The Captain's Second Chance

by Elana Johnson

  Chapter Four

  Brooklynn expected Dave to call, but when her phone buzzed in her hand, it still startled her. And sent another wave of electricity up into her shoulder, same as when she’d touched his arm.

  Why had she done that?

  Why had she sent that text?

  I might be willing to break my no-dating rule if you’ll do it.

  That was it; she’d lost her mind.

  Cinnamon barked as if to say someone’s calling you, and Brooklyn flinched again. Her fingers fumbled over the screen, but she managed to tap the green phone icon and connect the call. “Hey,” she said.

  “Are you serious?” he asked, his voice still in the lower range of growly. Brooklynn had actually never seen Dave when he wasn’t chipper and upbeat, and to see him get all hot under the collar about not doing the bachelor auction had practically sent her to the hospital for heart palpitations.

  “Because it’s not very fair to yank me around like that,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a secret that I—”

  “I’m serious,” she blurted out. What she really was, was tired. Oh, so tired of trying to resist him. A corner of her heart wailed, something about Ryker and how Brooklynn couldn’t be unfaithful to him.

  She silenced it and straightened her back though she was alone and Dave couldn’t see her. Just the thought of going out with him had her brain bouncing around, and she didn’t think there was any possible way she could sleep tonight.

  “When would you like to go?” he asked, his voice gentle now.

  She tried to speak and ended up coughing. Why was this so hard? She was thirty-eight-years-old and had been out with plenty of men. Heck, she’d been engaged and then married. It seemed unfair that Dave Reddington made her so nervous.

  Of course, she’d been on the anxious side since Ryker’s death. Her mother had pushed her to go to therapy, but Brooklynn hadn’t wanted to talk about the accident or her feelings or any of it.

  She’d already had her little westie, and she’d simply added two more dogs to her home in an attempt to feel less lonely. Less upset. Less panicky about every little thing.

  “Brooklynn?” Dave asked. “Did I lose you?”

  “I’m here,” she said. “Sorry, I’m…thinking.”

  “Okay, so I’m at work this next week, obviously. But I’m not scheduled to be on the boat overnight. I’m usually home by six or so, and we could go to dinner. Or you can wait until next weekend, and we’ll go to breakfast or something.”

  Brooklynn didn’t want to wait until next weekend, a thought that surprised her. Honestly, she’d put Dave off for the past year, and there he was, calling the moment she’d gave him any hint she might be interested.

  It wasn’t a secret that he was, that much was true.

  “What about tomorrow?” she asked.

  “Tomorrow?” he repeated, heavy shock in the word.

  “Yeah,” she said. “The lodge up at Olympic Park has a great brunch buffet.”

  “Yeah, sure,” he said, a smile in the words. She imagined it lit up on his face, and with a date looming less than twenty-four hours away, Brooklynn knew she’d get no rest that night. “I’ll pick you up at nine?”

  “See you then,” she said, and the call ended.

  “Oh, my stars,” she breathed, falling backward on her bed. Cinnamon, the little shorkie who had yipped at her to answer the phone came over and started licking her hand. Brooklynn stroked her with it, and that brought the other two dogs over too.

  Cory, the white westie she’d had for seven years, flopped down partially on her chest, pushing her breath out of her lungs as if reminding her to breathe. “Hey, bud,” she said, patting him. He was square, like a little ottoman, and she’d loved him from the very first moment she’d seen him.

  She also had a yorkie named Callie, and she curled up near Brooklynn’s head. “We’re not sleeping here, guys,” she told them. But she did love how they’d all rallied around her, almost like her girlfriends would in high school after she’d called a boy.

  Not that Brooklynn ever called boys in high school. Oh, no. She wasn’t painfully shy, but she certainly didn’t need any extra attention on her. She’d been on the swim team, and she’d done well. Didn’t break any records. Didn’t win every time. But the recognition she got from her parents and her coach was enough.

  “Come on,” she told the dogs as she pushed Cory off her chest and sat up. “We need to figure out what to wear to brunch.” And to do that, she’d need to enlist the help of a woman who’d actually been out with a man recently.

