Page 37 of Captivating Mr. Second Chance

The song changed to something slower, and he looped his arms around her waist to leisurely sway in a circle.

“Hey, me too!” Trace held his arms in the air, and Ethan bent to pick him up so all three of them could slow dance together.

And Ethan was completely incapable of keeping his imagination from running wild. He saw a future with Laney, of marriage and babies and dancing in the kitchen every night. But then Trace wiggled to get down, and Laney dropped her gaze to the floor.

“I think I should head out.”

“You don’t have to.”

She showed him the time on her phone, almost eight. “I’m assuming it’s bedtime soon.”

“We didn’t finish the movie yet,” he said, although he’d have to somehow trick Trace into taking a bath to get him asleep before nine, at the latest. Leah would murder him if he allowed Trace to stay up later than that.

“I’m going to go home and get started on my new job.” She smiled, and if nothing else came out of this, at least he could give Laney some of her glow back. Though if it was up to Ethan, that would be the very least. He had a lot more in mind.

“I’ll get an outline to you by tomorrow night. Rough ideas and numbers. By the end of next week, we should have a direction to go in so that I can start making calls and appointments. Okay?”

“I’m following your lead.”

She held her hand up to Trace for a high five. “See ya later.”

Ethan followed her to the front door, where she wrapped up in her scarf and coat then stepped back into her boots. “You’re the boy who cried wolf now. So, next time you have a raccoon or bear attack, I won’t be there.”

He stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep them to himself, although he did allow himself to lean into her, getting a good whiff of her shampoo. “Thanks for coming over anyway.”

She breathed deep enough that he could see her shoulders rise under her thick coat. “I had fun.”

“Good. That’s all I want.” He held the door open for her, and she gave him one last smile over her shoulder that hit him right in the chest. An arrow in the heart.

12

By agreeing to put the fundraiser together, Laney subsequently made herself part of the board, and since no one else—meaning Ethan or his sister-in-law—had any experience with charity work, Laney took charge. She held a Zoom meeting to go over the details of what would hopefully become the first annual fundraising event for Research and Awareness of Huntington’s Disease, otherwise known as RAHD. Ethan and Dean thought it was good because you could pronounce it like “rad.”

Laney would definitely be working on the name.

But in the meantime, she had outreach to do, beginning with making connections with the local vendor community. With printed and digital outlines and proposals for the event, she’d driven all over West Chester, introducing herself to business owners who might’ve been able to donate time, resources, or money. The last stop of the day was a shoe boutique owned by a woman who’d graduated from Holy Redeemer a few years before Laney did, and she hoped to pull in some goodwill with their alma mater.

When she stepped out of her car, her heel caught on a broken piece of macadam, and her ankle turned in her boot with the heel still stuck in the ground. Her ankle was fine, but the left heel of her favorite taupe booties was not. She hissed out a low curse. “Ah, fuck!”

A laugh sounded from behind her. “The call of the Laney bird out in the wild.”

She held on to her car door, still open, and hobbled against the side, eyeing Ethan. “What are you doing here?”

He pointed to the optometrist two doors down. “I had an appointment. What are you doing here?”

“Soliciting donations,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder as he reached out to her elbow, helping her balance. “I broke my heel.”

“Is your foot okay?”

She shook it out, the heel dangling on a literal thread, to make sure. “Yeah, fine. But these were my favorite.”

“Here, hold on to me,” he said and bent down to rip off the heel. He inspected it from his kneeled position then gazed up at her, frowning. “Maybe it’s fixable.”

“I don’t even know where I’d send it. Elves in a tree?”

He laughed, still in front of her, and as if they both realized his head was at crotch level at the same time, the tops of his cheeks flamed, and she licked her suddenly dry lips. “Come on, get up off the ground. It’s freezing.”

Upright once again, he held on to the lapels of her coat, keeping her steady as she stood unevenly. “Can I help you?”

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