Little Cottage in the Northwoods

Lauren (Another Chance #3)
A Short Romance for Valentine’s Day!

“Hey, Beautiful.”
Lauren Smith stopped walking at the sound of the familiar male voice behind her. Only one person called her that, and only one person had that voice. The voice that made her heart skip a beat. That voice belonged to David Mitchell.
He worked in the same law firm as her sister, Lisa. That’s how they met. When he learned Lauren was a model, he gave her the nickname “Beautiful” and then they began seeing each other.
Then Lauren had an offer to model in Paris for a year. She took it, and while she was gone the two of them had lost touch.
Lauren had returned home, and was hoping to avoid him. As soon as she turned around she knew why. Her eyes met with David’s deep brown ones and all those feelings she felt before she left came flooding back to her.
“David!” She smiled, wondering if he could hear the sound of her heart beating.
“Welcome home, how was Paris?” he asked.
“Paris was…” She started and then paused. Should she tell him the truth? That she spent all her time thinking about him? “Paris was wonderful.”
“That’s great,” he smiled. “I have good news. It won’t be official until Monday, but Lisa made partner.”
“That’s wonderful!” Lauren said excitedly. If anyone deserves to be partner it’s Lisa. Making partner was a major goal, and she worked hard for it. “But how do you know if it’s not official until Monday?”
“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” he said with a sly smile spreading across his full lips, making her knees go weak. His black hair was longer, and he had grown a slight beard that made him irresistible to her. Living in Paris didn’t change her feelings for him, in fact, they were even stronger. Why did she leave? Why did she blow her chance with him? Now, she just had to face the fact that the two of them were through.

It was all David could do not to pull Lauren into his arms to kiss her or touch her soft black hair that she always wore loose and flowing. A year without her had been too long. If he was smart, he would have called her or written and told her that. They lost touch shortly after she’d left, and David knew he didn’t have another chance with her.
“Ryan wants to have a surprise party for Lisa, but he’s really swamped with work this week so he asked me to help him.”
“That’s a great idea! I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Okay, maybe we can get together and make some plans,” he said. Even if he didn’t have a chance with her, he might be able to spend a couple days with her.
“Okay!” She smiled. “That sounds great. Right now I have to go see my sister.”
“She’s not in today,” David said.
“She’s in court?” Lauren questioned.
David shook his head. “No, she’s just not here, said she was taking the day off to make some wedding plans.”
“Are we talking about my sister?” Lauren asked. “I thought she was superglued to her office chair.”
It was strange for Lisa to be out of the office. She was known for being a work-a-holic, until she met her fiancee, Ryan Anderson, and realized their was more to life than work.
“I guess Ryan’s been good for her,” Lauren said. “Well, I’ll see if I can find her somewhere. I really need to talk to her.” She turned to go.
“Lauren,” David said.
She turned back to face him. “Yeah?”
“Did you meet anybody in Paris?”‘
Lauren smiled and shook her head. “Nobody like you.”

Nobody like you. Lauren repeated the words in her mind. Why had she said that? Why had David asked her? Was he still interested, or was he just being friendly? Maybe there was a chance he felt the same way about her that she felt about him.
“Are you with me?” Lisa asked waving her hand in front of her sister’s face.
“Oh yeah,” Lauren came back to earth. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
“We were talking about a chance for you to live in Paris. What could be more important than that?” Lisa asked.
David, she thought. “I don’t know, I mean my family’s here.”
“Family’s great, but we’re talking Paris!” Lisa exclaimed. “How many people have the chance to live in Paris?”
“A lot of French people.” Lauren joked.
“I read over the contract you sent me. There’s no legal reason you shouldn’t sign it. What’s stopping you?” Lisa asked.
“It’s just that I met this guy before I went to Paris. We lost touch after I left. Can those same feelings still be there after a year?”
“I can’t tell you how he feels, only he can tell you that, and maybe you should find out,” Lisa said, “but It was almost fifteen years for my friend, Keri, and her husband, now they have a baby on the way. I’d say that turned out pretty well.”

