hear things from her big brother.”
“I think her exact words were ‘big, overbearing brother’,” Bristol teased.
“Yeah, well. She’s no walk in the park either.”
“Actually, she was. I literally found her when I was walking in the park. Same spot Hope used to go to work things out.”
“What are the odds of that?” he asked.
“About as good as Alli putting chips in the PB&Js we made when we came back here.”
There was a beat of silence. “She never did that before the surgery,” Beau admitted. “And I didn’t notice it at first, but then I got your letter, and it just made sense. I never mentioned it to her.”
“I didn’t say anything to her. I didn’t think she needed another comparison between her and Hope. But… I guess I just wanted to tell you.”
“Thank you, gorgeous.”
She took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking,” Bristol began. “About you and me.”
“And?” She heard it—the anticipation, the worry—in his tone.
“And your sister has my sister’s heart, and maybe that’s not a coincidence.”
“Maybe not,” he agreed softly.
“We’re connected, obviously, and that connection isn’t just going to go away.”
“Sooo…” he drew the word out.
“So maybe I should consider the possibility of maybe giving you a second chance.” She bit her lip and held her breath.
“You definitely should concretely jump wholeheartedly into giving me a second chance.”
“I’m nowhere near the realm of talking about your crazy ‘move to Hope Falls and get married and make babies’ scenario,” she warned him.
“We can talk about that next week,” he interjected.
“But maybe we can sort of practice seeing each other.”
“I think you’re a very smart woman, Bristol Quinn. I’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow. Unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless you want me to come over tonight.”
Bristol hugged her knees into her chest. “I’m not prepared to have both Evankos over for a sleepover tonight. I’ll see you at breakfast.”
––—
An hour later, Bristol was lying on her back staring up at the ceiling thinking about Beau when her phone signaled a text. It was Beau.
Are you awake?
She bit her lip and, for once, didn’t try to push away the spark of excitement.
Wide. You?
He responded immediately.
Can’t sleep. I’m outside.
Bristol jumped out of bed and looked out her window. Sure enough, there was Beau in a gray SUV.
He saw her looking and waved sheepishly.
She pulled the curtain back and blew out a breath. Decision time. If she was serious about a second chance, it at least warranted a face-to-face conversation.
She pulled a sweatshirt over her tank top and quietly snuck out the door. The frigid night air froze her bare legs until she climbed into the passenger seat. He already had the seat warmer on for her.
“Where are your pants?” Beau demanded gruffly, staring at the rainbow print shorts she wore.
“Upstairs with my better judgment. What are you doing here in your pajama pants at one o’clock in the morning?”
“I had to make sure you were serious about this whole second chance. I don’t want to give you the whole night to reconsider.” He picked up her hand and laced his fingers through hers. “Are you sure?”
She took a deep breath. “I think so. I just, I kind of thought you’d change your mind. What is the possible draw of me and Hope Falls over everything you’ve built for yourself in Chicago?”
“I’m not sure how to explain this so it doesn’t sound like I drank Hope Falls’ Kool-Aid,” he said with a laugh. “But I’m going to try. My whole life was hockey until Alli moved in with me. Then it was hockey and Alli. You don’t go into a professional sport planning to play it for the rest of your life. You try to maximize your career in the time you have, and then you move on.”
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“But I hadn’t even started thinking about what I’d do after. It was on my radar, but it was something I could put off thinking about for another season or two. And then Alli got sick, really sick. It was the middle of last season, but I needed to be there for her. So I walked away. The guys all knew. We were like brothers, and I miss them every day. But it was the right decision.”
“And then she got better,” Bristol said.
“Alli got Hope’s heart, and it was a long recovery, but yeah, she got better. And then I realized I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. We’d been in crisis mode for so long that having the luxury of planning for the future was completely foreign to me. And that’s when I got your letter.”
He pulled her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. The bristles of his beard tickled her skin.
“That letter gave me something to think about besides the empty, scary future. It gave me something that I could do in that moment. I could come out here to vet you and your family, thank you in whatever way appropriate, and then I could get back to trying to figure out what the hell to do with my life. Alli’s eighteen and healthy now. I wasn’t going to be needed as her caretaker or her guardian anymore. And without her and hockey, I was directionless. Until I saw you.”
Bristol took a deep breath. “Can I ask you what you would have done if you thought me or my family were after something from you?”
Beau leaned forward. “I would have given you anything that you wanted. Just not Alli.”
She shook her head and groaned. “So you really are this great guy who did a stupid thing?”
“Pretty much.”
She sighed and turned to face him. She looked into those earnest green eyes that were searching hers for something, an answer or maybe a question.
“Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“Okay, let’s do this.”
