Second Chance Read Online Free Page A

kids.
    They were both silent for a second, until Claire chirped, “C’mon, I’m ready!”
    “Oh, hell.” Deirdre muttered under her breath. “I’ve been faffing about with you in the kitchen and haven’t changed. Back in a tick.”
    She disappeared upstairs just as Claire walked in wearing pink sweatpants and a shirt with a cat on it. So his niece hadn’t been kidding earlier, when she said she liked kitties. After a couple of minutes, Deirdre raced back in, looking more casual, as well, and they all headed to the door.
    Claire walked out first and Collin gestured for Deirdre to go ahead. As she passed him, she asked under her breath, “What’s Chloe up to tonight?”
    Chloe? Oh, right. He shrugged. “I don’t know. We broke up a couple weeks ago.”
    Claire skipped ahead, and Deirdre sighed loudly as Collin shut the door and they followed after the girl. “Well, thank God for little miracles.”
    “What? She was nice.”
    He turned and frowned at his sister, but she was staring down the sidewalk at Claire. “You and I have a very different definition of nice , Col.”
    He shrugged. “So maybe she was a little catty.”
    “Frankly, I’d have preferred that she scratched up the furniture and pissed on the rug rather than flung nasty comments at me all night about how Graham had left me because I’d let myself go.”
    That stopped him in his tracks. He stared at Deirdre “She did what ?”
    She made a sound of frustration. “Crap. I’m sorry. I told myself I wasn’t going to say anything, especially if you felt serious about her. I’d almost be willing to forgive something like that if you’d just find a good woman to settle down with. Not that I should be giving relationship advice at the moment. Like Ma says, I burnt my coal and didn’t get a lick of warmth from it.”
    “Don’t listen to her. You know she’s had a hard time of it, too. But I’m sorry about Chloe. You should have told me sooner and I would have booted her to the curb. Family comes first, okay?”
    She hugged him and kissed his cheek. “Whoever you end up with someday will be so lucky to have a guy like you.” She pulled back a bit and pinched his cheek fondly. “Just make sure she’s someone I like, too.”
     
     
     

Chapter Three
     
    Marnie was exhausted. After the dramatic story hour, she’d spent another two hours helping patrons, answering e-mails, and shelving books.
    It was just past four o’clock and she still had another hour before the library closed and she could go home and fall into bed. She’d bought several bags of candy to give out to trick-or-treaters later, which she usually loved to do, but seeing her father had sucked all the energy right out of her.
    She hadn’t been this tired since the last days of Mom’s life in hospice, when she’d kept a near-constant vigil, too afraid to sleep lest she miss the moment of Mom’s passing.
    She wiped a tear from her eye. Goodness, what was going on today? She never cried, and she’d already teared up twice in the span of a few hours. And then there had been Collin, who made her body and her mind go wild with something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
    Need.
    It had been a long time since she’d touched a man, or been touched by a man. She got hugs from the kids who came in for story hour, and kindly pats on the hand from her elderly patrons when she helped them find a book or use the computer. But the strength of a man’s arms around her waist, or the play of rough-tipped fingers between her thighs…
    It had been years.
    Goodness. Her emotions were all over the place. Maybe it was just the strangeness of Halloween, invading her senses. Everything would probably be fine again tomorrow, once the restless spirits went back to sleep.
    “Marnie.”
    Mike, the high school student who volunteered at the library a few afternoons a week, got her attention.
    “What’s up?” She turned to see that he had the phone tucked under his ear.
    “There’s a guy on