  “Jules,” she said when her best friend answered. “It’s a code pink.”

  Julie gasped and then shrieked. The sound cut off suddenly and was followed by, “You better not be kidding me right now.”

  “I’m not. I’m going out with Dave Reddington tomorrow morning for brunch up at the park. So get over here. I’m freaking out.”

  Julie giggled and said, “I’m on my way,” and Brooklynn flopped back onto the bed. And maybe, just maybe, a giggle escaped from her mouth too.

  “Okay, so the blue sweater is really nice,” Julie said, walking around Brooklynn and tugging on the orange sweater she now wore. “But this one is perfect.”

  “You don’t think it says fall?” Brooklynn asked, looking at herself in the mirror. A burnt orange color, the sweater was cute. It had larger looping that the blue one, and it slid off her shoulder on the right every so often, which she actually liked. “I look like a pumpkin.”

  “Honey, you do not look anything like a pumpkin.” Julie brushed one more imaginary piece of link off Brooklynn’s arm. “It’s awesome. This is the one. And with those black jeans?” She purred. “He’s not going to be able to keep his hands to himself.”

  “But I want him to keep his hands to himself.”

  Julie scoffed and waved her hand. “You do not. Or you wouldn’t have called me.” She gave Brooklynn a quick glare in the mirror. “Now, jewelry. Then we’ll talk about makeup.” Julie was in her element, and Brooklynn loved being with her when she got into date mode.

  Brooklynn simply liked being with another human being on Saturday night. After Ryker died, she’d been so isolated, assuring everyone she was fine to get them to leave her alone. But then, she was left alone, and there were some days when she couldn’t handle the pressing silence. The meals for one. Walking past the pictures of the two of them and the life they were supposed to have, and now didn’t.

  “I think something simple with jewelry,” Julie said. “Silver to accent the rustic orange. These long teardrops are nice.” She held up a pair of earrings Brooklynn had forgotten she owned. After all, the pups she spent her days with didn’t care what dangled from her ears.

  She nodded, and Julie handed them to her. “You’re not going to wear the ring, are you?”

  Brooklynn shook her head, tears springing to her eyes quickly.

  “Oh, honey.” Julie wrapped her arms around Brooklynn, holding her together. “It’s been a long time, but are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  Brooklynn took a few seconds to push her emotions back down her throat. “I am, Jules.” She took a deep breath. “I have to be.”

  “And you like Dave, right?” Julie stood back and held Brooklynn’s shoulders at arm’s length. “Because if I could get that man to even glance my way, I’d steal him from you. He is gorgeous, and funny, and rich.”

  Brooklynn pushed out a quick laugh, though he was all of those things.

  “But he only has eyes for you,” Julie said. “Trust me, I’ve tried to get him to look my way.” She retreated back to the dresser while Brooklynn put in her earrings.

  “I don’t know how you moved on after Jim.”

  “Well, Jim didn’t die,” Julie said. “We didn’t get along for a long time before the marriage ended. So it’s different.”

  Fear struck her between the ribs. “I haven’t been out with anyone in a long time,” she said. “What do I even talk about? What do I d
o?”

  Julie handed her a necklace with two hearts joined together. “Let’s try this.” She moved behind Brooklynn, who gathered up her copious amount of hair and held it while Julie worked the clasp on the necklace.

  “First off,” she said. “You don’t worry so much. It’s not as hard as you think. You know Dave. You like Dave. So you talk to Dave and get to know him better. That’s it.”

  “What if he holds my hand?”

  “Girl, enjoy it.” Julie finished with the necklace. “And if he doesn’t hold your hand, I’d be shocked.”

  Brooklynn looked at her hands, wondering how it would feel to have someone hold her hand. She hadn’t held hands with a man in years.

  “Oh, and you eat.” She nodded toward the bathroom. “Let’s go for a more dramatic look with the makeup since we’re playing nice with the jewelry.”

