“About that dog,” Max said. “Do you have anyone who might make a nice best friend for my boy?”

  “I have quite a few options,” Dude said. “Come with me. Both of you. Lexi, you can help him decide.”

  “I’d love to,” Lexi said, giving Max a look that could’ve meant any number of things.

  He thought of what Colton had said about getting naked with her, and immediately squelched that lest he embarrass himself in front of her and Dude. Once upon a time, getting naked with Lexi had been his primary goal on any given day.

  But like he’d said to Dude, that was a very long time ago.

  Chapter Five

  “I left the light on in my heart in case you ever wanted to come back home.” —Lennon Hodson

  Interesting, Lexi thought, how she’d told Colton she was coming to see Dude, and then Max showed up there after having never mentioned getting a dog for Caden the night before. Was it a coincidence, or had he come to see her?

  Either way, he was there now, and she intended to make the most of the unexpected encounter. He was wearing the Vermont winter uniform of flannel, denim and down with a knitted wool cap on his head that looked homemade. He probably had legions of women knitting hats for him and his little boy, a thought that made her jealous. Foolish, she knew, to be jealous of nameless, faceless women. It wasn’t as if she had any sort of claim on him after all this time.

  Lexi had been truly shocked to learn he was still single. She would’ve figured one of the many girls they’d gone to school with would’ve snapped him up the minute Lexi was out of the picture. There’d been no shortage of girls who’d envied their relationship or wished Lexi would get hit by a bus or something to get her out of the way.

  Little did they know she had been hit by a metaphorical bus in the form of leukemia. They’d probably celebrated when she failed to return to Butler for Christmas or summer vacation or anything else for a decade. After she and Max left the reunion together last night, everyone was probably wondering if they’d picked up where they left off in high school.

  Let them wonder.

  Dude led them into her home, where a scurry of paws preceded a rush of animals surrounding them. There were dogs of every size and color, every breed and mixes of many breeds.

  Lexi wanted all of them for herself. She sat on the kitchen floor the way she had as a teenager and let the dogs come to her. She’d wanted all of them then, too, and getting one of her own was at the top of her post-illness to-do list.

  Max sat on the floor with her, smiling as several of the dogs moved from her to him.

  While they petted soft heads and silky ears, Dude gave them the lowdown on each one.

  “How does anyone ever choose just one?” Max asked as a brindle mixed breed with floppy ears cozied up to him.

  “People often take more than one,” Dude said sadly.

  Lexi recalled how it broke Dude’s heart to let them go, even when she knew her babies were going to good homes.

  “Which one do you think would be best for an active seven-year-old?” Max asked as he petted a yellow Lab puppy.

  “That one.” Dude pointed to the Lab, who’d already set her sights on Max. “Daisy is great with kids. Her family had to rehome her when the dad took a job in the UK. She would’ve had to spend six months in quarantine, and they didn’t want to put her through that. The mom was heartbroken to have to give her up. She raved about how patient she was with her four kids.”

  “Hi, Daisy,” Max said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  As he shook hands with the dog, Lexi’s ovaries exploded with desire. Good Lord, the man was sexy and adorable and gorgeous and all the things he’d been ten years ago, only much more so now. Seeing him in dad mode made her fall right back in love with him. Or she should say deeper into love with him because she’d never stopped loving Max Abbott.

  She could admit that now that she was with him again. Max had been an amazing person in high school and had become even more so since becoming a single dad to Caden.

  His obvious love for and devotion to his son made him even more attractive than he’d been to her in the past—and that was saying something. Max Abbott had dazzled her from the first time she’d laid eyes on him in seventh grade.

  After attending a private elementary school, she’d begged her parents to send her to the public middle and high schools so she could be with the friends she’d made playing soccer and lacrosse in town leagues.

  She vividly remembered her first day of middle school and seeing Max Abbott for the first time. The memory made her smile even all these years later.

  “Lex?”

  She realized Max had been talking to her while she took a trip back to seventh grade. “Sorry. What’s up?”

  “I was asking if you think I can handle a kid and a dog or if you think I’m crazy for taking this on.”

  She looked at the dog, who’d already decided she belonged to Max whether he knew it or not, and then she glanced up at the golden-brown eyes she’d never forgotten. “I think you can handle anything, and that Caden and Daisy are lucky to have you.”

  He looked at her for a long, intense moment before he tore his gaze off her and returned his attention to Daisy. “I guess we’ll take her, Dude.”

  “Caden is a lucky boy to have such a wonderful daddy.” Dude sounded emotional, the way she always did when she found the perfect home for one of her fur babies. “And Daisy is lucky to have both of you and all the Abbotts. She’ll have so many cousin puppies to play with.”

  “It’s dog-a-palooza when we’re all together at the barn,” Max said. “Dogs for days.”

  “I’ve always wanted a dog,” Lexi said.

  “You can borrow Daisy any time you need a fix.”

  “I’ll take you up on that.”

  Daisy came over to snuggle with Lexi, as if to say, I’ve got you, boo. We’ll be friends.

