A SECOND CHANCE ROMANCE BOXED SET

by Lewis, Laurie

Avery thought about sending the sentence to Teddie for her insight, but even the distance between Baltimore and Atlanta could not ensure that Teddie wouldn’t find a way to interrogate Gabriel herself. Therefore, Avery chose the prudent course and handled the matter with maturity—by twirling sixteen times in her chair before responding to his request to dig up her past and meet Axel.

  * * *

  Gabriel,

  Okay. When and where?

  * * *

  She squealed at her own bravado and then tried calling the email back once it was sent, but she knew she’d sealed her fate. For a second, she panicked, and then she simply enjoyed the warmth of having an adventure, even if it might only last for a moment.

  She arrived at the Ringling Museum and found Ruth bent over her desk with her head in her hand and a phone to her ear. She looked at Avery with utter sorrow. When she hung up the phone, she walked around her desk to meet her. “There’s been a fire, Avery. George is in the hospital.”

  Avery quickly texted the only clergy she knew had a connection to George, the bishop of the Bradenton congregation, as she and Ruth raced to the hospital. By the time the women reached the intensive care unit, the doctors were completing their assessment of George’s condition.

  She latched onto a young male nurse for information. “How is he?” she asked.

  “I’m afraid he’s suffered smoke inhalation and a heart attack. His ICU nurses are with him now, doing their hourly assessment.”

  Avery slumped against the wall, grateful to see the bishop and his counselor coming toward her. “But he’ll be okay, right?”

  The young nurse’s gaze drifted to the window of George’s ICU bay. “There’s been some pretty extensive heart damage.”

  Ruth’s hand covered her mouth as if fearing to ask, “Was he burned badly?”

  “No, just a few mild burns on his hands. It’s a miracle, considering what the EMTs said.”

  The nurse stepped back to make room for the arriving clergyman who offered a welcome and his hand to each of the women.

  “Bishop Vega, I’m so glad you’re here. Ruth, this is Bishop Vega from the church George and I attend, and this is Brother Owen. Bishop, Ruth is one of George’s oldest friends.”

  The two exchanged courtesies while Avery watched the crowd of nurses and techs thin around George’s bed. She turned back to the nurse before her. “You said it was a miracle?”

  “That’s what the EMTs called it. They said the fire must have started in the house’s wiring because Mr. O’Hara said it burst through the wall like a fireball. He just happened to be watering his house plants at the time, so he turned the hose on himself and soaked his clothes down. He managed to crawl out the front door before he collapsed, but the air was so thick with smoke . . .”

  Ruth slumped against the wall. “I wish I knew how to reach his children. He hasn’t seen them in years.”

  “Do you know how to contact them, Bishop?”

  The soft pads of Bishop Vega’s chubby cheeks sagged with concern. “I’m afraid I don’t, but the head nurse just told me George listed you as his next of kin, Sister Thompson.” The bishop placed a hand on her shoulder. “You’ve become very important to him.”

  Avery felt her throat grow tight. “He’s become very important to me too. I’ve been so depressed since my husband passed away. George has helped me laugh again.” Her voice broke at the end.

  “The Lord brings people together for a reason. You say he helped you heal? Well, I think you’ve done the same for him. He told me about his biography. You can’t begin to know what that project means to him. You’ve reminded him of the best parts of his life. The moments that brought him so much happiness.”

  Avery bowed her head and began to cry.

  The bishop and Ruth stayed with her for a few more minutes until the nurses came out. “Are you Mr. O’Hara’s daughter Avery?”

  She didn’t know how to respond. “Is he asking for me?”

  “Yes. You can go in with him. He’s under mild sedation so he might not be very lucid.”

  She quietly entered George’s tiny hospital cubicle. Poles and carts were filled with monitors that beeped and counted his every breath and heartbeat, and tubes ran into his nose and both his arms. A clear mask brought oxygen into his lungs, and he lay there so still that Avery could imagine him drawing his last breath at any moment. She took his bandaged hand and held it gently.

