He scanned the beach until he found her. 

   
His heart skipped a beat. She was alone, and still as beautiful as he remembered. He snapped a picture and put the camera back in his car. 
   
He stretched. Waited until she jogged by him, then turned to head back to the side of the beach she had come from. 
   
Moving onto the sand, he sprinted until he was a few feet behind her, then slowed his pace until he was jogging along side her. She became aware of him then, but didn’t look over. Instead she sped up a little.
   
He kept pace.

“You a reporter?”  She asked without looking at him, pulling the earphone out of her ear.  

“Not in a million years,” he said.

She stopped in her tracks. 

He ran a few steps ahead and turned.  He was wearing sunglasses, a backwards baseball cap and the smile that made her knees weak.  He reached up and took his glasses off revealing the gray blue eyes that she saw every night in her dreams. 

“Ty?”  She whispered.

“Chris Ryan,” he said as he approached her, extending his hand. 

Jessica Whitman shook his hand as she stared at him.  She glanced around the beach relieved that they were not the only two people out this early.  She semi-smiled and began to jog again, putting the earphone back in her ear.  He jogged along side her. 

“Where have you been?”  She finally asked as she popped the earphone out again.  

“New York City.”

Jessica nodded slightly.  Her heart was racing faster than usual; it had been over five years since she last set eyes on him.  The memory of him on the floor bleeding to death in that hell hole had remained as vivid as the day she left.   

“Are you okay?”  

“I’ve been worse,” she lied and glanced at him. 

The silence enveloped them again as they continued jogging down the beach.

“How’d you know?”  She asked. 

“Tabloids,” he answered and she nodded.  “Where’s Tom?” 

“He had to go back west.”

“Is everything I read true?”  

Jessica stopped jogging and walked toward the water.  

He followed her. 

“Tom didn’t understand.  Em wasn’t his daughter and I think it was just too difficult for him to watch her waste away like that, so yes, he left.”  

 “I told him not to hurt you,” he said, reaching to wipe a strand of hair out of her face.  

Jessica nodded slowly.  “He came back for the funeral, but . . .” She shook her head as she listened to the waves softly hitting the sand.  “But he said it was over when he left this time.”  

“How is your son?”  

“Devastated, just like me,” she answered.  “We couldn’t fix her.”  She started to cry and turned toward him.  “Ty, we couldn’t fix her.”   

He reached out and pulled her close.  “I’m sorry Jess.”  Pangs of guilt bit at him.  They must have used all their magic on me.  He kissed the top of her head.  

Jessica pulled away after a few moments and wiped her face.  She looked up into his eyes.  “Why now?”  

“Thought you might need me.”  He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked out at the sunrise.  

Jessica looked at the colors reflecting on the ocean surface and nodded.  “I do.”   

“I missed you,” he said.  

“Me too,” Jessica admitted and started walking back toward the beach house that she and Tom bought when they got married five years before.  

“Do you want me to come with you?”  He asked as they approached the stairs to the road.  

Jessica hesitated.  “Ty,” She started.  

“Please, call me Chris,” he said cutting her off. “Ty died on the floor that day.” 

She looked over at him.  He was even more handsome without the scar and the flood of feelings that she had denied for over five years flowed back into her heart.  Her eyes filled with tears and she nodded.  “I need you.”  

His heart soared and he smiled a little.  “My car is over there.”  He pointed to a beautiful red vintage corvette stingray.  

The flashy car brought a smile to her face.  

“You like?”  

She nodded.  

“It’s yours.”  He handed her the keys.  

Her jaw dropped as she took the keys from his outstretched hand.  She wiped her eyes again, turning the keys over in her hand and looking at the car.  “I can’t take this.”  She handed the keys back.  

“I’ve got more money than God, remember?”  He smiled.  “You can have anything that you want.”    

“You can’t give me what I want.”  

He reached out and pulled the hair tie out of her hair, watching as the wind swirled her long locks around her face.  “What do you want?”  He stepped closer. 

“I want Emily back.”  Jessica looked up at him, tears slipping down her cheeks. 

“You’re right, I can’t make that happen.”  He ran his hand into her hair, leaning over, he gently kissed her.  “But I can give you everything else that you need.”  He pulled away and opened the passenger side door for her.  Starting the car, he pulled out from the curb and without direction from her; he navigated the car through the winding streets, pulling into her driveway a few minutes later.   

“You knew where we lived?” 

“Yes. I kept tabs over the years.” 

Jessica fumbled with the keys, unlocking the front door and swung it open for him, following him inside.  “Eric is with his Dad for the week,” she said as the door closed behind them.  

He removed his hat, running his hand through his hair, scanning the tastefully decorated beach house, just what he expected from Jessica.  He walked to the windows that overlooked the bluff and smiled.  “Hell of a view.”  He looked at the lighthouse and the surrounding ocean.  

Jessica stood taking him in and when he turned toward her, she was overwhelmed.  “Ty,” she whispered and flew toward him.  

He met her in the middle of the room, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up as their lips met, unleashing the passion that had been bottled up for five years.  Sweeping her off her feet and looking around, he headed toward the hallway to their left glancing at her for affirmation.  

Jessica nodded.  

Chris ran his hands through her hair, holding her face as he kissed her on the bed.  “Tell me,” he whispered in his smooth sexy voice, moving his lips to her neck.  His hands moved down her body feeling her tremble under his touch.  

Jessica pulled at his sweatshirt and he leaned up so she could strip it off.  Running her fingers over his perfect chest, she gazed up into his eyes.  There were no scars anywhere.  “I want you, Ty.” 

He had waited so long to hear those words and it was just as sweet as he dreamed.  He made love to her slowly with his hands and mouth, savoring every inch of her as she whispered his name.  “I love you,” he whispered when he finally slid inside her.  

Jessica Whitman sat up in her bed calling his name.  Her chest heaved as she looked around the empty room.  

Tom stuck his head out of the bathroom, toothbrush in his mouth.  “You okay babe?”    

Jessica stared at him and around the room again.  “Yes.” She nodded falling back on the soft mattress, staring at the ceiling and still feeling his hands on her body.