by Pamela Stone
“Hey, don’t snap my head off. I had a job just down the street. But if you don’t need a ride, I’ve got a cold beer with my name on it waiting at home.”
Vince gritted his teeth. “No need to get all testy.” He locked his pickup, took a deep breath and crawled into Gray’s. “Sorry. Been a bad day.”
Gray turned the key and waited for the engine to kick in. He pumped the gas a couple times and the engine finally caught. “Lighten up. It’s not their fault your love life tanked.”
Vince acknowledged this remark with an obscene hand gesture that only earned him a laugh from his brother-in-law.
Vince blew off steam. “I mean, what the hell happened? One day everything was going great, then out of the blue, Hanna said it’s over. What changed?”
Gray shrugged as he stopped at an intersection to let an eighteen-wheeler pass.
“Not only do women expect us to understand what they say, they also seem to think we can read their minds.” Vince was getting worked up all over again just thinking about it. “How the hell are we supposed to keep up?”
Gray cocked an eyebrow and shifted into third.
“What does she expect me to do? Does she think I’ll come knocking at her door? Is it a game? Or maybe she really does just want me to disappear.”
“Bullshit,” Gray said.
Vince wanted to think it was just a temporary bump in the road, but he wasn’t sure. “There was something between us and it was more than San Antonio and sex. We connect. She tried to walk away once and came back, so why is she doing it again?”
Gray gave him a sideways smirk as they started across the bridge.
“Should I call her, you think?” Vince stared straight ahead. “No way. That’s what she wants me to do.”
“So you’re both hardheaded? That’ll turn out well.”
Vince glared at him. “I thought she’d call me when she worked through things with Richard, but now I wonder. She’ll call.” Vince stared out the window at the field of late-blooming pink buttercups, trying to convince himself. “Won’t she?”
Gray pulled into the parking lot and held up both hands. “When did I suddenly become the expert? Look at my love life.”
“What love life?”
Gray grimaced. “My point exactly.”
Vince slid out of the truck and eyed Mariah’s cute little figure. She was a couple of inches shorter than Hanna, not a single curl in her cropped brown hair. But the whole package fitted together nicely, right down to those tight jeans and tank top.
Gray, apparently, was oblivious.
Mariah looked up from a bike and flashed a pair of green eyes. “Bike’s ready. Take it for a spin and see how it performs.”
It was still too early for afternoon rush hour, not that rush hour in Marble Falls amounted to much. Heading away from town, he opened the bike up. The engine purred like a tiger. When he got back to the shop, Mariah was working on another bike and Gray was in the parking lot, leaning against the truck as if there wasn’t a good-looking woman twenty feet away.
“Trust me, the woman has magic hands.”
Gray shook his head. “You’re the one who shares with her the thrill of risking life and limb on a two-wheeled get-ya-killed.”
Giving him a go-to-hell look, Vince went to pay Mariah. He should ask her out. He’d thought about it a time or two, but then he’d met Hanna. He wrote out the check. “You do have a way with a machine, Ms. Calabrezie.”
Her smile was sweet. “We all have our quirks. Personally I find that engines make more sense than most people.”
“You called that one right.” He handed her the check and took the receipt. “Take care.”
“So, did you ask her out?” Gray asked as Vince coasted to a stop beside the truck.
Why, when he looked at Mariah, did he only see what wasn’t like Hanna Rosser? That should have been a good thing. “Just follow me home to drop off the bike.”
“Figured she might be your type.”
“She’s a doll, but I’ve had about all the small-town gossip I can stomach this week. Austin is looking better and better.”
Gray grinned and pulled out of the lot. They dropped off the bike and picked up Kenzie at the house, then headed back to the job site for Vince’s pickup.
“Uncle Gray, you coming to my graduation next Friday?”
Kenzie had a special bond with her mother’s twin and it made Vince both happy and sad. Belinda had adored Matt, but she’d doted on her baby girl.
Gray nudged Kenzie. “You sure your grades are good enough that they’re actually going to let you graduate from elementary school?”
“I’ve got it,” Kenzie said from her perch between the two men. “I could sign you up for that show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and maybe you’d have to eat a few of those words.”
Vince offered to buy Gray dinner, but he declined, so Vince and Kenzie headed for Wal-Mart to pick up groceries and dog food. Vince wasn’t in the mood to eat out. Maybe they’d grill hamburgers.
Kenzie made her way through the aisles doing what Kenzie was best at, tossing cookies and chips into the basket. Vince turned down an aisle and almost ran his shopping cart into Hanna’s. Their gazes met for a split second before she looked away.
“Hello, Ms. Rosser.” Kenzie tossed in a bag of Oreos and stood in front of Vince, facing Hanna. “Where’s Ash?”
“He’s home, doing his homework.” Those sad, dark eyes looked up from Kenzie and focused on him. “Vince.”
“Hanna.”
