Second Chance Baby Read online

  “Exciting and expensive,” Stephanie said. She glanced over at me. “You remember Ava, right?”

  “Of course I do,” Missy said. “How have you been, sweetheart?”

  “I’ve been well, thank you,” I said.

  “It’s good to see you back in town,” Missy said. “You know, it was certainly a shock to find out you left. I was certain I’d be fitting you for your wedding dress soon.”

  I cringed and looked over at Stephanie for help.

  She took a subtle step to the side so she positioned herself slightly between Missy and me. “Well I need a new dress for another family wedding.”

  The saleswoman led Stephanie toward the back of the shop, and I wandered after them, running my fingers across the rows of multicolored gowns and dresses hanging on racks. I couldn’t get myself into the excitement, shopping like this with Stephanie. I usually gave in to the pomp and frivolity of it all. But I couldn’t that day; I felt too distracted to really invest myself in it.

  I sat in one of the overstuffed chairs positioned at the opening of a semicircle of mirrors near the dressing room and watched Stephanie parade back and forth in the dresses Missy picked for her, covering the gambit from elegant and demure to risqué edging on vulgar. I was a little shocked to see that particular option in Missy’s store, but I suppose she was moving with the times. After a while, it seemed like she was using Stephanie as her own personal Barbie doll, and they had lost sight of choosing the right wedding outfit.

  Finally, Stephanie chose a dress that landed much closer on the spectrum to demure and elegant.

  Dress in hand, we left the shop and headed for a cup of coffee. As soon as we sat down, Stephanie crossed her arms over her chest and looked at me questioningly.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’ve been so quiet all day. I can tell something’s bothering you.”

  I wanted to resist, to keep avoiding the conversation, but I knew I couldn’t. It had been bubbling up inside me all day, and I wanted to let it out to my best friend. I explained everything that happened when Tom showed up and how things had been since then.

  “So, needless to say, it’s been pretty miserable. I really thought things were going well between us, and that we might have another chance,” I said.

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little harsh on Mason?” Stephanie asked.

  “Excuse me?” Did you not hear anything I just said?”

  “Yes, I did. And that’s why I’m saying I think you’re being a little too harsh. I think you had a snap reaction, and that now you need to talk to Mason about it.”

  I let out a sigh and shook my head, stirring my coffee. “I just don’t know if I want to anymore, to be honest. It’s just so ridiculously much. I’m almost thirty. I don’t have time for this sort of drama in my life.”

  “What you don’t have time for is missing out on what could be the best thing that could happen to you,” Stephanie said. “Did you stop to think for even a second that maybe Mason is just still madly in love with you and didn’t want to lose you again, but didn’t know how to go about telling Tom? You said he made that promise before the two of you reconnected. Maybe if you would have given him more time, he might have told Tom on his own.”

  I could see her point. A new feeling of guilt crept into my heart.

  After coffee with Stephanie, I headed over to my parents’ house to help my mom bring my father to a doctor’s appointment. It was just a quick checkup, but Mom still had trouble maneuvering dad by herself. On the way there, she looked over at me with a smile.

  “So, how are things going with Mason?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Everybody knows the two of you have been seeing each other again. Have you made things official? Is it serious yet? Does this mean that you are committed to each other again, or are you just trying things out and seeing where they go while you’re still in town?”

  She peppered me with questions, and I tried to deflect them, but they just kept coming. Finally, I let out a sigh.

  “Things are complicated.”

  “Complicated? Well, what does that mean?” she asked.

  “It means I don’t want to discuss it anymore.”

  I felt bad for cutting her off that way, but I needed the conversation to end. Fortunately, she didn’t push, and the conversation transitioned over to her already thinking about Thanksgiving. That was my mother’s signature. While some people started putting together plans for the holidays a couple of weeks ahead of time, she was in full-on Thanksgiving mode a whole season in advance.

  It was a relief to just put my brain into another place and focus just on my parents for a while. The appointment went well, and I was glad to hear the doctor say my father was well on his way to a good recovery. The relief in the room was palpable, and my mother looked like she might burst into tears she was so happy.

  I felt great as we left the doctor’s office, but as we were getting back in the car, realization dawned on me. I was so happy knowing my father’s struggles were nearing an end, but Mason was far from experiencing anything like that. Both of his parents were suffering through cancer. Both of them were struggling and making painful, difficult decisions every day.

  The guilt that started when I was talking with Stephanie grew, and I vowed to talk to him at work the next day.

  22

  Mason

  I went into the bar earlier that day to go over the alcohol inventory. Ava’s recommendation to pay closer attention to the alcohol use when she first started working at the bar had stuck. Inventory had always been a part of running the bar, but I had to admit we were never stringently careful about comparing that inventory to the number of drinks we actually sold.

  Going over that those first couple of times with a major eye-opener. I had no idea how inconsistent the alcohol use was depending on who was behind the bar. It meant on certain nights we were using one and a half to two times as much alcohol as we should have according to the number of drinks we sold. Once we started paying more attention to that and utilizing standard measurements, we saw a massive savings. The best part was that none of the customers even seemed to notice.

