Page 67 of Second Chance Husband

It was a non-school day. I knew that it was a teacher holiday, so I didn’t know where he was. I also didn’t want to warn him with a phone call. Since he wasn’t at the house, I drove to Heath’s bar. All of the extra driving time gave me time to figure out what to say. Only I had no idea how to begin. I’d have to think of something soon. When I stomped through the front door, both Heath and Luca were there, and they stared at me, wide-eyed.

“Where is he?” I snapped, as all of Heath’s customers looked at me. I should be embarrassed, but right then I was tired. Oh so tired.

Without a second beat, Luca answered, “He’s in the family cabin.” He frowned. “What’s wrong, Paisley?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just finally standing up for myself and I’m done being set aside. I’m going to get him to tell me a few things before I yell at him and maybe push him off a mountain.” I paused. “Scratch that, because I’m not going to get in trouble for premeditated anything.”

Heath and Luca gave each other a look, before giving me broad smiles. “I’ll text you the address, you should be able to get there in about an hour. We won’t warn him.”

I nodded tightly, eager and anxious to get started. “Good. Because I’m done waiting for when August thinks is a good time.”

“Good for you. Go kick his ass,” Luca said with a grin.

“I should have kicked his ass a long time ago.”

“August is good about pretending that he has to be the sacrifice in our family. It never made any sense to me.” Heath shook his head. “So you kick his ass, and then we’ll all kick his ass as a family. What do you say?”

I smiled, feeling as if I wasn’t alone. Something I should have realized all along. I had my friends—including the men in front of me—and I shouldn’t have pushed them away all this time. “All I can say is that I’m going to fix this. Because it’s what I do. And I should have remembered that long ago.”

“Damn straight. I’ll text the girls in the group chat,” Luca said, pulling out his phone.

I rolled my eyes, and made my way back to the car, ignoring the cheers and claps from strangers I had a feeling I would never see again. Apparently, I was good at being the sideshow. But that was fine with me.

Because I was going to get the truth out of August. And then I would kick his ass.

And then I would tell him I loved him.

We would have to see what happened after that, but I hadn’t gotten my second chance yet.

And it was about time I tried.

Chapter Seventeen

August

I zipped up my coat, shivering a bit, as the cold front began to blow through.

Of course, a winter storm not in the middle of winter was going to hit my cabin, but that was Colorado weather for you. You could have every single season in one day, and circle back. The forecast hadn’t called for snow that morning, but now it seemed that some was on the way. I would be fine though. I had a backup generator, logs for the fireplace, and food and water to get me through. Even if I had to stay a couple of days if I got snowed in up here, I’d be fine. I had papers to grade, books to read, and people to avoid.

Namely my family.

I still couldn’t quite believe that I had soberly and royally fucked up my life so badly.

I made my way back inside the cabin and was grateful that my family and I had gone in on it together. It wasn’t one of the cabin McMansions that dotted the area, but it was a nice place that could hold most of our family. With the family growing leaps and bounds with new kids, one day it might not be big enough for all of us if we wanted something more than a sleeping bag, but it wasn’t like we used this place together. For now, it was just an oasis. Or if you asked my brother, it was a place for me to hide from my dumb ass decisions.

Luca wasn’t wrong about that.

I was the exact dumb ass that he called me.

I had been scared, unworthy, thinking with my past, and not my head, my heart, or even my dick. Maybe if I had been thinking with my dick, I wouldn’t have made such monumentally stupid decisions. But alas, I hadn’t.

So here I was, alone in a cabin with only my thoughts to keep me company.

And it was everything I deserved.

As soon as I had let her walk away, I knew that it was a mistake. But I couldn’t take it back. That would just make me more of a damaging and hateful person than I had already become.

I wasn’t a child. I wasn’t worried about Paisley’s mother ruining the business.

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