His quick intake of breath told her he’d worried himself half to death that she had changed her mind. And it instantly made her feel more confident in her decision.
“Ground rules, though,” she warned.
“Passing food if your arms aren’t broken?”
She grinned. “That and you can’t lie to me anymore. I want to be able to trust you. I need to be able to trust you. I need to trust you around Violet, too. No lying or disappearing once you’re officially in her life. I don’t know how she’ll take the news of us dating, but I want to be honest with her.”
His smile stopped her. “What? What do you know?”
“That day at Two Scoops after her hockey game?”
“Yeah?”
“She had a little sit-down with me and asked me to consider dating you.”
“You’re freaking kidding me! My daughter asked you to date me?”
He nodded. “She was worried about you. She wanted you to find someone to date or marry, and the little Einstein that she is decided you’d have more time to find a boyfriend slash husband if she spent more time with Nolan and Lissa.”
Bristol’s mouth fell open and she flopped back against the seat. “My eight-year-old daughter thought I needed a man in my life, and that’s why she asked to start spending more time at Nolan’s?”
He squeezed her hand. “It had nothing to do with her not wanting to spend time with you. In fact, she’d like you and I to take her to the movies when we start dating.”
“I think I’m going to cry,” Bristol whispered. “When she gets back from her dad’s tomorrow, I’m going to hug her until she suffocates.”
“And then we can take her to the movies?”
“Yeah, probably,” Bristol laughed.
He turned serious again. “I need to know that you’re sure about this. And by that, I mean I’m asking you if you understand that I intend to stay here and marry you and build a family with you.”
Bristol put her head between her knees. “I’m just getting used to the idea of dating you. Can we start there?”
“Of course, gorgeous, but you need to know where I’m headed. And we can take our time getting there, but that’s what I’m in this for. I want you, me, Violet, and Alli to be a family.”
“I appreciate and am terrified by your honesty.”
“That’s what you can expect from me from here on out. Barring surprises of course.”
“Surprises?”
“You know, like Christmas presents.”
“Of course, I get a boyfriend the week before Christmas, and now I have to shop for him,” she grumbled.
“You are my present.”
Bristol stared through the windshield that was rapidly fogging. “I can’t believe this. This whole night can’t be real. Can it? I’m going to wake up in the morning, and none of this will have happened, and I’ll feel devastated… or maybe relieved.”
“Devastated,” he predicted. “Definitely devastated.”
“I guess the only way to make sure is to seal the deal,” she said, holding out her right hand.
He looked down at it and then back at her with a wolfish smile. “That’s not how I seal deals with my future wife, gorgeous.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her across the console until she was straddling him. He shoved his fingers into her hair. “I love you, Bristol Quinn.”
“I’m very fond of you, Beau Evanko.”
> He pulled her down to him, fusing his mouth to hers. Bristol felt the playfulness abandon them both as the kiss heated up. She’d missed this, missed him. His body was hard and strong beneath her. He was already raging hard, and Bristol shifted so she could feel the friction of his erection against her hungry center.
“God, Bristol, I missed you so damn much,” he said, breaking the kiss.
She caught her breath and dove back in. His hot mouth teased her while he slipped his hands under her sweatshirt and the tank beneath that.
When his palms slid up to cup her bare breasts, he groaned into her mouth. “You’re so built, baby. You fit me so perfectly.” He let his thumbs stroke over her hardening nipples while she grinded against him. Two thin layers of clothing separated them, and that knowledge drove her insane.
“Please tell me you have a condom,” she begged, kissing his neck.
“Oh, God. Wallet. There’s one in my wallet,” he gasped.
She found it in the cup holder and dug out the foil packet while Beau continued to worship her breasts with his hands. They felt full and heavy, and her tender peaks were begging for more.
“Beau,” she shivered out his name. She was desperate for him. Her needy center wept for him to fill her. “I can’t go slow, okay? Not this time.” She wanted him fast and needy and desperate.
“Take everything you need.” He yanked her shirts up and latched on to one breast as she levered herself up.
She didn’t have to work hard to free him from his pants. His cock was already fighting its way over the waistband. Bristol used her teeth to rip open the packet, and Beau groaned. “You’re a fucking fantasy come to life.”
She held his shaft still with one hand and rolled on the condom with her other. The cords in his neck stood out as he fought to hold himself back.
“Open your eyes, Beau,” Bristol breathed.
She waited until that molten green bore into her before sliding the crotch of her shorts to the side and taking him into her inch by inch. “Ah, fuck, yes,” he gritted out. “Bristol, baby, you were made for me. I’ve been waiting my whole life for you.”
She was so full and so impossibly wet for him. His hands came back to life on her breasts, and the second she felt those rough palms skim over her sensitive tips, she knew she was too far gone.