  “It’s Avery, George. I’m here. You don’t have to speak or open your eyes. Just rest. I’ll sit here for a while.”

  His eyes fluttered momentarily, and then they relaxed as a contented look came over him.

  “I wish I could bring you some flowers from your garden, but they’re not allowed in here. You have to get better, George, so you can see the flowers again.”

  More tears fell. She didn’t know if she could bear any more loss. She sat in the room when the Bishop and his counselor gave George a blessing. They left, and an hour later, Avery stepped out of the room to call Wes. He quickly agreed to pick up Mark and get to George’s house to see if they could salvage anything from the fire. When Avery went back in to the ICU, George’s eyes were open, and she rushed to his side to celebrate.

  “Ohhh, your eyes were never more beautiful,” she gushed. He tried to speak but his efforts produced only a raspy whisper. Avery pressed her fingers to her lips to softly shush him. “Don’t talk, George. Just heal, okay? It’s a healing time.”

  When Avery called the hospital the next morning, the report was encouraging. At her request, the doctor came to the phone. “His latest EKG looked better.”

  “So he’s going to make it, right?”

  The doctor stalled. “I think I can say he’s in no immediate danger. His heart is very weak, but I feel safe moving him to the CCU. That doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. Another attack, even a small one, could be fatal. I think you need to understand that and be prepared.”

  “What happens next if he continues to improve?”

  “He could be released to a nursing facility by Thursday or Friday, if things go well.”

  “When can he go home?”

  “There’s no way of telling that, and it was my understanding that he has no home to return to.”

  Without hesitation, she said, “When it’s time, he’ll come home with me. I’ll be there soon to make the arrangements.”

  Avery dressed quickly and headed for the hospital. George’s color looked much better. His bed was inclined, and he was watching a soap opera.

  “Don’t tell me you watch those things, George,” Avery teased as she kissed his cheek.

  “Oh,” he confessed in a sluggish whisper. “I do sometimes. When I’m feeling sorry for myself, I turn one on and see how much trouble these characters are always getting themselves into, and then I don’t feel so bad about what I did with my life.”

  Avery was surprised by his comment. “You shouldn’t feel bad about your life, George.”

  George’s eyes began to shine. “Well, I know better.” He paused and drew a long, slow breath. “I’ve made and squandered fortunes. I loved well, and then I destroyed the very kids I helped give life to. I felt like a failure until you came along. You took the story of my life and helped me balance the record, at least in my own conscience. I hope that editor of yours will publish it. Maybe my kids will feel different about me someday if they read it.”

  Avery squeezed his hand. She reached into her bag and withdrew a large manila envelope. “I brought a copy of the first draft, George. It’s still very rough, but would you like me to read it to you?”

  Like a metronome, the monitors kept a steady cadence, as she read. She glanced up at George to gauge his reaction as each portion of his story unfolded, replaying across the screen of his countenance like an old silent movie. He chuckled and grew sober, and his eyes even moistened a time or two, but each time Avery stopped reading he urged her on until the tale was finished. At the end he simply said. “You did good, Avery. Made me sound lik
e a better man than I am.”

  “I just told the truth, George.”

  “Not exactly,” he finally said as he shifted in the bed. “You wrote how I sat by Sophie’s bedside when she was dying. Well, I was here, at this hospital, sitting by Sophie’s bed, all right, but what I didn’t tell you was that I was stone-drunk again. She was really bad off, so I brought her here and spent the night by her side, sipping and crying until I could hardly sit upright the next morning. It wasn’t my proudest moment, Avery.”

  Avery laid a hand on his arm.

  “Two men from church came to the hospital that day to see someone in room 414. They never found the person they were looking for, but they heard me singing to Sophie and they felt prompted to come to room 412 instead. That was Sophie’s room. They stayed with us and prayed with me until I sobered up. The day she was released, they helped me get her settled back at home for the last few days of her life. It was one of them that invited me to sing with the choir.”

  Avery laid her hand on George’s arm. “Why are you telling me this now?”