“Keri and Mark called. They can definitely make it tomorrow,” David said as he checked their names off the list. “I think that’s everybody.”
Lauren had dropped by his office to look at the guest list for Lisa’s party. Now, Lauren was lost in thought about something, or maybe even someone.
She was so beautiful. David wanted to touch her but held back. “Lauren did you hear me?” he asked.
“Huh?” she asked blinking. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you saying something?”
“I said I think that’s everybody on the list. Everything’s taken care of for tomorrow,” David said.
“That’s good.” Lauren said. “You know, I was just thinking about Mark and Keri. Fifteen years after falling in love, they found each other again, and their love for each other was just as strong. That’s so romantic. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have another chance fifteen years later at a relationship you thought was over forever?”
“Sometimes you don’t have to wait fifteen years,” David said. “If you can catch that special someone just a year after you thought you’d lost them.”
Lauren nodded. “It’s the right time of the year for it.”
“What?”
“Valentine’s Day. It’s tomorrow. Finding lost love on Valentine’s Day would be so romantic.” She smiled.
“Lauren,” David reached out for her, but she jumped out of her chair. “I really better go. It’s been a long day, and I’m going to the florist with Lisa tomorrow for some wedding preparations.”
“Wait.” He didn’t have anything to lose by telling her his true feelings right now, except for his heart… and she already had that. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Before David could continue, there was a knock at the door.
“Come in,” he answered reluctantly, wondering why the perfect moment had to be interrupted.
His secretary stood in the doorway. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but there’s a client on line two. He’s not happy. Should I tell him you’ve gone home?”
“I was just leaving,” Lauren said, smiling once more at David. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” David repeated. Maybe he’d have another chance to tell her on Valentine’s Day.

Lauren’s heart was pounding so hard she thought it would burst right out of her chest. She was so glad she had an excuse to get out of there; otherwise, she would have made a fool of herself in front of David. Why had she brought up Mark and Keri and their love lasting fifteen years? Deep down she’d hoped David would say he still loved her even after a year, but who was she kidding. If the relationship was meant to last, they wouldn’t have lost touch. Lauren knew she should have written or come home to tell David how she felt, but, she’d stayed for a year. She’d lost her only chance with David.

Lauren and Lisa had spent the morning picking out flowers for the wedding, now they were back at home eating lunch when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it.” Lisa jumped up and opened the door. “Oh, those are beautiful!”
Lauren got up from the table and looked over her sister’s shoulder. The delivery man was holding a dozen roses.
“You know if someone stole my calendar, I would still know today was Valentine’s Day by the delivery of all these roses.” the man smiled. “Sign here.”
“Thank you.” Lisa signed and then accepted the flowers.
“I bet they’re from Ryan,” Lauren said.
“They’d better not be!” Lisa teased handing her sister the card. “They’re for you.”
“Hoping for another chance without having to wait fifteen years,” Lauren read. Sighing, it wasn’t too late. David still felt the same way she did. A smile spread across her lips. How romantic it was to find a lost love on Valentine’s Day!
“That’s an odd card,” Lisa said. “Who are they from?”
“David.”
“David who?” Lisa asked.
Lauren was barely listening as she grabbed her coat out of the closet. The phone rang, and Lisa went to answer it. Lauren was walking on air. Nothing could mess up her good mood. David was in love with her. That’s all that mattered right now.
“Lauren,” Lisa tapped her sister on the back and handed her the phone. “It’s for you.”
Lauren took the cordless phone from her sister. She immediately fell back to earth. “You want to know if I’m going sign the contract?”

“Contract?” Ryan asked David
“It’s for a permanent job in Paris,” David said. He was flipping through the pages of Lauren’s modeling contract. The contract was in the files Lisa had delegated to him while she’d taken the time off to plan the wedding. “It’s a good contract too. She’d be crazy not to sign it.”
“Or in love,” Ryan suggested.
“I don’t think so,” David sighed. He wondered why he had sent Lauren those flowers in the first place. He knew it was a risk telling her how he really felt. He wished he hadn’t found out about the contract. He could pretend there wasn’t a chance for her to go to Paris, and that had he another chance with her. But the truth was, she’d already chosen Paris over him once. What made him think she wouldn’t again? He knew he couldn’t compete with Paris.