  Her emotions were all over the place from being back in Butler and with Max for the first time in years. Leave it to a sweet puppy to trigger tears.

  “Are you okay?” Max asked.

  “I’m good. It’s just so nice to be here and to be with you again.”

  “I’m really glad you came to the reunion.”

  “I’m really glad you came to the reunion.”

  Smiling, he said, “Me, too.”

  * * *

  Dude loaded him up with all the things he needed to take Daisy home—a crate, plush dog bed, harness and leash and the bowls Daisy had used at Dude’s house. Max and Lexi stood back as Dude said a tearful goodbye to Daisy.

  “Come visit any time you’d like, and take good care of my buddy Caden and his daddy, you hear me?”

  Daisy barked and licked Dude’s face.

  “I love you, too, sweet girl.” She handed the leash to Max. “I hope Caden loves his surprise.”

  “Oh, he will. He’s been asking me for a dog since we moved to Gramps’s house. He had George and Ringo for his first four years, and he misses living with dogs. I do, too.”

  “Once you’ve had dogs, you never want to be without them,” Dude said.

  “Thank you again for sharing one of your precious babies with me and Caden.”

  “You’re very welcome.”

  After Max loaded the dog’s belongings into the back of his truck, he and Lexi walked Daisy to the driveway. “You want to come over and help me get her settled?”

  “Sure, I’d love to.”

  “Okay, see you at my house.”

  “Sounds good.”

  As Max drove home with Daisy sitting on the front seat, he couldn’t stop thinking about the thoughts Colton had put in his head. As much as Max hated to admit it, his brother was right. Max’s love life had been a red-hot mess since he ended things with Lexi—or since he suggested they see other people in college. Maybe if he hadn’t done that, she might’ve shared what she was going through with him before now.

  He was all mixed up inside where she was concerned. He’d been so angry about her “disappearance” for so long that he got to the point where he rarely thought of her anymore because it was too painful. That she’d seemingly disappeared from his life on purpose had been a bitter pill. If he was being truthful, that was one of the reasons why his relationship with Chloe had been a disaster from the start. He’d been unable to fully commit to her while Lexi was still out there somewhere.

  Max wasn’t sure when exactly he’d given up on hoping Lexi might come home. Probably five years ago, when it became clear that her departure from his life had been intentional and that it was time for him to move on. Except he never really had. He could chalk that up to the heavy responsibility of being a single parent and working all the time for two of the family businesses, but that wasn’t it.

  It was her.

  It’d always been her, and after a couple of hours with her the night before, he’d begun to wonder if it always would be.

  After hearing what she’d been through and why she’d been gone, it was like the door to his heart had swung open to admit her once again—or to allow him to acknowledge that she’d never left. He wasn’t sure which, but there was no doubt he felt all the same things for her he had once upon a time.

  He wasn’t sure what to do with that realization, but he had about ten minutes to figure it out before they arrived at his house. He glanced over at Daisy. “What would you do if you were me? Would you start this back up again, not knowing where she’s going to be?”

  Daisy smiled at him, her mouth open and her tongue hanging out the side.

  “Well, you’re no help at all. You liked her. I could tell. I like her, too. I’d forgotten how much I like her.” He paused before he added, “No, that’s not true, and I don’t want to start our relationship by lying to you, Daisy. I’ve always liked Lexi in a way I’ve never liked anyone else. I think that’s why nothing else has worked out for me, you know?”

  Daisy’s panting was her only reply.

  “I appreciate you listening to me. I needed a friend to talk to.” He scratched behind her ears as she leaned into him, already trusting him in a way that touched his heart. “You’re a sweet girl.”

  And so was Lexi.

  He pulled into the driveway, cut the engine and told Daisy to stay while he went around the truck to let her out.

  She didn’t need his help. She bounded out of the truck with energy and enthusiasm that made him realize how old George and Ringo were getting. They had to be lifted into vehicles these days.

  Daisy immediately squatted to pee in the front yard before trotting around to give her new surroundings a thorough sniffing.

  “I feel like I need to have my head examined bringing a dog into my already too-busy life,” he said when Lexi joined him in the yard.

  “You won’t regret this. She’ll be a wonderful companion for Caden, and you can take her with you to work, right?”

  “Yes, I suppose I can when she gets a little older. She can play with Colton’s dogs on the mountain and run around the tree farm when I’m there.”

  “She’ll have a wonderful life with you guys.”

  Every minute or two, Daisy ran back over to make sure Max was still there, before resuming her exploration of the yard.

  “She’s already decided that you’re hers,” Lexi said, smiling when Daisy came back yet again to make sure Max was there.

  “Caden will freak out over this.”

  “I’m so excited to meet him.”

  Max glanced at her, noting her cheeks had taken on a rosy hue in the cold air. “I told him about you, and he asked if you could come to his party.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. That reminds me, I need to go to the mountain to get that day pass.”

  “I can run you over there if you’d like.”

  “Do you have time?”

  “Seems like I’m free all day, as my son has ditched me for his grandparents and cousins.”

  “Does that make you sad?”

