Storybook Dad

She knew she should say something. But for a moment she was at a complete loss for words.

Mark Reynolds was like no man she’d ever laid eyes on—at least not outside the confines of her imagination. Even then, the flesh-and-blood version was much taller than she’d always envisioned. Either way though, his hair was the epitome of Milk Chocolate Brown and his eyes a perfect match for Ocean Wave Blue….

But it was his arms—the kind capable of sweeping a woman off her feet and carrying her across the threshold of a make-believe castle—that yanked Emily back to a reality that no longer had room for such silly dreams.

Mark looked down at his registration papers and then back at Emily. “So … am I too late?”

Slowly she expelled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “It’s never too late, Mr. Reynolds. Not for learning, anyway.”

HE HUNG BACK as they neared the parking lot, his thoughts as much on Emily Todd as anything he’d learned that morning. During the first hour of class, before they’d ventured outside, they’d sat around a table, and Emily had taught them how to use a compass to find a set of coordinates. He’d tried to listen politely to the questions his classmates asked, and had worked hard to focus on the answers, but in the end, all he knew for sure was the fact that his teacher was gorgeous.

Emily Todd was straight out of the pages of one of his son’s favorite fairy tales, right down to the wispy blond hair, slightly upturned nose and big brown doe eyes. But unlike those winged characters that flew around in the dark, sprinkling pixie dust in the air, this woman’s feet were firmly on the ground, and she carried herself with a confidence that was anything but childlike.

He admired the determination that had driven her to start a company like Bucket List 101. It took guts and—judging by the list of outdoor activities the company offered—she had to be in great physical shape. Her toned legs and taut body attested to that.

“Did you enjoy yourself, Mr. Reynolds?”

Mark shifted his attention from Emily to her teenage assistant. “I had a great time, Trish. Spending the last two hours in the woods was really cool.”

“It’s one of my favorite classes, too.” Trish swept her clipboard toward Emily, who was disappearing into the woods with a drawstring bag. “Every time I think Emily has come up with the coolest class ever, she trumps it with another one the next time around. Come January, she’ll be offering this same class, but on skis.”

“Skis?”

“Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?” Without waiting for his answer, Trish headed across the parking lot, glancing back over her shoulder in his direction. “If you’re interested, I’ll be in the office tomorrow morning. We can get you signed up before the fall and winter program guide even goes out in the mail.”

“Thanks, Trish. Sounds like fun.” And it did.

Especially since it meant spending more time with Emily Todd …

“Don’t you think you should give that back to Emily before you get in your car and drive home?”

Mark pulled his gaze from Emily’s receding back and fixed it instead on one of the retired guys, who’d kept the class in stitches with his nonstop jokes throughout the three-hour course. “Huh?”

The man pointed at Mark’s left hand. “You still have your compass. You were supposed to set it on the porch railing when we came out of the woods.”

“Whoops. You’re right. I’d guess I better catch up with Trish and turn this in before Emily thinks I made off with her equipment.”

“If I were you, young man, I’d bypass Trish and take it straight to Emily. Gives you an excuse to look at her for another few minutes.”

Raking his hand through his hair, Mark released an audible breath. “No, man, it’s not like that. Really. I’ve got a kid at home and I’m not in any place to be—”

“She’s a cute little thing. Spunky, too.” The man took a few steps and then paused. “And she don’t have no wedding ring on her finger, either.”

Mark looked down at the hand that gripped the compass, a familiar lump building in his throat at the sight of the half-inch band of skin that no longer stood out the way it once had when his ring was off. What on earth was he doing? He’d taken this class as a release, not to pick up chicks. It was way too soon. Seth needed his complete focus. He needed his complete focus….

Mark started back across the grass and along the path where Emily had just disappeared. Step by step, he ventured farther into the woods, and found the excitement he’d felt during the hands-on portion of the class resurfacing in spades.

It was as if the sunlight that randomly poked through the heavy leaves, warming him from the outside in, had somehow managed to rekindle a part of his spirit that had disappeared along with any respect he’d once had for himself prior to Sally’s death.

