Free Second Chance Sweethearts (Love Inspired) by Kristen Ethridge Page A

sounded.
    He knew it was all his fault and he had to live with that. But he also knew he’d missed her support over the years.
    “Thanks. It’s crazy to see something that large just floating around.”
    As they cut into the T-bones and crunched on chips, Rigo relayed the updates from the command center to this lifeguard team. He informed them that Texas Parks and Wildlife would be bringing air-powered boats across the bay and onto the island in about an hour. They would be pulling up to the Pirate’s Point marina a few blocks away. The lifeguards who’d stayed behind agreed that they would be ready and waiting to assist the boats with patrol and rescue of anyone who still needed it.
    As they wrapped up the meal, Rigo turned to Gloria. “Okay, we’ve been here long enough. Let’s get you home.”
    It promised to be a long day ahead, but at least they were better fed than most on the island this morning, and he’d gotten to see Gloria’s smile when she was briefly distracted from what was waiting next.
    * * *
    Rigo’s boat made it back out of Pirate’s Point and lasted until about halfway to Gloria’s before the water became too shallow for the motor. Painfully reminded of the thoroughly soaked clothes from yesterday, Gloria was thankful when Rigo said he’d use the boat’s stowed paddles to get as far as he could. She offered to help, but Rigo told her to relax for a few more minutes. There would be plenty to do once she got home, he reminded her.
    As though she could forget what was ahead.
    “I think this is as far as we can go, Gloria. We’ll have to walk it the rest of the way.” Rigo reached out and grabbed the pole holding up a stop sign about four streets away from Gloria’s house. He looped some rope around the pole and tied up the boat. “Not like anyone’s going to notice another boat in their front yard, anyway.”
    Gloria looked around her. She knew most of the residents of these homes. They’d had block parties together, watched homes for each other when people went on vacation, hunted for lost dogs through the lawns and the tight alleyways. It was a small neighborhood, with streets named in tribute to the heroes of the Texas Revolution. There was a spirit of community here that Gloria had always felt.
    Today, though, she felt nothing but wind and the remaining light rain. The soul of the neighborhood seemed gone, washed out the open doors and broken windows that hadn’t been boarded up, flung helter-skelter with the mess of thousands of pieces that had once made up people’s lives and now littered yards, streets and alleyways.
    But in spite of the overwhelming evidence that confronted her at every glance, Gloria couldn’t focus on what she was seeing. Not right now, at least. She kept putting one foot in front of the other and hoping that Rigo would think the wetness on her face was from the weather.
    Gloria knew better, though.
    The one thing she didn’t know was what would be left when she turned the corner and saw 909 Travis Place.
    It didn’t take long to walk the remaining half a street until the intersection with her street. Gloria closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Rigo came up behind her and squeezed her right shoulder tightly. “It’s going to be okay, Gloria. Whatever happens, you’re not alone.”
    She’d never thought she’d feel this way again, but she was grateful for Rigo’s presence. Since she’d dialed his number in an act of last-resort desperation, he’d been nothing but a rock for her. He’d been the Rigo she’d once thought he was, until he left and changed everything she thought about him. The years had taught her who the true Rigo actually was, but just for a moment, it was nice to have the untarnished Rigo back.
    Gloria opened her eyes and looked up. Her front door stood open, pushed by the pressure of the storm surge. In her yard was a tangled mess of fencing, couch cushions that didn’t match anything in her own home, paper dropped in wet clumps