  She was on my mind so much that when she walked through the door an hour before she was expected, I almost felt like I must have beckoned her to me by thinking about her so much. I was expecting her to just ignore me the way she had been since Tom came to town. Instead, she walked right up to the bar and flattened her hands on top of it.

  “Can we talk?” she asked.

  I stared at her for a second, almost so shocked by her appearance there I couldn’t form a response. Finally, I nodded.

  “Sure.”

  I looked over to where Matt and Tyler were sitting at one of the tables rolling silverware and talking about redesigning the menu. “Let’s go somewhere else.”

  She followed me out to the parking lot and looked around.

  Taking in a breath, she looked right at me. “I’m sorry. I—”

  “I’m sorry, too,” I told her, cutting her off. “I shouldn’t have tried to make you agree to hiding our relationship from Tom. It was wrong of me to ask you for that, and I should have just been honest with my brother in the first place. I should have never made that promise, actually.”

  “I can understand you making that promise,” she said.

  “No, I shouldn’t have made it. And even if I did, I should have told him the truth as soon as you and I reconnected, because I love you, Ava.”

  “I love you, too, Mason. I should have taken the time to consider everything you’re going through with your parents before I reacted the way I did. I really am so sorry,” she said.

  My heart jumped in my chest, and I felt a huge grin stretch across my face. Taking a step closer to her, I got her up into my arms for a tight hug. She clung on to me, then pulled back to kiss me. I kissed her back, holding her clothes and not wanting to let her go.

  “We can keep things quiet,” she said.
/>   “What do you mean?”

  “Until you figure out how to tell Tom. We don’t have to be open about everything. We can just kind of keep things subtle until you’re able to tell him,” she said.

  The woman was incredible. I couldn’t even believe I was lucky enough that she was mine.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate that. I don’t want to hide you from anybody anymore.”

  She gave me another kiss before I took her hand and we went back inside. I brought her to the bar and kissed her once more before she went behind it to start setting up for the night. Without looking at Matt and Tyler, I headed for the office to do my computer work for the day. I didn’t even get the door closed before I could hear Ava and my brothers laughing.

  I sat down, shaking my head and chuckling. But I only let myself have a few seconds of amusement. Then I started thinking about how I was going to open up to Tom and be honest with him. Just like I promised Ava, I had no interest in taking a lot of time before we had that conversation.

  I loved Ava. I had always loved her, and that love had only grown. That wasn’t something I wanted to keep to myself. I didn’t want it to be a secret. She was the greatest thing in my life, and I wanted everybody to know it.

  As I got to work on my emails and paperwork for the day, I made the decision I would tell Tom the second I saw him again. Whenever he showed up to the bar, I would tell him that we needed to have a talk, I would bring him here to the office, and I would break it to him.

  There was no way of knowing exactly how he was going to react, but I hoped it went over well. I didn’t want to think my brother would be so petty and full of himself that he would place his own opinions above my happiness.

  No matter what he said or how he reacted, it wouldn’t change my relationship with Ava and my plan to build a future with her. I wouldn’t allow my brother to control my life anymore. I was a full-grown adult, and it was time I took control of my life and created out of it what I wanted. And I wanted Ava.

  When I was finished with my work in the office, I went back out to the bar. The crowd was already starting to build up, and I could tell it was going to be one of those nights when we needed to be all hands on deck. That made it so much better that Ava and I were back on track. It meant we wouldn’t be dancing around each other, trying to avoid being alone in the same space.

  Instead, we would be working together again. Flowing along with our usual rhythm, like a well-oiled machine that was almost choreographed in everything we did. It felt comfortable and right. We were able to keep the bar moving, never getting the drink orders backed up or making any mistakes.

  I found myself watching her throughout the night. She was so stunningly beautiful, but it was her personality and the way she interacted with the world around her that made her completely irresistible. After our talk at the classic-car event when she described the men flirting with her as being just part of the territory, I let go of the jealousy and possessiveness.

  It still wasn’t fun watching other men salivate over her, but I realized that for the most part it was harmless. They weren’t saying inappropriate things or trying to touch her. Those very few and far between occasions when somebody did get close to being out of line, she cut them off swiftly and firmly. She maintained control at all times and gave people just enough attention to keep their spirits up without leading them on.

  It made me feel good, and I had a strange surge of pride watching her. That was my girl. The woman I loved, and who loved me. All these other guys watched her and wanted her. They were drawn to her and tried everything they could to figure out how to get her attention. But none of them would be able to, and that made me smile.

  A few times throughout the night, I indulged myself with a quick kiss or two, and when I felt like we were adequately alone, I gave her a swift smack on her cute round ass.

  Every now and then I checked around to see if Tom had shown up. He didn’t have a specific time when he arrived every night. Instead, he tended to just wander in and find his spot among the crowd. He waited until we noticed he was there to interact with us. But I didn’t notice him on any of the times I checked around. By the end of the night, he still hadn’t shown up, so I didn’t get a chance to tell him anything.