  “I was too embarrassed to tell you before, but if my kids are going to read this, it might be my only chance to let them know what I know now. When God took my Sophie home, He didn’t leave me alone. Those men reminded me that God still loved me, and knowing I was loved gave me the strength to stop drinking. If it’s not too late, add that to the book, will you? I’d just like my kids to know God forgave me. Will you do that?”

  “Of course, George. I’ll make those revisions.”

  “Also, could you check my pants’ pocket for my car keys?”

  Avery went to the closet and found a little plastic bag. “I think your pants were thrown away. George, but your keys are here.”

  George relaxed as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. “Will you go through my car for me and bring me my stuff?”

  Avery nodded. “Of course, I will. The boys have salvaged a few things from the house.”

  Two days later, on the Fourth of July, George signed himself out and headed home to Avery’s house. While Wes headed to the airport to bring home his siblings, Avery settled George in the sunroom off the kitchen so he could watch the sea and the TV. She offered to turn on his favorite soap, but he declined with a smile.

  “I feel like watching something happy. Choose me something nice, will you, Avery?”

  Avery barely had time to buy milk and bread before the kids arrived.

  She rushed out the door and headed straight for Luke, who offered her a smile and a limp-armed hug while making only fleeting eye contact. Undeterred, she squeezed him tight and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much,” in his ear. Emotion twisted his mouth, and he pulled away with a downcast nod. She knew enough from Jamie’s comments to assure her that an important, likely painful conversation lay ahead for her and her youngest, but she also knew she would have to choose her moment carefully. With a final touch to Luke’s cheek, she offered him a smile and allowed him to slip away and get settled.

  She stole an hour marveling over the sight and size of Jamie’s expanded belly, while chasing each little baby bulge and quiver as her grandchild moved inside its mother’s body.

  After sharing the wonder of their baby’s movement, Jamie and Brady headed to Longboat Key for some new beachwear, and Avery put Wes and Luke on room-readying detail. She hoped that while the brothers wrestled with sheets and comforters, Wes would also be able to get to the cause of his sibling’s malaise. She heard some quiet banter, mostly from Wes, but little of the boisterous joy she expected when the boys were together. Luke wasn’t ready to talk, not even to Wes, and that revelation saddened her already heavy heart even further.

  And then Mark arrived. After a few minutes of introductions, good-natured kidding about failed romances began drifting down the stairs. Avery ran an armful of towels to the upstairs bathrooms, catching snippets of the men’s conversation.

  “So now you know our stories,” said Wes. “Tell him about the dating scene in Utah. I bet your summer’s been great so far.”

  She heard the plumping of a pillow followed by Luke’s voice. “Work and running a house don’t leave much time for romance.”

  She heard the dismissive tone in Luke’s voice and sensed that Wes heard it too when he replied, “Maybe the two of us can catch up later.”

  “No need,” Luke replied. “It’s all good now.”

  Every motherly instinct in Avery told her that wasn’t true. Mark, who was completely unaware of the family tension, commented, “We all sound hopeless. I’m still married, at least temporarily and legally, so my lame life is excused, but maybe you two would seem less desperate if you plastered stickers that say “Too Busy To Date,” across your foreheads.”

  Avery used the playful moment as an entrance. “Ohhh. I like where this is going.”

  “Yes! We could start a club,” Wes added. “No, an organization! You know, the whole strength-in-numbers thing applies here.” Wes tapped his temples. “It’s all in the perception, men. You see, one guy who is eligible and unattached is simply alone. Now two eligible, unattached young men are . . . well, okay. They’re losers. But three eligible, unattached men are the beginnings of a movement.”

  “A movement?” Luke laughed sarcastically.

  “Sure,” Wes said, tucking in the sheet corners. “A movement implies that we are single by choice.”

  “But you’re not,” Luke reminded them.

  “Or,” said Mark, “it could imply that a couple of losers who couldn’t get a girl to give them the time of day made up some lame club to camouflage these very facts.”

  Wes tossed the bedspread over the sheet. “Well, of course there’s always that possibility.”

