Six months later.

Wyatt awoke from a dream about Beth as he did most mornings, and now he was running through the quiet streets of his New York neighborhood in an attempt to outrun his dream. He pushed himself to forget her, he had almost done it five years ago, and he should be able to do as much again.

The only thing in his favor was that he had no way to contact her. He had no address or phone number and it had been something for which he had been thankful many times over the last six months. Wyatt stopped and put his hands on his hips as he started to walk. As usual, the run did nothing to irradicate her face from his thoughts.

He had thought she was beautiful five years ago, and now she was even more stunning. She had grown into a woman, a naïve and innocent one, but one none the less. He had told her he didn't want to use her, take advantage of that innocence, and then leave, and one might argue that he could stay. He wanted to, but Wyatt knew it wasn't fair to her because what he felt today he might not feel tomorrow if his family history proved true.

Wyatt hadn't wanted to tell her the reasons why it wouldn't work, and he was thankful that she hadn't asked and that she hadn't wanted to know because he feared that he would fall from that pedestal she had put him on five years ago. He was man enough to admit that he liked being on that pedestal.

With a curse word, he started to walk in the direction from which he had just come.

His life was screwed up, and it always had been. He wasn't going to land her with his baggage, no matter how much he wanted her, and Wyatt had never wanted anything as much as he wanted her. Their feelings were mutual, but to tell her that would be his downfall and possibly hers in the end.

Finding a bench, he sat and bent his head as he thought about when he had met her five years ago. There had been something so familiar about Beth. She had caught his interest from the start, and her nervous energy had charmed him. However, the more he talked to her, the more he realized she was too young.

He had probably fallen in love with her the moment she had fallen asleep in his arms. He had held her, enjoying all of the what-ifs that had run through his mind while she had slept. It had been one of those rare and perfect moments in a lifetime. It had taken all of his willpower to kiss her and walk away the next morning, to honor his promise and send her the information and then lose her contact information.

When he had seen her again, it had been surreal. At first, he thought she was a mirage, but as the cart his father had been driving drew nearer to her, he had stopped breathing. She was in the exact place he had left her five years previous. He shouldn't have offered to let her into the cabin. He should have gone back to the house then got on a plane back to New York and away from her. He most definitely shouldn't have told her he remembered her. There were so many ways he could have played it differently and kept her at arm's length.

The kiss in Charleston had been five years in the making, five years of wanting compiled into one moment. The only moment he would allow himself. She had been so hopeful, and he shouldn't have done it.

Wyatt knew what she felt was real because he felt it too, but how long would he feel it? Would he be like his father and grandfather? Fall fast and hard then, once he had what he wanted, leave it all behind, leave her behind?

An image of Wyatt's mother's face came into his mind, and he stood and started to run again. No, he wouldn't do that to Beth, he couldn't. She had hoped that fate would bring them together again, she was trusting it would, and he was trusting that it wouldn't.

*******

"Hello," Beth answered her phone as she juggled the keys to her door and the mail.

"Beth, do you have a minute?" her Aunt Laura asked.

"Sure, Aunt Laura. What's up?" Beth pushed through her door and threw the mail and keys on her kitchen counter.

"I need a favor." Laura sounded unsure. Probably because she never asked for favors. She was the epitome of self-reliance.

"Name it," Beth said, walking over the kitchen and grabbing a soda from the fridge.

"I have a new model that needs a place to stay. I was wondering if you could put her up for a few months until she makes some money and can find a place of her own. Normally I would never dream of asking you, but since you know her, I thought it might make sense." Laura's voice sounded calm and Beth knew if she said no, her Aunt would figure out something else.

"Who is it?" Beth asked before she realized who Aunt Laura was trying to help. "It's Katherine, isn't it?"

"Yes, she's been living at home, but now she's ready to be on her own." It was a simple statement that gave away no details, but Beth sensed there was a story there. She also knew that this might be fate giving her a second chance, and it almost made her giddy.

"Sure," she said without missing a beat. "Henry's coming to stay next week, but he can sleep on the couch. He won't mind, especially when he meets Katherine."

"Great, can I send her around this evening then?" Laura was already distracted by something else, Beth could hear it in her voice.

"I'll be here," Beth assured her. She was always home. Between her new job teaching and her research for Mason, she didn't have much of a life.

They said their goodbyes and ended the call.

Beth felt anxious and excited all at the same time. Katherine and Wyatt were friends. Maybe this was a third chance. It had only been six months, but it felt like a lifetime since she had seen him.