  “I don’t like how the necklace lays,” Brooklynn said, fiddling with the hearts. Julie had given her this necklace after Ryker had died. “It’s not right with the neck on the sweater.”

  “You’re right. No necklace.” Julie removed it and ushered Brooklynn into the bathroom. “Dave has a brother who’s married. And a nephew. Ask him about them. Ask him about his crew. Ask him about the dog he got the other day. There are all kinds of things to talk about.”

  Maybe for Julie. Brooklynn felt blank most of the time, and she hated it. She felt like life had turned black and white the day Ryker had died, and she existed in a comic strip. She stood there in the little box, a conversation bubble above her head, waiting for someone to come fill in what she should say, what she should think.

  “Eyes closed,” Julie said, and Brooklynn complied.

  “You’ll come over in the morning and do my makeup, right?” Brooklynn asked.

  “Honey, I brought my pillow,” Julie said with a laugh. “That guest bed is still made. I peeked in there when I got here.”

  Brooklynn smiled, a rush of gratitude and love filling her. “Thanks, Jules.” She opened her eyes and looked at her best friend. “Thank you so much.”

  “Of course.” Julie picked up the neutral palette and a makeup brush. “Now let’s see what we can do.”

  The next morning, Brooklynn wore the tight black jeans. The orange sweater. The long, sliver teardrop earrings. The bronze and gold and glittery makeup. Julie had spent forty minutes with a flat iron and Brooklynn’s hair, making sure every piece curled and waved just right.

  “You are beautiful,” she said with a hug only moments before the clock would strike nine. “Inside and out. And remember, he already knows it. So own it.”

  “Love you,” Brooklynn whispered to her friend. Jules sniffed and tucked her dark hair behind her ear.

  “I need to find me a man like Dave. He has a younger brother. Maybe Joey’s available.”

  “You’d go out with a fishmonger?” Brooklynn asked.

  “Have I ever been picky about who I go out with?” Julie asked with a smile.

  It was true. She wasn’t picky. She’d been in a couple of serious relationships since her divorce five years ago, but nothing had stuck. And she wasn’t hopeless. She wasn’t depressed. She didn’t stay home with her three dogs and bake her anxiety into pies, cakes, and breads.

  Brooklynn drew in a deep breath and paced over to the front door. Peering through the peephole, she didn’t see him. “He’s late.”

  “It’s one minute after,” Julie said. When Brooklynn turned around, she found her friend shaking her head and smiling as she poured herself a cup of coffee. She’d made it that morning, so it would probably taste good. Brooklynn could put flour, sugar, and chocolate together into delicious combinations, but making good coffee? She simply didn’t know how to do it.

  The doorbell rang, which sent all three dogs to barking and Brooklynn’s heart to pounding. She still stood at the door, only inches from Dave on the other side of it.

  Julie said something, scooped up one little yapping dog, and disappeared down the hall. Brooklynn’s pulse boomed in her ears, and she couldn’t believe she was about to go out with another man.

  And not just any man.

  Dave Reddington.

  Chapter Five

  Dave’s heart took courage at the sound of barking behind the door. He’d tossed and turned all night, expecting a text from Brooklynn at any moment that told him she wouldn’t go out with him.

  I can’t go.

  I’m sick.

  I made a mistake.

  He’d been through every excuse in the book, and that meant he hadn’t gotten much sleep. She still hadn’t opened the door, which didn’t help his nerves, but the dogs quieted.

  And then the door swung in, revealing her stunning beauty right there in full color before him. He couldn’t breathe, but somehow his mouth knew to smile. “Wow.” He drank her in, feeling like he’d been in the desert for a decade without water.

  She wore a pair of black jeans that accentuated the length of her legs. A pair of black ankle boots that added a couple of inches to her height. An orange sweater that reminded him of pumpkin pie and hit all her curves in all the best ways. Her hair—wow, her hair—cascaded over her shoulders and called to him to touch it. Every single piece of her was perfect, and Dave could only stand there and stare.

  She was better in real life than in his fantasies, and that was saying something.

  “Do you want to meet the pups?” she asked, breaking his trance.

