Free Mistletoe Mine by Emily March Page B

We’ll have to put your Angel’s Rest on our bucket list.”
    Satisfied that she’d done her part as an Eternity Springs ambassador, Sarah sat back and tuned in to Lori’s conversation once again.
    “… when I finish school,” the boy said. “University isn’t for me. School already interferes too much with my days on the boat.”
    “So what’s your average day like?” Lori asked.
    While the young man spoke of sun and surf and the deep blue sea, Sarah considered her daughter. Lori had never been a shy child, but the time away at college had elevated her natural curiosity to new heights. The girl never stopped asking questions, never stopped wanting to learn. I’m so proud of her .
    For the second time that day, Sarah thought of Lori’s father. This time bitterness overpowered any sweet. You blew it, Murphy. You made a huge mistake when you turned your back on us. Our little girl is special. She could have brought such joy into your world .
    She could have been your redemption .
       Cam Murphy was dragging. The party aboard the Bliss during last night’s private charter had been going so strong that the host offered him double the money to stay out two hours extra. As a businessman with a payroll to meet, he couldn’t turn down the extra work, but the late night combined with another lousy night’s sleep had made this morning’s run more challenging than usual.
    Cam had been running on the beach every morning at daybreak for more than a decade. He ran for exercise. He ran on the beach in order to enjoy the beauty of the sand and the sea before the hordes of tourists descended. He used the time to organize his thoughts and make his plans for the day.
    Lately, his morning run had helped chase away the what-ifs and if-onlys that plagued him while he lay awake in the middle of the night.
    A recurring dream had disturbed his sleep at least three times a week for the past three months. Today, as his feet pounded the damp sand, he worked to shake off the effects of yet another nocturnal blast from the past, another night spent in Eternity effing Springs.
    Considering that he’d reviewed today’s bookings before bed last night, he should have expected it. “Reese, party of two” had topped the list. It wasn’t an uncommon surname. Tourists named Reese went out on his boats at least two or three times a year. Inevitably, each time the name showed up on his manifest, he dreamed about Sarah or Eternity Springs or both. While it wasn’t exactly the recipe for peaceful sleep, he could deal with Colorado dreams two or three times a year.
    He didn’t know why he was having these dreams now. He’d lived half of his life since leaving Colorado. An occasional dream about Eternity Springs he could understand, but this repetitive nonsense he’d endured since Christmas? It made no sense, and it was wearing him down.
    Dreams of Sarah at nighttime meant thoughts of Sarah by daylight, along with the woulda-shoulda-couldas that invariably followed. Sharp as shark’s teeth, they nipped at him for hours on end. It would have been different if. He should have made another choice but. He could have changed everything if only.
    Cam rubbed his eyes. He had his share of regrets in life, and some of them were huge. Most of them involved the holier-than-thou citizens of Eternity Springs, Colorado, and their precious, darling queen of the Good Girls, Sarah Reese.
    Sarah Reese. High school sweetheart. Mother of his child. Destroyer of his heart.
    Cam summoned a burst of speed, then dashed the final hundred yards to his beachfront home. An hour later, showered and dressed in his favorite shorts and an Adventures in Paradise T-shirt, he unlocked the door of the tour office and went to work.
    He had hours of paperwork ahead of him today. Not for the first time, he wished for the days when his sole job was to introduce divers to the wonder of the reef. Life certainly had been simpler then. No payroll to make, no bankers to keep happy,