Chapter one
“Thisplaceisperfect.”
At her softly spoken words, Theodore Lapierre turned to stare at the woman standing on the edge of Jordan Pond. The cleanup crew wasn’t due for another half hour, but this part of Acadia National Park attracted many visitors. He couldn’t blame anyone for wanting a few minutes of the pristine beauty before a hard day’s work.
The petite brunette sighed as she gazed out at the crystalline water of the lake, her shoulders rising and falling. Five years ago, he’d met another brunette here, one that had changed Theo’s life in ways he’d never expected. After all this time, the thought of her still pierced his heart.
Strands of stray hair escaped her ponytail, and the woman at the lake edge tucked them behind her ears. So reminiscent of Chelsea, excepther hair had been shorter. Man, he had to get his head back in the game. He couldn’t be taking a dangerous trip down Memory Lane when he had the Earth Day hordes showing up soon.
Laughter at his back caught his attention. A few dozen people had started the trek down the gradual hill from the Jordan Pond House, rakes and shovels at the ready. Was this woman here for that or simply appreciating the view?
Before he could step away from the lake, she turned.
He froze.
His heart pounded in his chest as he took in the upturned nose and tiny ears decorating the beautiful, urchin-like face. Chelsea?
Closing his eyes, he shook his head. It was only a figment of his imagination. They’d met during an Earth Day cleanup. No other reason for him to be envisioning Chelsea here. Her opinion of him and this place had been made clear.
When he opened his eyes, she was still there. But nowshefroze, her mouth open in a tiny bow. Just like—
“Theo?” Her eyes narrowed in question as she took a step toward him.
Itwasher. Why? What was she doing here?
“Chelsea.” Not much else would come out of his mouth with the fist-sized obstruction blocking his throat.
As she maneuvered over the pink granite rocks littering the shore, he took note. Even with the passage of time, she was as enchanting as ever. Maybe a little thinner and definitely paler, almost gaunt, like she’d been sick. Concern saturated his body. He shouldn’t feel anything for her. Not after what she’d done.
“I didn’t think you’d still be here.” Her voice hadn’t changed at all, soft and feminine so it flowed over him like a winding breeze.
“Where else would I be?”
“You were applying to the FBI. Said you would only be here for a year or two.”
Did she seriously think he’d still join the FBI after the little package she’d sent? “Yeah, well that obviously never materialized.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For?” Why the heck had she come here? His insides twisted with too many dire thoughts.
“That the FBI didn’t work out. You were excited about it.”
That’s all she was sorry about? Seriously? But if she didn’t know he still lived on Mount Desert Island then… “Why are you here?”
Pointing to the crowd slowly making their way down the hill, she said, “The Earth Day cleanup. You know Jordan Pond’s always been my favorite place, and I wanted to get it back in shape after the winter.”
“Why now? It’s not like you cared about it the last four years.”
Her eyes darkened, and pain radiated out from them.No, don’t start feeling sorry for her or concerned.She made her choices and had to live with them.
“My father passed away a few weeks ago.”
Saying he was sorry would be the polite, well-mannered thing to do, but he honestly wasn’t sorry that low life had died. It was five years too late. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe he could have—
Stop. No need to play the what if game. You can’t rewrite the past.
“Well, I hope you brought some gloves,” he said, glancing at the volunteers who had almost reached them. “This winter was harsh and did a lot of damage to the trails.”