His gut hurt. His body had an elemental reaction to hers. He wanted to drag her aside and make her admit that what they had was worth fighting for.
Instead, he stood motionless and watched her walk away. She’d ended it. She could make the first move to get it back. If she wanted it back.
HANNA HELD HER HEAD HIGH and forced one foot in front of the other. If she didn’t look into those denim-colored eyes, maybe she could resist the spell Vince had over her. Maybe she could not lie awake again tonight and wonder if she’d lost her ever-loving mind for ending it with him.
But they had rushed into a physical relationship too soon. Before she’d had time to get her head together after the divorce.
The night before, when her thoughts had been in so much turmoil over Vince that she couldn’t sleep, she’d tried to picture her life back in Dallas. As much as she’d loved her beautiful home, it was no longer what she wanted. There was more to it than her unwillingness to forgive Richard; her dreams had changed. She might not know yet what the future held, but she knew she had to make it happen on her own.
Vince hadn’t called or stopped by, but that was what she’d needed, right? Time to regroup, to get to know who Hanna was after the divorce.
Who was she kidding? Time wasn’t an issue. Vince had her so wrapped around his finger, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. She just wasn’t willing to play second fiddle to Belinda for the rest of her life. Or to the entire Maguire clan.
She tossed a bundle of leaf lettuce in the basket with the six-pack of underwear for Ashton and went in search of French bread for dinner. It really was amazing how much money she saved by shopping at Wal-Mart. The identical underwear would be twice as much at the department store in Dallas.
At the checkout counter she picked up one of those flashy, sensationalized star rags, but glanced at the headlines and put it back. Who really believed any of that crap? It was mean-spirited gossip, just like the kind in small towns, only on a worldwide scale.
BLUEBONNET BOOKS WAS QUIET Thursday afternoon. Norma had taken off to meet her friends for lunch and their weekly bridge game. Customers were evidently staying in out of the rain, or at least they weren’t into reading. Hanna was sitting behind the counter filling out an order when she heard the bell on the door jingle.
Vince looked incredibly serious, dressed in jeans and the same black button-down he’d worn in San Antonio. He closed the door against the dark clouds and brushed the rain off his arms.
As he turned, their eyes met, but he stayed in the front of the store. Placing both palms on the windowsill, he leaned his weight on them and crossed one ankle over the other. Those intense eyes bored a hole into her soul.
“Hi,” she said. Anything to break the silence.
“Hi.” He looked up, then back at her as if he wasn’t sure what to say. “I talked to Claire this morning.”
Hanna’s breath caught in her throat. “About?”
“You. Us. The past. The future.”
She wasn’t sure what that meant. “To ask her permission?”
He shook his head. “First, I need you to tell me why you broke it off after the barbecue. No games, Hanna.”
She closed her eyes. She couldn’t do this. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked at him. Okay, he wanted honesty. “I know Belinda was a wonderful person. And I know that you all loved her very much. You will always be a part of the Maguire family. I’m just not sure there’s any room left for me.”
“Fair enough.” He continued to lean on the windowsill. “Belinda’s family has been very good to me. I owed it to Claire at least to hear it from me. No matter how much I loved Belinda, it’s time to move past that.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “Vince.”
“Hear me out before you say anything.” He cocked one eyebrow. “I took your advice. I’ve registered for a summer class to finish my master’s. And I talked to my old boss about some opportunities here and maybe eventually abroad.”
“Oh.” Hanna nibbled at her lip. So this wasn’t about getting back together? It was about him moving on? She’d waited too long to tell him she loved him. She blinked at the realization. She. Loved. Him. Fighting back tears, she mustered up fake enthusiasm. “I’m so proud of you for following your dream. Living abroad will be an amazing experience for Mackenzie.”
He pushed off the windowsill and took a step forward.
Don’t touch me. I can’t handle that. If you don’t touch me, maybe I won’t break down completely until I get home. Maybe I won’t beg for another chance.
He took a second step and wrapped a curl of her hair around his finger. “Dreams change. I thought I could just move on and put us behind me.” He slid a hand behind her neck and drew her closer. “I never thought I’d be in love again. This all-out, don’t-want-to-waste-a-day-without-you sort of love.” He ran the back of his hand down her cheek. “Living abroad could be an awesome experience for Ashton, too. And us.”
Her heart raced and she couldn’t tear her eyes away.
Tilting his head, he smiled. “I love you. I want you with me.”
She stared at his gorgeous, sexy mouth as it descended toward hers. She parted her lips and reacquainted herself with the taste and feel of Vince. Wrapping her arms around him, she pulled him as close as she could, craving his touch. She rested her palm against his face and studied every single inch of him.
“It’ll take at least a couple of years to finish school and get some experience under my belt. Give you time to…”
“Shh.” She put her finger to his lips, still moist from the kiss. She ran a hand down his clean-shaven cheek, enjoying the sheer masculine realness of it. “I don’t need time. As hard as I’ve tried not to, I’ve thought about nothing but you since you walked out of here the other day. I love you, Vince Keegan.”
