Page 18 of Chance

“Nothing, except that I’m here on vacation. And to call me Rob.” Chance cleared his throat. “We’re meeting tonight for dinner. I guess she’s opening a gallery on the pier.”

“What?” Ava asked. She pulled out her phone and sent a text.

Trey scowled. “Ava, you should wait to ask Lucy until we know more.”

“Lucy says that Matt is contracted to be her general contractor, and the new place is just a couple doors down from her. Ms. Roxie is letting her make some pretty major renovations to the empty space that’s been available for some time.”

Chance wasn’t surprised that they could find these connections so quickly. After all, he was from Cross Creek; he knew how small towns could be.

“Well, that’s that,” Trey said. “Let’s go meet this woman.”

Nearly spitting out the sip he’d just taken from his water, Chance gave them a wide-eyed look. “Right now?”

Ava moved to open a sliding glass door, calling out to their kids in the backyard. “Micah, you’re in charge. Dad and I have to go run an errand.”

Micah simply waved a hand in reply, and the two smaller kids continued playing.

Ava turned back and smiled. “You know, Trey and I have had our own second-chance romance in this town.”

Trey rolled his eyes. “Woman, enough. Let’s go.”

She winked at Chance and put her arm through Trey’s. “I’ll tell you another time. But I’m just saying this is a great town for that.”

Chance ended up insisting he would just follow them down to the Main Street shop. The whole way there, he was nervous and didn’t know what to expect.

As they got out of the cars, he saw that the shop doors were open and there were people inside. Before they could even go in, someone hollered, “Trey!”

Chance turned back and saw Marshall, Trent, and Hunter walking across the street.

Marshall nodded to them. “We saw you guys headed this way and decided to see what you’re doing. It’s cool that this place finally rented, right? I heard it’s going to be some type of gallery.”

Trey let out a long breath and then turned to Chance. “We might as well fill them in. Since everyone insists that you have a secret identity, we need to let them know she’ll be in on it.”

Chance didn’t know how to feel about it, but he listened as Trey gave them the simple basics about how Chance had known Kelly his whole life and that she’d recently relocated here. Chance’s brothers had often teased him about being a town gossip, but he’d never thought much of it because everyone in Cross Creek was like family to him. Now he was on the other side of all the gossip, and he didn’t like it.

Hunter grinned at him. “The past will get you, dude. It did me.”

Marshall roared a laugh. “Hey, it got all of us. Brooks is the only one who didn’t marry someone from his past. And we like her … okay.”

The brothers laughed, and Ava smacked Marshall’s shoulder. “Stop. We love Serenity.”

A new voice called out, “I didn’t know we were having a town reunion.” Lucy approached, wearing a sundress with heels and a hat to match. She practically glided toward them, looking like she’d just stepped out of a magazine. Chance instantly recognized her, even though she looked different today.

Ava gave her a hug. “You met Chance the other night.”

“Of course, Rob.” Lucy winked at him and then turned to the others. “I gathered from Ava’s text that the person who rented this place has some connection to Chance.”

Ava took a second to fill her in.

Then Lucy gave him a wide smile. “Another second-chance romance in South Port.”

Marshall pointed at them. “I thought it was cool until you guys acted so sappy.”

Chance had no idea how to react to all this drama. He didn’t have a chance to think about it, because Lucy’s husband Matt walked out of the shop. “You all came. Great. I need you to grab hammers and help me with some shelves.”

Chapter 12

Kelly was stunned to see Chance in the group of people filing into the gallery. She would’ve been less surprised to see mountains instead of a beach in South Port. Strangely, Chance looked quite at home among them.

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