Lauren knew she couldn’t put this moment off any longer. It was time for her to choose between Paris and David. Why was the descion so hard for her? Why had she been so brokenhearted when she and David had lost touch? Because she loved him. She knew that now. If the allure of Paris couldn’t change her feelings for him, nothing could. Now that she knew how David felt about her, there was no way she could take the job. She took a deep breath.
“I’ve decided not to take the job,” she said into the phone. “Yes, thank you, you, too.” She hung up the phone.
“I can’t believe you turned down a job in Paris,” Lisa said, then she smiled. “Or maybe I can! Tell me about David.”
“Actually, you know him quite well,” Lauren smiled.
“The only David I know is at the law firm and you can’t be talking about him,” Lisa said.
“Why not? You introduced us.” Lauren reminded her sister.
“I know I did, it’s just that…” Lisa paused. “Seriously, we’re talking about David Mitchell?”
Lauren nodded, suddenly realizing something was wrong, her sister didn’t gossip if she knew something about David, then it had to be true.
“Maybe I shouldn’t say anything,” Lisa said.
“It’s too late now. You have to tell me, Lisa!”
“David is seeing someone. Her name’s Jessica.” Lisa explained. “I met her when he brought her to the Christmas Party.”
“Christmas was almost two months ago,” Lauren said. “The relationship could be over by now. He had every right to go out with someone else, we weren’t seeing each other anymore.”
“He’s seen her since Christmas,” Lisa took a deep breath. “I saw them outside his office yesterday.”
“Well, David’s a lawyer, maybe they were talking about something related to law,” Lauren suggested.
“They weren’t talking.”

“Hey, Beautiful,” David greeted Lauren when she opened the front door that evening. Ryan had taken Lisa out for a romantic Valentine’s Day dinner while Lauren prepared for the guests arrival to Lisa’s surprise party.
Lauren didn’t respond to David’s greeting. She turned her back. She didn’t understand how he could call her Beautiful when he was seeing someone else.
“You know, when a guy sends a girl a dozen roses on Valentine’s Day, she typically talks to the guy.”
“What do you want me to say?” Lauren picked up a small pile of magazines that were on the coffee table. She carried them over to the bookshelf on the other side of room. David followed her. “Telling me you liked them would be good for starters.”
“Honestly, I haven’t decided yet.” Lauren grabbed a feather duster and went over some knickknacks on the shelf keeping her back to David.
“I know I took a big risk telling you how I feel after a year. I knew that you might not feel the same way.”
“Well, at least you have a backup,” Lauren stated, turning around furiously the feather duster hit David right in the face.
“Thanks for that,” he laughed as he rubbed his nose.
“I would say I’m sorry, but I’m really not,” she said walking away. David grabbed both her arms to stop her.
“What backup?” he asked.
“Jessica.”
The look on David’s face proved she had caught him. “How did you know about her?”
“I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you,” she crossed her arms, “and don’t think I’m entirely opposed to that idea.”
“Jessica and I went out a few times, but it was over after Christmas,” David said, “believe me.”
“I know she was at your office yesterday.”
“She’s a client.”
“Isn’t that a bit unethical?”
“You were my client, too,” David reminded her.
“Technically, I was Lisa’s client. She delegated my case to you in a feeble attempt at matchmaking.”
“It worked, I fell in love with you as soon as I met you.”
“I hope you and Jessica have better luck than we did,” Lauren said, walking to the other side of the room.
“Lauren,” he followed her, “we really did break up after Christmas. She had appointment yesterday and we did discuss getting back together, but I knew after seeing you again that it wouldn’t work out with Jessica,” David explained. “I know I love you.”
Lauren stopped and turned around took look him. “You really mean that?”
“Yes, that’s when I decided to send you the flowers. I didn’t want to lose another chance with you. Then I found out you had a job offer in Paris and, selfishly, I hoped the flowers would make you stay,” he explained as he met her eyes.
“It worked,” Lauren said. “I turned down the offer.”
“You really gave up Paris for me?” he asked.
“Yes,” she answered. “You really broke up with Jessica?”
“I really did,” he said. “I don’t want you to hate me later when you realize you could have had a chance to live in Paris.”
“I already lived in Paris. I would hate myself if I gave up another chance to be with you.”
“Then don’t go to Paris,” he said pulling her into his arms. “You wouldn’t like it there. You better stay here with me, Beautiful.”
“I might just do that.” She smiled. It was so romantic. She had another chance with David, and she had it on Valentine’s Day. She knew she’d made the right decision. Paris couldn’t hold a candle to the way she felt when David kissed her.