Page 7 of Second Chance Husband

I had bought it new since used prices right now were astronomical, and it made more sense to just buy new, even with a loan.

I wasn’t like Paisley who would probably snap her fingers and buy three Mercedes SUVs without even worrying about her bank account. Hell, even both of my brothers could probably buy a car without stressing as much. But I was a high school chemistry teacher. I didn’t really know what not worrying about money felt like. I had student debt, a decently paying job, at least decently as far as being a teacher. And I was nothing like the millionaire businesswoman and tycoon in front of me.

No, I was much more like Dakota, the high school English teacher who made me laugh, made me smile, and made me think about things that I hadn’t thought about in a while.

Dakota was safe.

Paisley was not.

And why the hell was I even thinking about comparing the two? It wasn’t fair to either one of them. Dakota was nice. She always had a kind thing to say about someone, could recite song lyrics from every Top 100 song from her senior year in high school, and could outrace most people if there were coupons involved. She was also one of the most caring people I knew. Hell, she was helping a drunk woman I clearly had some connection to while we were supposed to have been on our date.

It was the one night a week where we didn’t worry about grading papers or parent-teacher conferences or what the administration wanted us to do. Instead we would go out, dance, eat, and then come home and make love before going to our separate houses. Because we didn’t live together and worked far too many hours, we couldn’t spend too much time together, but it was something. It was steady.

My brothers and my sister each had marriages that worked and were starting families that thrived. They had lives that didn’t revolve around me, and I was grateful for it. They had a steadiness that just made sense. And I didn’t know if the kind of life they were living was exactly for me. After all I had been the first one of us to get married, and the first one of us to go down in flames. And I didn’t want to be like my parents.

My parents were the epitome of selfishness. They had been married to each other not once, but twice. And they had gotten divorced the same number of times. Now they were together again, having dated each other this time for over two years. They had broken up a few times within those two years, but as far as I could tell, this was the longest they had been actively together without being married.

I had a feeling it had more to do with the grandkids than anything. They never cared about what they did to my siblings and me, they only cared about each other. Whether it was love, hate, or anything in-between.

After all, every time they had gotten divorced when we were kids, they had split the family up. And not in a way that made any sense.

No, they had decided to Parent Trap us. Dad had taken me and my brothers, and Mom had taken Greer, our sister. So for years at a time we didn’t get to live with Greer. We barely got to see her, and visitation meant our parents got to see the other kid—or kids—but they rarely brought us along.

So when Greer had moved out to Colorado to start over with her best friend, falling in love with not one, but two men in the process, we Cassidy brothers had followed. We had watched her walk down the aisle and marry the two loves of her life, and we had been there for her.

Now all four siblings lived in Denver and had created a family and connection we hadn’t been able to enjoy in our younger years because of how our parents acted in the past.

I pulled myself from the memory and looked on as Paisley and Dakota were talking to one another—Dakota being patient and Paisley doing her best to be the same despite the booze in her system.

“I’m really okay. I can just call a rideshare.”

“No, August is going to take you home.”

“He is nice like that. Sometimes.” Paisley rolled her eyes, and nearly fell again. I reached out and gripped her hips, keeping her steady. But the moment I touched her, something familiar washed over me, and I set her straight again before dropping my hands.

“You’re swaying, I’m not letting you get in some stranger’s car.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“Yes, because you’re making so many good decisions right now.”

“August, why don’t you take care of her, and I will head home. You’ve got this. And I don’t want her to be embarrassed by having a stranger watch over her.”

I turned to Dakota, confused. “What do you mean? You’re going to leave me with her?” Why did I sound so panicked right then?

“Take her home. I’ll see you tomorrow. Okay? We can grade papers together.” She went to her tiptoes and kissed me softly, her hands on my chest.

I kissed her back, oddly confused what was going on, before she pulled away and waved, and got into her car which she had parked next to mine. We were supposed to be dancing right now, before heading to her house, enjoying the night, and then I would head home. It’s what we did.

But of course, my poor decision changed everything.

“She’s truly pleasant,” Paisley said, before sighing and resting her head on my passenger-side window.

With a groan, I got Paisley in the car and buckled her in. She looked slightly green, and I certainly hoped the hell she didn’t vomit in my new car. I closed the car door, and she pressed her head to the glass, snoring through the window.

What the hell had gotten into her? Why weren’t my sisters-in-law with her? Because of course my ex-wife would become best friends with the two women my brothers had married. Hell, she even hung out with Greer, even though they also had a past since everything having to do with my family seemed to be complicated. Nothing made any sense anymore, and I was way too confused right then.

I got into my seat, turned the car around, and realized that I had no idea where my ex-wife lived. I could investigate her little purse on her wrist, and hope for the best, but hell, I wasn’t in the mood to figure it out.

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