  “Sorta, but I know that’s weird. He’s in the best possible place if he can’t be with me, but I look forward to the time with him on the weekends.”

  “I can see why. You’re so busy during the week.”

  “We are. It’s nonstop. The weekends are buddy time, but it’s good for him to be with his cousins.”

  Daisy darted toward the porch, ready to check out the rest of her new digs.

  As he carried the crate while Lexi took the bed and bag Dude had packed, Max stopped short at the sight of a huge box on the front porch. “Wonder what that is?”

  “Did you order birthday gifts?”

  “No, I got him things he wanted from the store and some new skis.” He approached the box and bent to look at the shipping label. “No way.”

  “What?”

  “It’s from his mother.”

  “Oh.”

  Max stared at the box, unblinking, his mind racing with scenarios he couldn’t bear to consider, until he recalled Lexi was there and forced himself to snap out of it. After he put the crate inside, he went back for the box.

  Daisy ran ahead of him, running through the house and checking things out.

  Max put the box on the counter.

  “I take it she doesn’t usually send something for his birthday?”

  “She never has. Not once. No birthday or Christmas presents.”

  Lexi’s hand landed on his back. “You don’t have to give him whatever is in that box. You can pretend it never came and go on with your lives like it didn’t happen.”

  He glanced at her. “Can I, though? Would it be fair to him not to tell him his mother sent him a present?”

  “If it’ll do more harm than good for him to receive something from her, then yes, it’s fair. Your only concern is for his well-being. She chose not to be in his life. It’s your choice whether to let her back in.”

  “I don’t know what to do.” He continued to stare at the box as if it contained dynamite, for that’s what her reappearance would be in his well-ordered life.

  “Why don’t you open it and see what it is before you decide anything?” While he considered her suggestion, she pulled one of the bowls Dude had given them out of the bag and filled it with water that she put down for Daisy.

  The dog took a long drink of water.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “No problem.”

  “I guess I’ll open it.” Why did this have to have happened today, when he had the chance to spend time alone with Lexi for the first time in so long? His stomach hurt the way it had when Chloe first left him alone with Caden. He deeply resented her for taking him back to those dark days, especially when things were going so well for him and his son.

  Lexi found a knife in the block on his counter and handed it to him, handle first.

  Max appreciated that she seemed to anticipate his every need and quietly tended to it before the need had even registered with him. He used the knife to slice the tape holding the box closed and pulled a wrapped gift out of the box. There were two envelopes—one addressed to Caden and one to Max.

  “I can take care of this later.” He tried to rally for Lexi. “What do you feel like doing?”

  “Please don’t feel like you can’t deal with this now because I’m here. You won’t think of anything else until you know what that note says or what’s in that package.”

  Max couldn’t deny the truth of that. “I’m sorry. I hate that she picked today to reappear after years of silence.”

  “Don’t be sorry. Let’s figure out what you should do.”

  “I’m glad you’re here to help me do that.”

  “I am, too.”

  He opened the envelope and encountered Chloe’s familiar handwriting, bringing back a flood of memories from when they used to pass notes in class while in college. In the classes they’d had together, cell phone use was prohibited, so they’d done it old-school.

  * * *

  Dear Max,

  I hope this finds you and Caden doing well. I can’t believe he’s SEVEN. Where have the years gone? I’m sure you’re thinking ‘I know where they’ve gone, Chloe. They’ve been spent raising our child.’

  * * *

  Max had to laugh to himself because that was exactly what he’d thought when she asked where the years have gone.

  * * *

  Before I say anything else, I want to say this: Thank you for raising Caden, for all the sacrifices you’ve made for him, for all the things you couldn’t do because you were a single father, for all the days, nights and years you’ve given to Caden. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, Max. I’m sure you don’t want my thanks or anything else from me, but I want you to know that what you’ve done for Caden is appreciated by his mother.

  The other thing I want to say is how sorry I am that I left the way I did, that I dumped everything on you, that I wasn’t strong enough to handle parenthood or anything else, for that matter. I treated you badly at the end of our relationship, and for that, I’m also sorry. You did everything you could to support me during the pregnancy, during the birth and after, and what happened between us was in no way your fault.

  It was my fault. All of it.

  For what it’s worth, I didn’t walk away and never look back. My heart was broken to leave Caden—and you—and I struggled for a long time after the night I last saw you both at your parents’ home. Five years ago, I was diagnosed with severe depression. I spent more than a month in-patient, during which time I worked through a lot of things that dated back to my childhood. I was prescribed medication that’s helped tremendously. In many ways, I feel like I’ve been reborn. Light has replaced the darkness, and while I still have difficult days, I’m so much better than I was.

  I’ve come a million miles from the place I was in when we last saw each other. The only thing that stands between me and truly moving forward is the little boy who’s growing up without a mother, possibly thinking she doesn’t love him, when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

  The last thing in the world I want to do is disrupt his—or your—happy life. I just want him to know I love him, and I think of him all the time. I always have, and I always will. The gift is a remote-controlled truck that does all kinds of cool things. I have no idea if he will like it, and it’s completely up to you as to whether you give it to him or tell him who it’s from.