  “Yes.” He moved then, right into her house, right into her personal space. He wrapped her in his arms, noticing how stiff she was—at least at first. Then she melted into him, and dang if that didn’t send pulses through his whole body.

  “You look great,” he murmured. “I’m still sort of shocked we’re doing this.” They swayed slightly, and Brooklynn fit against him so well, Dave was sure she’d been made for him to hold.

  She clung to him too, and everything in his life was better for those few seconds. He wasn’t alone. He wasn’t bored.

  Brooklynn cleared her throat and backed out of his embrace. “So this is Cory. He’s my westie I’ve had for a while.”

  “Oh, I love westies.” Dave bent down to pick up the little dog. Cory didn’t like that, as evidenced by his squirming and doleful glare. Dave put the dog down and patted the other one as Brooklynn told him it was a yorkie named Callie.

  “And I have another one down the hall,” she said. “Cinnamon. She’s a little hyper, so I put her away.”

  Dave smiled and nodded, glancing around her house. The main floor was one big, open area, with a kitchen and dining room at the back and the living room to his right. “This is nice.”

  “My dad helped us remodel it,” she said with a laugh. “You should’ve seen it when we bought it.”

  Dave noted the “us” and the “we” and he wasn’t sure how he felt about them. Did she mean them literally? Had she and Ryker bought this house together? Fixed it up? And she was still here?

  No wonder she’d rejected Dave over and over. A slip of trepidation moved through him. Maybe he wasn’t doing the right thing. Maybe Brooklynn was nowhere near over her husband, nowhere near ready to start a new relationship.

  Of course, she’d never said they’d be going out more than once, a fact Dave had spent half the night reminding himself. This could be a one-time thing, he told himself again as he gestured toward the door. “Should we go? Our reservation is at nine-thirty.”

  “You got a reservation?”

  “You have to have them for the brunch,” he said. “And lucky for us, the weather’s bad this weekend, so a lot of people are staying home.”

  She stepped out onto the front porch without getting her jacket or a purse, and Dave followed her. “See? It’s going to pour all day.” He glanced up at the angry sky, wishing Mother Nature would play nice and give them an hour of sunshine today. Then maybe he could stroll down Main Street or through the downtown park, Brooklynn’s hand in his, as they spent time together.

  He reined in his t
houghts on the way down the sidewalk to his SUV. She had not defined what this date was, other than brunch, and Dave was determined to let her take the lead. He opened the door for her, unable to keep his hands to himself as she passed him. He guided her with his hand on her lower back and took a deep breath of the floral accents in her hair.

  Once he was behind the wheel and belted in, he said, “So, how’s the mobile dog spa going?”

  Work was an acceptable choice for a conversation, and Brooklynn talked about her job easily. Dave knew there’d be some not-so-easy topics, but hopefully not today.

  “I can tell you love it,” he said, glancing at her. Rain hit the windshield in the next moment, and his prayers for a dry drive up to the lodge went up in smoke. He focused on the road and put his wipers on.

  “I do,” she said, a happy note in her voice. “But enough about me.”

  Dave would never get enough of her. And besides, she knew what he did, where he’d gone. Maybe not every little port over the years, but honestly, there wasn’t a lot to tell.

  “Tell me something I don’t know about you,” he said before she could ask him something.

  “I never finished college.”

  “Yeah, I never went,” he said.

  “No? I thought the military paid for you to go.”

  “They would’ve,” he said. “But I just stayed with the Coast Guard. Did some classes and courses as I’ve needed to for the job. That kind of thing.” He turned onto the road leading up to the lodge. “How long did you go?”

  “Oh, just a year,” she said. “Then I decided I’d rather do something else, and I don’t need a degree in accounting to bathe dogs.”

  “Is that what you were studying?” For some reason, he would not have picked accounting for her.

  “Heavens, no,” she said. “I think that was the problem. I didn’t know what to do, so I felt like I was wasting time.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Of course, that’s what I’ve been doing a lot recently.” Her voice took on a haunted quality, and Dave looked at her, sensing something had changed.