Hello, yeah. Hi. So, I’m Darek Christiansen, and Susie told me I had to show up and introduce myself. So here I am. Listen, it’s no mystery that I don’t want to be here. I really need to be getting home to Tiger, my five-year-old son. But apparently the resort needs a little public relations, so here I am.
I run the Evergreen Resort, a handful of cabins and an outfitting service for campers and canoeists located on a lake in the north shore of Minnesota. It’s a family operation; my parents inherited it from my grandparents. I never really wanted to take it over, but I had to do something to give my son a stable life after I lost my wife in a terrible car accident. Unfortunately, the man who killed her lives in our town. OK, he was actually my best friend, but that seems so long ago, it’s hard to imagine that Jensen and I were ever anything but enemies.
OK, so yes, I struggle with forgiveness. And the guilt that I never really wanted this life. I was going to be a HotShot, a fire manager, fighting wildland fires. But life doesn’t give you what you want—it gives you what you deserve. Which means I’m not going to end up with the cute new assistant county prosecutor who just arrived in town. Even if she did buy me in the town fundraiser/bachelor auction. Because what she doesn’t know is that I’m the last man she should hang out with.
But deep inside, I’m hoping she’ll take a chance on me. Because what I really want (and don’t tell anyone) is to start over. To build a new life. I am just not sure how to get there.
I hope you’ll go on the journey with me in Susan May Warren’s newest novel about me, and my family, and life on a resort in the north shore of Minnesota. Take a Chance on Me is available now!