The Second Chance Cafe by Alison Kent

Author:Alison Kent
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 1611097894
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2013-03-04T13:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

When the doorbell chimed through the house Thursday morning, Kaylie and her coffee were curled up in her wingback chair. May had gifted her the chair when she’d moved from Hope Springs to Dallas after Winton’s death. It was worn in all the right places, the rose-and-wine print thinned to pale pink on the arms, the seat cushion shaped to fit tiny, tiny May, the lingering sheen of Aqua Net on the headrest giving up the older woman’s scent when Kaylie brushed against it just right.

While the chair had been in her condo, Kaylie had slept in it as often as she’d slept in her bed, wrapped in the multicolored afghan May had given her the day she’d had the chair delivered. Kaylie had watched sad movies in this chair, read sadder books in this chair, sat and journaled and wondered why she kept reaching for the sad when she was sitting in the heart of the happiness she’d known in Hope Springs.

It was a given that she would never quit missing Winton and May, and that she’d feel their loss forever; they were her family, after all. But she’d learned to use what she felt and to live with it, to let their love push her on, not bring her to her knees with the grief of their absence. All the things she did, she did as if under their gaze. She hoped she had made them proud.

Setting her notebook and pen on the floor beside her, and burying the exterminator’s invoice beneath, she headed down the hallway, reaching the front of the house as the bell rang again. She pulled open the door to a smart-looking woman she actually remembered as Rick Breeze’s mother. “Mrs. Breeze?”

“Dolly. It’s Dolly.” Dolly Breeze brought both hands to her cheeks, her eyes going wide and inexplicably damp. “Kaylie Bridges! Look at you! Oh, it’s not Bridges now, I know. It’s Flynn. But look at you! Oh, come here, sugar,” she said, opening her arms.

Kaylie, not usually one for hugging, allowed the other woman’s embrace, smiling as she breathed in the barest hint of Chanel. “I’m so glad to see you. When Jessa mentioned you, it didn’t even register that she was talking about Rick Breeze’s mother.”

“Breeze, Bridges. You two were always in line together, Rick in front, you behind.” With a final squeeze, Dolly stepped back and this time clasped her hands to her chest as if holding them there was the only thing keeping her from reaching for Kaylie again.

“I hate to admit it, but I remember so little from living here before. Outside of this house, anyway. I think I just tried to get through the school days so I could come back here.” And why in the world did she feel compelled to make such a confession to Dolly? “Come in. Would you like coffee? Or water?”

“I’m fine, Kaylie. I had coffee at home and I’ll have more when I get to the office.”

“That’s right,” Kaylie said, leading the way toward the dining room.

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