A Timeless Romance Anthology: Spring Vacation Collection by Annette Lyon, Sarah M. Eden, Heather B. Moore, Josi S. Kilpack, Heather Justesen, Aubrey Mace Page A

her legs and soaking her dress almost to the knees.
    “H-hey,” she said back after she got over the surprise of seeing him there and found her voice again.
    “You okay?”
    He’d followed her out of the restaurant even though he had every reason to dismiss her. She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her upper arms, which had broken out with goose bumps. Was this was her chance to try and redeem herself? “About my daughter—”
    “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.”
    “I feel like I do.” Sarah talked fast, hoping he would let her at least try. “My life orbits around Rose, and I love that and everything about her, but…” Words abandoned her.
    “But you wanted to feel like a normal person for once?” Mark filled in, smiling just enough for her not to feel judged by his assumption, which was spot on. “You wanted to see if Clint was someone who could accept you before you had to tell him everything about your reality?” He held her eyes for a moment as hers filled with tears; he spoke the very words she’d been unable to find. “You think I’ve never feared rejection or loneliness so much that I held back with someone? I live the same life, Sarah. I have a lot of the same limitations you do, and I feel the same devotion.” He took a step toward her, bringing the distance between them to just a few feet. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him, though she tried to blink back tears. “I really didn’t come out here to talk about that, though. After what happened in there, I wanted to be sure you were okay.”
    Her heart fairly melted as she nodded in response. “I’m fine. Better, even. Thank you for checking on me, though.” Did she dare say more? If she didn’t say it now, she might never have the chance. “My biggest regret from this whole week is not realizing what a great guy you are sooner—and not being who I really am. I’m sorry.”
    He watched her for several seconds, as though puzzling out what she’d said. Or maybe, like her, he was trying to decide how much he should say. “I owe you an apology too.”
    “We both know that’s not true,” Sarah said, shaking her head slightly. “You’ve been kind and generous, and now you’re being forgiving, too. What could you possibly have to apologize for?”
    “Because two years ago, I listened to you introduce yourself and talk about your little girl, and I thought ‘this is a woman I would like to know better,’ but then I didn’t do anything about it.” He’d wanted to know her better way back then? Before the hair and the contacts and the fake eyelashes? He smiled, a little sad, but a perhaps a little hopeful too. Sarah felt the hope bubbling up in her own heart as well. “If I’d at least tried to get to know you then, just talked to you at all, maybe things would have been different.”
    It was so easy to discount what he said, but why should she? He was right here, and he had been all weekend. He had nothing to gain from being insincere. Suddenly the what ifs shifted. What if there was something here? What if Mark was who she’d hoped Clint could be, but never could? The thought gave her boldness she seldom felt, drawing a smile from her lips.
    “When you put it that way, maybe you do owe me an apology.” The breeze blew her hair across her face, and she tucked it behind her ears again. “Consider yourself forgiven.” She took a step toward him, closing the gap a little bit more.
    His expression relaxed, and he cocked his head slightly to the side. “Perhaps I’m not too late after all?”
    Sarah smiled a little wider as the words washed over her. “Maybe you’re just in time. Two years ago, I wasn’t ready to think past tomorrow.”
    “And now?”
    “I have a different perspective, and that’s something I can thank Clint for. He made me think differently about my future, even if he was the completely wrong person for it.”
    Mark reached out his hand, holding it there in the moonlight, inviting