The Groom Wanted Seconds: A Novella Read Online Free Page A

without ever saying he loved her. He could have been leasing a car for all the romance and heart he put into it. No, if she married a man, she wanted him to truly love her. And not be afraid to show it.
    “More from Jeremy,” her mother sang, sailing into the kitchen with a box of white and red roses. “These are even more beautiful than the last ones, I think.”
    “More roses.” Rebecca left the box on the table. Already, the small space was filled with the flowers’ cloying fragrance. “Why don’t we give these ones to Grandma?”
    “You don’t like them?”
    “They’re beautiful, just not…” Rebecca sighed, and pushed the box of roses to the side, “me. I’ve never been a roses girl. I told Jeremy that a couple times, but he didn’t pay attention.”
    Gloria’s hand covered her daughter’s. “Most men don’t pay attention, dear. If they did, they’d have to do what we tell them to do.”
    Rebecca laughed. “True. It’s just…he says he cares about me, but how can he if he doesn’t really know me?”
    In the year she’d dated Jeremy, she kept hoping the spark between them would turn into something deeper, and it had, on her end, but clearly not on his. There’d been no whirlwind of romance, no breathless moments that would put a Hallmark card to shame. Analytical Jeremy had buried himself in his work, and after a while, she realized the only thing keeping her with him was attraction. Sex was one thing—a relationship was another. She couldn’t keep eating the frosting and hoping the lack of a good cake would satisfy her appetite. Jeremy had brushed off her concerns, telling her everything would be fine after he graduated, then after he finished the internship, then after he got his first job…
    It wasn’t until she’d walked away that he finally noticed her. And heard what she’d been trying to say for months.
    Then she’d rushed to Indiana, and fallen head-first into a huge mistake. A guy with a smooth voice, a charming smile, who said all the right words and did all the right things, and then, in the end—
    Ran for the hills aas soon as he got what he wanted. She’d been stupid, blinded by a nice smile and soft eyes. By a dream that didn’t come remotely close to living up to the reality. Never again. She wanted a man who was real, who was committed, who loved her, and most of all, a man who truly connected, body, soul and mind.
    She glanced at the roses again. Clearly, that man was not Jeremy Hamilton.

 
     
    6 russet potatoes
    1 teaspoon olive oil
    1/2 teaspoon garlic herb mix
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    1/4 teaspoon pepper
    Aluminum foil
     
    I never was much of a cook, but the one thing I could do, on the rare night that I was home, was man the grill. Fire up the grill, get it hot, then turn down to medium. Tear the foil into squares large enough to wrap around the potatoes. Scrub potatoes and set on the foil squares. In a small bowl, mix the garlic herb mix, salt and pepper. Drizzle oil over the potatoes, sprinkle with the seasoning, then rub it all into the potato skin.
     
    Seal the foil, and—this is vital—poke holes in the foil, through the potato, so you don’t have exploding potatoes. Put on the grill, turning once or twice, and bake for 20-30 minutes. It’s good for a guy to be home often enough to do a few domestic chores—keep that in mind. Advice from one who has been there and not done that, and has the battle scars to prove it.

C HAPTER 4
     
     
    Nothing.
    Not a single phone call, email, nothing. Jeremy hadn’t heard a peep out of Rebecca since he sent all those flowers. Red roses, white roses, and today even some pink ones, in case she liked roses better in pastels. Not a word.
    So he did what he did best—buried himself in work and told himself that he was better off without her. That this perpetual ache, as if someone had cut off his right arm, would ease. Someday.
    It didn’t help that every time he tried to work, his mind popped up with a memory of