Read A Second Chance for Free Online Page B

the back step, watching him. She gave him a
smile, but he assumed it was as forced as it looked. He blew out
another breath. To hell with it. He was going to move
on.
    “ Hey,” was all he could
think to say as he climbed out of the car.
    She walked down the steps and into his
arms. “Hey.”
    He held her there, taking in the
comfort of her love. She tipped her head back and looked at him.
“Is she doing better today?”
    “ Yeah, she’s fine. Matt
should be there now.” He realized he hadn’t told her Matt’d said
he’d stop by. That would have Madeline even more pissed at him. It
wasn’t his concern, he had to remember that. She was very clear
about it. “Her parents will be there in the morning. They’ll take
care of her.”
    “ You did right calling Matt
and taking the kids.”
    “ I suppose.” He gazed into
her deep blue eyes. Her hair was pulled back, and it gave him the
perfect view of her beautiful face. “Thank you for being so
understanding. I don’t think everyone in your position would have
been.”
    “ She’s the mother of your
children. I’d expect you to care.”
    Well, at least Kathy understood it
even if Madeline didn’t. “I love you,” he said and swallowed hard
past the lump in his throat.
    “ I love you too.”
    “ I’ve been thinking.” He
pulled her in tighter. “Marry me.”
    She laughed a nervous laugh. “Wow, I
didn’t see that coming.”
    “ I don’t see any reason I
should wait to ask. Will you marry me?”
    She didn’t answer right away. Maybe
his luck with the women in his life was in a bad way today. “You
can think about it.”
    “ I’ve done that a lot
lately.” Kathy wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed a warm,
accepting kiss to his lips. “I would be honored to be your
wife.”
     
    Madeline had drifted off to sleep
while she was talking to Matt. When she opened her eyes, he was
still there. “I’m sorry. These pain medications make me so
tired.”
    “ No, it’s okay.” His voice
cracked, and she knew he was nervous being in her presence. He
never had dealt with crisis or illness well. It was why he’d
decided to move to Kentucky. It was easier for him to run away from
all of his problems than to stay and face them. “I talked to your
nurse. I was trying to see how things were going for you, but she
said I wasn’t on the list so she couldn’t tell me
anything.”
    “ I’m sorry, again.” She
shook her head. She was the one in the hospital, so why was the one
saying sorry all the time? “I didn’t intend to tell you about the
cancer. I didn’t intend to tell anyone.”
    “ Carlos called
me.”
    Madeline nodded. She should have known
he would. Wasn’t it funny, as mad as she was at Matt for even
standing there in front of her, she couldn’t be mad at Carlos. He
always did what he thought was right. “I should have figured he’d
find you somehow.”
    “ He told me Curtis caught
you.”
    “ Yeah, I hadn’t even thought
there’d be a chance he’d see me here.”
    He darted his eyes around the room,
something he did when he couldn’t bear to be around
someone.
    “ How long will you be
staying?” she asked, noting that the uneasy feeling between them
was mutual.
    He cleared his throat and gave a
glance toward the door and back to her. “Oh, I can stay as long as
you’d like me to.”
    “ My parents are on their
way, so really you don’t need to uproot your life for
me.”
    Again, he only nodded. The silence was
suffocating her, and she knew he was as uncomfortable as she was.
When he stood and paced the room with his hands in his pockets, she
knew for a fact it would be the last time she’d see him. In his
head he was working up one of his speeches—because Matt didn’t make
excuses. When he was ready to tell you what was on his mind, he
did. “This might not be the time to do this, but I want to
apologize for everything that happened between us.”
    There was a heaviness in her chest,
the kind that came with years of