Mark climbed onto a stump and looked from side to side, his heart rate picking up at the sight of Emily heading back toward him, the bag she’d been carrying into the woods now looped over her shoulder, a pad of paper and a pencil in her hand. “Emily? I saw you head back here. Everything okay?”

She stopped midstep and gave him a funny look. “Just jotting down a few new coordinates for next time. Did you forget something, Mr. Reynolds?”

“No, I …” He glanced down, saw the compass he held in a death grip. “Actually, yeah. I forgot to turn in my compass. By the time I realized it, Trish had already collected them and I didn’t want to just leave it sitting around.”

The smile he’d found so engaging all afternoon returned. “Kind of got used to holding it, huh? Well, don’t worry about it. I’ve found myself driving home with a compass still in my hand after one of these kinds of outings, so you’re in good company. Means it started to feel natural.”

He tucked the compass into his pants pocket and swept his gaze across the woods, nodding. “I can’t believe how good it felt to be out here … playing.”

Her laughter echoed around them. “Welcome to my job. Where I get to play—and help others play—all day long.”

“Sounds like heaven to me.”

“Really? Because the last time I checked these woods were in the middle of Winoka, Wisconsin,” she joked, before beckoning him to follow as she wound her way back through the trees. “If you don’t mind me asking, what made you decide to take this class, Mr. Reynolds?”

He considered the best way to respond. If he shared too much, the lift in his heart from stepping out of his reality would be gone. If he didn’t give her any kind of answer, he’d come across as rude. He opted for the safest reply he could find. “First of all, it’s Mark. Mr. Reynolds makes me feel as if you’re talking to someone much older than I want to be. And as to why I came today, I guess you could say I’m looking for something that’ll help me unwind.”

“Sounds like a good reason.”

They emerged from the woods side by side, then cut across the clearing toward the old converted barn that served as the offices for Bucket List 101. When they reached the front door, Mark tried to think of something else to say, something to allow him even a few more minutes in her orbit, but he came up empty.

“Well, thanks for today. It was really great.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Mr. Reynolds.”

“Mark,” he reminded her gently. At her nod, he turned and headed toward his car, the sound of the door opening and shutting behind him making it both easier and harder to breathe. Never in his recent and not-so-recent memory could he recall a woman who affected him quite the way Emily did.

Except, of course, for Sally. And even then, it was for very different reasons….

When he got to his car he reached into his pocket for his keys and froze.

“Oh, no …” He wrapped his fingers around the circular object and pulled it out, denial quickly morphing into self-recrimination. “What an idiot I am!”

Shaking his head, he retraced his steps to the barn and went inside, his feet guided down the hall by the sound of music and a pinpoint of light streaming through the crack under a door.

He knocked and heard Emily say, “Come in.”

Pushing the door open, Mark peeked inside, to find her hunched at a desk, poring over some sort of outdoor catalog. “I’m sorry to bother you, but I forgot to actually give you my compass after tracking you down in the woods. I’m a head case, I know.”

Her laugh echoed off the walls and brought his body to attention. “Considering the fact that you showed it to me twenty minutes ago and I didn’t take it, I think it’s safe to say your state of mind isn’t the only one in question at the moment. But no worries. I happen to believe momentary insanity is par for the course after running through the woods for two hours the way we did. It rattles brains, I think.”

He took a few steps into her office and leaned against the wall, her sincerity and her genuineness speaking to him on some unexpected level. “Do you ever get tired, running around like that?”

The sparkle in her eyes dimmed. “No, never.”

“Wow.” Despite his best intentions, he found himself glancing around the room, looking for any excuse to stretch out their time together. It was as if by being there, talking to her, he could almost forget the unforgettable. He pointed at the illustrations on the wall behind her desk. “Looks like you’ve got a budding artist on your hands.”

The sparkle returned. “Nope. Just a dreamer who happens to have a very sentimental friend.”