She leaned back against the wall, watching him, waiting.
He groaned and placed his hands on either side of her head and leaned in, pressing all six feet, two inches of his body against hers. She ran her hands down his abs, around his waist and cupped his tight buttocks. Couldn’t get enough of the feel of his hardness pressing into her softness. The taste of his mouth, his skin.
Pulling back just enough so she could draw a breath, she touched his face and stared into those blue eyes. “We can make an amazing life for us and the kids. Whether it’s here, Austin or overseas.”
He ran the back of his hand intimately down the side of her breast. “What about Bluebonnet Books?”
Tingles ran up her spine. “I love the bookstore, but Mom is ten times better than I am at knowing what people want and selling it to them. She’s not good at the accounts, though. If the time comes, she and I can work something out.”
“You’re serious about this? I don’t do well with male-female games.”
She tightened her arms around him and nuzzled into his neck. “Oh, man. You’re the one who better be serious, because I have no intentions of letting you go again.”
Hanna’s cell phone chimed and she fished it out of her pocket. “Hello.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Ms. Rosser, but Ashton has been in a fight. We need you to come to the school.”
Her heart stopped. “I’ll be right there.”
She hung up just as Vince’s cell rang.
Hanna locked the store and put up the closed sign, then jumped into the truck with Vince. They covered the blocks to the school in no time, and Vince helped her out and they darted through the rain. He held the door open for her and they walked into the office together. William Baer already waited in front of the receptionist desk.
“Vince. Ms. Rosser.”
Vince shook his hand. “Will.”
Principal Montgomery stepped out and motioned for them to enter her office. All three kids sat in chairs in front of her desk. Kenzie’s ponytail was falling down. Ashton had a black eye and Billy held a damp, bloody rag to his nose.
“Okay, students. One more time. Who threw the first punch?” the principal asked.
They all exchanged glances.
“I did.” Ashton stood up. “He said that Kenzie’s dad was having sex with my mom and that she was a ho.”
“Well, they are,” Billy said. “You’re not supposed to hit a guy for telling the truth.”
Kenzie jumped to her feet. “What my dad does is none of your business. And Ms. Rosser is not a ho. You say that again and I’ll pound you into dog poop.”
Hanna’s mouth dropped open. Kenzie defending her?
William Baer glanced from Hanna to Vince, then focused on his son. “Billy, you know better than to say things like that.”
Hanna tried to stay calm. The way Mr. Baer had looked her up and down, he obviously believed the rumors. Probably where Billy had heard them to begin with.
Principal Montgomery stared at Ashton. “This school does not condone fighting. You were in the wrong for striking another child. Do you understand that if I suspend you, you won’t be allowed to graduate with your class tomorrow?”
Vince stepped forward. “Excuse me, Mrs. Montgomery. But you can’t really hold it against a boy for defending his mother. I would have thought that behavior would be rewarded, not punished.”
Hanna felt a sick ache in her stomach. A straight-A kid and he was in danger of not graduating because of her.
William Baer clamped a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Billy. I expect you to apologize to Ashton and to the other people in this room. Your remark was inappropriate.”
Ashton held his head high and stared at Billy, waiting. Kenzie stood beside him, united with him.
“I’m sorry.” Billy shuffled his feet. “I shouldn’t have said it.”
He started to sit back down, but his father turned him toward Vince and Hanna.
Obviously uncomfortable, Billy laid the bloody rag on the chair and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry. I didn’t really mean it. It’s just that Ash gets so riled up these days. I couldn’t help myself.”
“Apology accepted.” Hanna turned to Ashton. “You should forgive Billy.”
“Okay.” Ashton took a step forward and shook Billy’s hand. “Just no more remarks about my mom or Vince.”
Principal Montgomery took a deep breath. “Well, we only have a half day tomorrow, then graduation. Surely we can let this one pass and get through tomorrow without further incident.”
Hanna shook the woman’s hand. “Thank you, Mrs. Montgomery. I appreciate your decision.”
The rain had moved out, but water ran down the curbs along the parking lot and dripped from the overhanging trees.
Ashton looked around. “Where’s the car?”
“I rode with Vince.” She watched Ashton’s face for a reaction. Would he put two and two together? He’d known they were no longer seeing each other.
“Does this mean we’re going to be a family?” Mackenzie blurted out.
Vince exchanged looks with Hanna, waiting for her to answer.
“There is that possibility.” She watched the kids closely. “How do you two feel about that? Kenzie?”
Kenzie widened her eyes at Ashton, then they both erupted into giggles.
“Cool,” Kenzie said.
Ashton high-fived Kenzie. “They don’t know how much trouble they’re in.”
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8844-1
SECOND CHANCE DAD
Copyright © 2011 by Pamela Stone
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