13. Chapter 13
Jared
I’m at our usual corner table at Pete’s Cafe, stirring cream into my coffee and going over and over the speech in my head. I have something important to discuss with Mila, and I’m not sure how she’ll react.
Across from me, she’s balancing a clipboard on her knee, scribbling something about nest activity, and looking so completely in her element that I half-expect the lemon bars between us to sprout tiny turtle flippers and crawl toward the ocean.
I clear my throat. “So… ever since our conversation the other night—about you making Friendly your home base—I’ve been thinking.”
She looks up, eyebrows arched. “That’s always dangerous.”
I slide a folder across the table, filled with brochures and flyers from past events. The Hank Heron Foundation logo is front and center on all of them.
Her smile softens. “You brought homework.”
“More like an invitation.” I lean forward, elbows on the table.
“My dad and I started the foundation years ago to protect shorebirds, and it grew into something the whole town supports. But last week, watching those hatchlings…” My voice trails off for a second because, honestly, the memory still feels a little like magic.
“It hit me that we could be doing more. Expanding. Shorebirds and marine life, with a special emphasis on turtles, of course. I’m thinking of education programs for kids, volunteer patrols, field days. There’s so much we can do.”
She blinks, then tilts her head. “And when you say ‘we’…?”
“I mean you and me,” I say plainly. “Co-directors. Partners. The foundation is strong, but with your expertise we could take it further. Make Friendly a real model for coastal conservation. We can do so much more with someone with a PhD at the helm.”
For a second she doesn’t say anything, and I wonder if I’ve pushed too fast. Then her mouth curves into the kind of smile that feels like sunrise over the marsh. “I love the sound of that,” she says. “And your dad doesn’t mind?”
I shake my head. “He’s ready to take a step back into a less demanding role. He’s a busy doctor and a husband and the father of a six-year-old. And our relationship is strong now. When we started the foundation, we were still getting to know each other.”
I can’t help but chuckle under my breath, remembering how I called him Victor back then. He’s Dad now.
Mila’s smile is radiant. “I’d love that. I truly want Friendly to be my home base, and with the foundation, I can dedicate more time to working right here. But I can’t promise that research opportunities won’t call me away from time to time. I may still have to travel for work a fair bit.”
I grin, relief flooding me. “Then I’ll invest in some decent luggage.”
She laughs, shaking her head. “You make it sound so simple.”
“Because it is,” I say. “You go where the turtles call. I’ll keep the home fires—and the kayaks—going here. And when I can, when I won’t be in your way or a distraction, I’ll come with you.”
“Really?”
I reach across the table to hold her hands. “We’ll make it work. I love you, Mila Aronson.”
“We’ll make it work,” she agrees, “because I love you, Jared Tuck.”
My chest floods with warmth, and I could happily stare into her eyes for the next hour, but she says, “Now, about the foundation… I have some ideas.”
That’s my girl.
Chuckling, I let go of her hands and watch her scribble out plans on her notebook. “I can’t wait to hear them, Turtle Lady.”