Page 69 of Captivating Mr. Second Chance

“And…” She turned away from him, watching Trace, Leah, and Justin for a minute.

Ethan found another egg, this one with a small chocolate bunny, which he offered to Laney. She ate it in silence until Justin straightened from where he’d been helping Trace at the other end of the yard. He jerked his head toward his parents, yelling, “You know you can’t leave liquor bottles around for our four-year-old to find, right?”

Tom pointed to Rita, who smacked him, and Laney leaned into Ethan, laughing. Justin shook his head at his parents and put the egg into his basket. Leah waved at them. “Next time, make it gin for me.”

Rita gave her a thumbs-up, then swept her attention to where Ethan held Laney next to him. “What’d you guys find? Anything good yet?”

“No treasure yet,” Laney said.

“There is a crisp George Washington out there for one of you,” Tom said, his hands in his pockets.

“George Washington was the first president!” Trace told him helpfully.

“He’s also on the dollar bill,” his grandfather said, and Trace took off in another direction.

“A dollar! Oh my gosh!”

Ethan pointed out a pink egg hidden under the grill, and Laney grabbed it. No dollar bill, but it did have a very long CVS receipt. “So, what were you thinking about?”

“Bobby didn’t want to settle down,” she said but thrust her hand out as if to take her words back. “I’m not comparing. It’s a fact. He said he felt like I was forcing him to do something he wasn’t ready for.” She puffed up her cheeks as she let out a breath, her eyes skirting behind his shoulder.

“And you are ready to settle down,” he guessed, and she darted her gaze to him, nodding.

“I’ve always known I wanted to get married and have a family.” She motioned to the whole of the backyard, to his parents laughing about something on the back patio, to Trace hollering about a dollar bill, to Justin leaning into Leah and kissing her temple. “Like this.”

Ethan had known the Hargroves to be nice people but not particularly approachable…or loud. Not like his own family. “Like this?”

She tucked a lock of her curly hair behind her ear. “Yeah. Like this.”

Finding the courage he didn’t have ten years ago, he stepped up close to her. “With me?”

She raised up on her toes and answered against his mouth. “With you.”

20

It might have sounded crazy, and if it were anyone else, confessing how they’d fallen for someone new only a few weeks after a traumatic breakup, Laney might have agreed. But this was her and Ethan—Ethan!—and they’d already lived a whole lifetime together. Now that they’d both matured and experienced the ups and downs of life, Laney was sure of herself. Sure of what she felt for the man in front of her now, sure of the memories which shaped the woman she became, and sure that they could have a wonderful life together.

Ethan slipped his arm around her middle, tugging her right up against him, smiling possibly the biggest smile she’d ever seen out of him, which was really saying something because the guy was constantly smiling. “I love you, Laney.” He curled his hand around her jaw, his thumb sweeping a few times across her cheek. “I love you like flowers love the sun.” He kissed her forehead. “Like the birds love the sky.” Then he pressed a kiss to the center of her mouth. “My happiness doesn’t exist without yours.”

Laney huffed, surprised to find a single tear on her cheek. “Please don’t make me cry in front of your parents. I want them to like me.”

“They love you,” he whispered and kissed the tear away. “Because I love you.”

When he let go of her, she dropped her chin to sniff back the rest of her emotion so she didn’t turn into a puddle when she said, “I have loved you for a very long time.” Then she laughed at a memory and smiled up at his affectionate eyes. “Probably ever since that time I was changing for volleyball practice after school. I was walking out of the trainer’s room with a couple of tampons in my hand, and you were coming out of the band room. I wasn’t looking where I was going, and I ran into you. I was so embarrassed, but you only shrugged and bent down to pick up the tampons I’d dropped.”

“I remember,” he said, biting back a smile. “I said, who’s afraid of a little uterine lining.”

“I was shocked that you’d know what that was. That any high school boy would know.”

Ethan tipped his head in the direction of his mother. “Living in other countries showed her how abysmal the sex education is here. Wanted Justin and me to know better. So you can thank her.”

She found his hand and twined their fingers together. “For raising the son I love.” She pressed the back of his hand against her cheek. “I love you, Ethan.”

He bent like he was going to kiss her again, but Justin called out, “Another one! My god, Mom!”

Ethan and Laney both turned to Rita, who lifted her hands. “What? Everyone likes those tiny bottles of wine.”

“Oh yeah,” Ethan said, gesturing for his brother to give it to him. “We’ll take that.”

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