  “No offense,” Luke said, “but I think I prefer to just go solo for a while.”

  Avery heard a car pull into the driveway. “I think Jamie and Brady are back. I’ll help them unload while you three write your club by-laws.”

  She headed down the stairs and opened the door, fully expecting to find Jamie and Brady. Instead, she squealed when she saw two unexpected faces.

  “Surprise!” yelled Teddie, as Rider thrust a bouquet in her direction.

  Avery was both stunned and delighted as she calculated where these bodies would stay.

  “Oh, dear,” muttered Teddie as she noticed the luggage already parked in the foyer. “We’ve come at a bad time, haven’t we?” Teddie turned and gently punched Rider in the arm. “I told you we should have called first.” She looked at Avery, whose arms were outstretched. “I’m so sorry, sugar. We just got this crazy idea this morning while we were standing in the Atlanta airport.” She saw Luke standing behind Avery. “Your family is here, aren’t they? We’ll just head back home and come again another time.”

  Avery placed her hands on Teddie’s shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “You’ll do no such thing. It is a pretty complicated weekend, but I’m glad to see you. If you don’t mind rolling up your sleeves and digging in, we ought to be able to find you two a corner somewhere.”

  Avery’s primary concern was making sure George felt welcome and rested, but in ten minutes he and Rider were swapping horse stories and comparing scars while Teddie wooed the three young men with a constant barrage of flattering words that quickly dispelled any doubts they ever had about their allure. The nine of them dined on deli chicken salad and steamed broccoli, talking and laughing until dusk.

  The rest of the party followed Wes and Mark, who carried George onto the deck to watch the boats gathering offshore. The fireworks spectacle began once dusk deepened, as the Independence Day flotilla fired off round after round of beautiful pyrotechnic wonders of all sizes and colors.

  By ten o’clock the best of the display ended, with only a few little rockets sputtering and some firecrackers sounding off along the beach. George fell into a happy sleep, and the guys lifted him and carried him back to his bed on the first floor. Jamie was exhausted, so she and Brady headed upstairs to bed. T
heir feet were on the landing when the doorbell sounded. Avery opened the door and there, balancing two key lime pies, stood Gabriel Carson, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Anna Maria Island, Florida, July 4

  Gabriel!” Avery was so surprised she thought she might faint. “What—When—?” Her knees almost buckled.

  He took a step back and angled his head, as if signaling for her to follow. She moved with him, her mouth still hanging agape and her hands trembling in pleasant surprise.

  “I just landed about an hour ago. I was sitting in Baltimore getting ready to email you when I got this sudden craving for key lime pie. You yourself said that it alone is worth the trip, so I bought two in case the girls were here.”

  “What a surprise,” muttered Avery as her hands instinctively went to her hair as she tried to remember if she’d bothered to comb it that day. Thankfully, she pulled herself together, put on a little makeup, and dressed in something other than sweats to pick up George from the hospital that morning. Even so, she found herself feeling dowdy in Gabriel’s presence.

  “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see you standing on my front porch,” he gushed. “You look great here, Avery. Just like I imagined.”

  Avery moved from feeling as if she might faint to fearing she’d throw up. “I—I don’t know what to say,” she mumbled with a nervous laugh. “I think I might need CPR after tonight.”

  Gabriel finally noticed the roomful of people staring from within the house. “Rider, Teddie! This is terrific! When did you guys fly down?”

  “We just surprised her about four hours ago ourselves,” Rider replied, reaching his hand out through the doorway. He pointed inside to the tense crowd huddled around. “Her whole family is in here.”

  Gabriel entered the house and glanced from person to person as if memorizing each face. “I can see your mother in each of you,” he said, then noticed Mark standing in the back. “Hi, Mark! Great to see you, son! And you must be Wes, Emilia’s friend. I’m happy to meet you.” He realized he was still holding the pies. “Rider, would you handle these? Please, everyone, help yourselves. I’ll just borrow Avery for a minute if that’s all right.”