  My brothers left Ava and me to do the closing like usual, and as soon as the last person closed the door behind them, I swept her up into my arms. We held each other for a few moments in the middle of the bar, and I rested my lips to hers in a long, soft kiss.

  “Do you need a ride home tonight?” I asked.

  She laughed and shook her head. “No. I brought my own car.”

  “Oh, you have your car,” I said. I made a face like I was thinking for a couple of seconds. “So, do you need a ride home tonight?”

  Ava wrapped her arms around my neck. “Absolutely.”

  23

  Ava

  I popped another of the tiny miniature funnel cakes from the basket in front of me into my mouth and let out a moan of appreciation. Pointing to them, I looked at Jesse.

  “Those are ridiculously delicious,” I said. “I could probably eat my weight in them.”

  Jesse laughed and shook his head. “You’re the one who is ridiculous. I’m really glad you like them, though. I figured they could be served just like that in a basket and have dipping sauces on the side. Regular things like strawberries, cherry pie filling, whipped cream, chocolate sauce. But then maybe we could add some interesting twists, too.”

  “What do you mean by interesting twists?”

  “Just things that are little more unusual. Maybe some charred corn and cotija cheese or grind up hot chili peppers and put them in powdered sugar. Things that are more like experiences rather than just the normal flavors everybody’s expecting,” he said.

  “That sounds fantastic,” I told him. “This definitely has to go on the menu for the carnival night.”

  Jesse smiled and headed back into the kitchen. I had no doubt he would be back within the next couple of minutes with his next offering. Ever since I got go to the bar that afternoon, he had been plying me with the new creations he had come up with to coordinate with my plans for upcoming theme nights.

  The Halloween event was still the one I was most excited about. Mason and I had talked through it so much and come up with so many ideas, some of them ended up splitting off and becoming their own theme nights. Our whole conversation about caramel apples transformed into a night dedicated to the carnival. As fall crept up, the idea of a fair sounded like so much fun.

  I sat at one of the tables with papers spread out in front of me as I put finishing touches on the plans for that night while also brainstorming ideas for future nights. When I first recommended us doing theme nights, it was on a whim. The idea had just popped into my mind, and I’d developed it into a basic concept before pitching it to them.

  I hadn’t admitted it to any of the guys, but there were some moments when I worried I wouldn’t be able to come up with the next idea. People were enjoying the theme nights so much I worried I would suddenly dry up and not be able to come up with the next thing to excite them.

  But it seemed like the more I put together, and the more the guys helped me develop the small kernels of ideas into full-on events, the more I was inspired. The floodgates had opened, and now I couldn’t stop churning out new ideas. Not all of them would actually make it into development. They weren’t all logical or realistic, but I still wrote every one of them down. It was better to have too many things to think about than not enough.

  Jesse was particularly excited about the idea of the carnival night. It sparked his imagination, and he had been spending hours in the kitchen coming up with new ideas. When he came back a few minutes later with an assortment of fried foods made into miniatures, I invited him to sit across the table from me. He looked nervous when he lowered himself down into the booth.

  “Is everything okay?” he asked. “Am I going too far?”

  I laughed. “No. Not at
all. I think everything you’re coming up with is amazing. Every single time we have theme nights, I hear so many people making comments about the food. They can’t wait to see what’s on the menu and try everything. I know you source some of the things from restaurants and bakeries around here, but you have also come up with some really incredible things on your own.”

  He blushed a little and looked away. “Thanks. I’m really enjoying it.”

  “So, I wanted you to be the first one I talked to about this. Other than Mason, of course. He and I have looked over the budget a few times and talked about some things, and we were thinking that we would hire another bartender so you could spend all your time in the kitchen rather than up front,” I said.

  “Really?” he asked, sounding almost like he was afraid to be excited about it. “Do you really think that would work?”

  “Absolutely,” I said. “The money is there. We’ve gotten so much business recently we can afford to pay somebody else, and if there’s another person behind the bar, that means you can focus all your time in the kitchen. And to help you out even more, Mason is thinking about hiring a cook as well.”

  “That would be amazing,” Jesse said. “Thank you so much.”

  “No, Jesse, thank you for being amazing enough to get us to this point. I can’t wait to see what else you come up with,” I said.

  Just as he was jumping up and giving me a hug, Tom came in. Jesse greeted him and ran back into the kitchen. I laughed and Tom came to sit across from me.

  “What was that all about?” he asked.

  “We were just talking about some of the upcoming plans for the bar. I told him that the budget is looking good enough to hire another bartender so he doesn’t have to be behind the bar so much, and another cook to help him out in the kitchen,” I said.

  “He seems really happy about that,” Tom said.

  I nodded. “He’s been amazing in the kitchen. I don’t think he even realized how much he enjoys cooking until he was forced to do it here. But he has a lot of natural skill. And he’s unbelievably creative. His food is one of the highlights of our theme nights. As a matter of fact, these are some of the things he’s come up with for our next one.”