Her Chance at Family by Angie Dicken

Author:Angie Dicken
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-11-07T19:50:00+00:00

* * *

This was not what Sean had expected to hash out today. And Elisa’s attentive expression made him tense up. Pity was a thing of the past, and something he never wanted to receive. Especially since Blythe would undoubtedly feel the effect of pity—being treated as though she were made of glass, like he’d once felt. He had despised when his high school teachers gave him second and third chances, but not the other students, because his parents had fallen apart—literally and internally, it seemed. Folks in Rapid Falls had tried to help, but he’d felt all the weaker in the end. Now, he was being much too vulnerable with his employer. Silence passed between them, even with the construction going on out back.

“Please don’t worry about Blythe. She is a rock star. Well-adjusted and loving life.” Sean folded his arms across his chest.

“She’s great.” Elisa nodded in agreement. “My mom always tells me kids are resilient. I pray for strength for Lottie and Ava all the time. Your sister is a role model for them.” She flashed a smile, but it wobbled with uncertainty.

“I am glad she doesn’t resent Mom. Sometimes it feels like my own bitterness eats me alive.” Sean’s vulnerability slipped out. It had spread an ache in his heart, having been pent up so very long.

“I get that. I didn’t know my brother and his wife, really. And I always held a bit of resentment for them because of the way Charlie treated my dad.” She peered down at her thumb rubbing the handle. “But now, if I think about them too long—” Elisa’s lashes fluttered, and she scanned the street, then the sky. “Regret is so heavy I can hardly breathe.”

“Hurting for family—tough stuff.” But Elisa’s brother and sister-in-law were gone in the worst way.

Elisa smiled faintly. “My parents are in counseling. Sounds like it’s going well for Dad. He’s had a hard time.” She inhaled deeply. “They’re coming for Easter, so maybe you’ll get to show off your work?” Her smile broadened, dissolving the gloom.

Sean exhaled relief. “Hoping to at least be close at that point.”

“Good. And I am praying we get in some kind of rhythm by then, or else—” She pulled out her phone, paused as she read something, then stuck the phone in the stroller cup holder. “I might be commuting from Grangewood instead of Rapid Falls.”

“What do you mean?”

“Plan B.” She bobbed her eyebrows, then started moving down the walkway. “Move back home with my parents.”

“Oh—” He let out a nervous chuckle. “I thought this was your home?” He gestured with a nod toward the covered porch.

“I am trying, believe me.” She continued down the path, her ponytail swinging slightly. She grabbed her phone again and turned around. Machinery roared from the back. “Do you need the headphones back?”

“Nah.” He strode toward the backyard again. “I’ll borrow some.” He wanted to say, Enjoy Rapid Falls while you are still here, but it only sounded passive-aggressive in his mind. It shouldn’t.

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