Second Chance Father. Renee Andrews

in the forest and with the effect he had on her senses.

      “I want to help him too.”

      Elise tripped over a tree root, stumbled, but caught herself before falling completely, and then she pivoted to see the guy whose words had rocked her to the core.

      He stood grounded to the spot, raising his brow as though waiting for her to tell him how he could help.

      “That’s real nice of you.” She struggled to figure this man out. First he scared her to death, then he admitted that her patient had been to see him—twice. And now he asked to help said patient. “But I’m not sure what you could do.”

      Oak leaves crunched beneath his feet as he took the few steps needed to lessen the gap between them. He stopped just shy of her three feet of personal space, which was good. The sky had darkened as late afternoon turned to early evening, and she still didn’t know a whole lot about the man. Except that he was big and rugged. Socially challenged. And even more attractive up close.

      “He must be interested in my cabin, or in the furniture I’m building, or something. Maybe I can use that to break down his barrier and get him to talk.”

      Elise homed in on the part he’d said that would potentially interest Cody. “I’d almost forgotten. His father was a carpenter. Is that your occupation too?”

      “No. I worked in the film industry.” The slight shake of his head at the end of the sentence told Elise he wished he hadn’t told her that much. “You think he came around because he saw me building furniture?”

      She decided to leave the film industry comment alone. She wasn’t here to get information about Jack; she needed to stay focused on her patient. “From what I’ve read about Cody’s history, his interests never aligned with his father’s occupation.” She would’ve left it at that, but he seemed to drink in every tidbit about the boy, so she explained, “Cody is an autistic savant.”

      His head tilted. “Like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man?”

      Elise sighed. As much as that movie didn’t portray the vast scope of the savant syndrome, it did do much in alerting the general public to the specialized care needed by those individuals diagnosed with the disorder. “Cody is similar to that,” she said, “but his area of expertise is rather unique. Dustin Hoffman’s character specialized in math. Cody specializes in cars.”

      “Cars?”

      “Specifically the muscle cars of the sixties.”

      Awareness coated his features, and the right corner of his mouth crooked up at the edge. “He’s had on a classic car shirt both times I’ve seen him.”

      “And he’ll have another one on if you see him again. That’s all he’ll wear.” She heard a branch crack behind her and jerked around so fast that she lost her balance.

      A large palm caught her left bicep and steadied her before she fell.

      “You okay?” His face hovered near to hers. So close that she could see genuine concern in those uniquely colored green eyes.

      Her personal space was officially invaded, big-time, resulting in her heart traipsing into a nice gallop. “I’m...fine.” She eased away from the warmth of his hand. “I should get back to Willow’s Haven, and to Cody.”

      “I meant what I said, about helping him,” Jack stated firmly. “If his dad was a carpenter, then he can help me out with the furniture I’m building. Maybe that’ll let him cope with the loss somehow.”

      Anything that would get Cody to ease out of his shell would be progress, but Elise doubted carpentry would do the trick, based on his prior caseworker’s files. “I’m not sure...”

      “If that doesn’t work, I have another idea.” He gave her a moment to respond. When she didn’t, he added, “You should let me try. I know what he’s going through.”

      Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she withdrew it to see another text from Savvy.

      Pretty sure Cody is looking for you.

      She wanted to ask Jack what he meant. How did he know what Cody was going through? He’d assumed Willow’s Haven was an orphanage. Had he been orphaned too? Was that why he’d decided to remove himself from society, remain holed up in middle-of-nowhere, Alabama?

      “Bring him back tomorrow. Let me help.” His words were almost delivered as a command, and Elise wondered what kind of position of authority this guy held in the past that he believed people would do his bidding simply because he stated it.

      Even so, she wanted to help Cody. Needed to. And the boy did seem drawn to this guy. Then again, she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t drawn to him too. There was something about him...

      She cleared her head, thought about what was best for her patient. “It’d be better if Cody came back on his own, instead of me trying to force him to do anything.”

      “Okay. But I think he will.”

      Elise nodded. Cody had been here twice in two days. There was no reason to think he wouldn’t make an effort to return again tomorrow. “I do too.”

      He gave her a slight smile, as though pleased she gave the right answer, and, again, she wondered what kind of power this man had held—or still held—in his world. Showing her his phone, he added, “I’ll call you when he does.” Then he indicated the path behind Elise. “You should probably go before the rain.”

      “What rain?” she asked, as a loud boom of thunder in the distance made her jump, and then a heavy drop of water plopped on her nose.

      “I’ve always sensed when storms are coming.” His voice rumbled almost as fiercely as the sounds echoing from the dark clouds overhead.

      “Call me if you see him again.” More drops plopped on her head, and she became aware of the musty odor and heaviness permeating the air. Then she turned and darted down the trail but chanced one more look over her shoulder to see Jack, standing in the rain, watching her disappear into the woods as if he wanted to make sure she made it back safely.

      Why did she have the impulse to turn around, run the opposite direction...and make sure he found his way home too?

Chapter Two

      Jack sat on the front steps of his cabin and watched the how-to video on his laptop. Before yesterday, he’d have sat inside to view the next steps involved in building a seven-drawer dresser, but now that he knew the boy he’d encountered actually existed, he didn’t want to miss his reappearance. In fact, he had a difficult time paying attention to the video, because he couldn’t keep his gaze from wandering to that spot in the woods where Cody had appeared.

      And then Elise.

      Throughout the night and most of today, he’d found himself thinking as much about the woman as the boy. Or more. He’d been impressed with her willingness to approach him, a stranger, in order to find and protect her son.

      No, not her son, her patient. That had surprised him, the way she’d shown so much motherly instinct toward a child for which she shared no blood bond. A beautiful thing, really. In another place and time, he would’ve taken that exquisite situation, the layers of emotions, peeled them away from the surface and studied them, then analyzed the best way to portray a woman who cared so deeply on the big screen.

      Gritting his teeth at the way his mind always went there, he stopped thinking about the large screens of the past and instead turned his attention to the small screen in front of him, the one showing a master woodworker describing how to build the drawers. But Jack hadn’t finished the frame, and he’d glazed over during the applicable part, his thoughts on the grieving boy and intriguing woman instead of his current task.

      He restarted the last section of the video and watched it again. The simple action of repeating the segment brought back a memory of JJ,