CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE SNOW MIGHT have trapped them in the valley, but life in Second Chance always went on despite the nonstop precipitation.

Wrapped in a jacket, her teal scarf swathed about her face, Laurel entered the Bent Nickel. It was lunchtime. It hadn’t stopped snowing all morning. But nearly every booth and table was full. The second wave of Monroes had bought them out.

Hunched over, nursing a broken heart, Laurel considered a hasty retreat.

What if they know the truth about me?

What if they do? That was her grandfather’s voice. Strong and confident. Won’t change who you are inside.

He was right. She lifted her chin and squared her shoulders. She might not have been good enough for the likes of Mitch Kincaid, but she wasn’t a bad person.

From a booth in the back, Holden gestured for her to join him.

Holden wasn’t her first choice for a lunch partner, but she felt sorry for him since he was alone.

“Laurel.” Odette grabbed the hem of her coat as she passed. She sat with Flip. “Is it true there’s a doctor in town?”

She nodded. “But she’s sleeping.” Gabby had told her that.

Odette’s features smoothed into a satisfied smile.

“I can’t promise she’s staying,” Laurel added, rubbing Odette’s back when her smile fell into a mopey frown. “Hey, I wanted to talk to you about the boutique I’m opening in the mercantile. Flip has agreed to allow me to sell some of her paintings. You want to be featured, too, don’t you?”

“I don’t sell anything,” Odette growled.

Flip laughed, but it lacked her usual spitefulness. She’d be disappointed if Laurel couldn’t convince Odette to participate.

Laurel knelt near her mentor. “Imagine families with babies passing through, ones who didn’t pack warm clothes for their kids. They’ll stop to play in the snow and need a knit cap to keep their little ones warm. Or a thick, dry sweater for the car ride home.”

“Not for sale.” Odette pulled her knit cap around her ears.

“Speaking of car rides, perhaps now is the time to remind you of the Lee family motto.” Flip pointed to a yellowed map of Second Chance that was framed and hung above their table.

“The only motto I know is to make money you have to be passionate about what you do.” Laurel tried to move on.

But Flip caught her jacket in the same way Odette had. “The most difficult path is finding the truth in your heart.”

Laurel squinted at the map. She couldn’t read the script on the bottom. “It says that?”

“Yes.” Flip nodded.

“Laurel!” Holden called impatiently from the back booth.

With heavy steps, Laurel went to join him.

“Will you be by later to sew?” Odette called after her.

Laurel shrugged without turning.

“I didn’t take you for a quitter.” Odette was in one of her moods.

Laurel kept her mouth closed. If she’d learned anything from coming to Second Chance, it was how to have the patience of a saint.

Holden nodded a greeting as she approached. He was a natural-born leader, like Shane, but lacked Shane’s creativity and endearing wit. That made Holden seem like a wet blanket on some occasions and a stuck-up pain in the butt on others.

This morning Laurel had some sympathy for him because he looked a bit green. “I recommend the soup, crackers and club soda.”

“Thanks.” He laid his cell phone faceup on the table, the sure sign of a man who considered whatever might happen in the world more important than the person they were dining with. “What’s your take on this town?”

“I love it,” Laurel said without thinking.

Holden cleared his throat. “I hear they need a doctor.”

“I hear you...interviewed one.” Holden might be intimidating on Wall Street, but he was just her cousin after all. Laurel remembered him when he had acne and braces.

Holden straightened his flatware on the paper napkin. “She’s overqualified for the position.”

“But not overqualified for you. Or vice versa.” Laurel reached across the table, placing her hand over his to stop his fidgeting. “This is Idaho, not New York. It’s a small world and relationship expectations are sometimes different here.”

Case in point: Mitch.

“It’s not like I plan to live here.” Holden worked his jaw.

“You’d tell me if she never wants to hear your name again, though, right?” Laurel paused, but Holden said nothing. “She’s my doctor. You may not have to see her on a regular basis, but I have an appointment with her in three weeks.”

Holden withdrew his hand. “She’s only your doctor if you stay here. Go home, Laurel. You’re having twins. You can get top-notch medical care in California.”

Laurel sat back. He was right, of course. But California didn’t have Sophie and Shane. Or Odette and Flip. Or Gabby and...

“Your mother negotiated a deal of a lifetime for you.”

Laurel might not have been schooled in legalese, but she was sure that wasn’t true.

“I’m not going to leave this town without you,” he said firmly, expecting no argument.

There was the Holden she knew and loved.

Ivy refilled Holden’s coffee cup. “I’ll be right back for your lunch order.”

“She’s taking a deal and leaving us. What a sellout,” Odette said in a loud voice. “And she showed so much promise.”

Holden leaned to one side to look at the elderly eavesdroppers. “Is that woman referring to you?”

Laurel nodded and kicked her voice up a notch as she said, “But she’s mistaken. Sophie and I are opening retail shops here. I’m going to feature artisan textiles—local paintings, quilts, knit items.”

“Don’t ask me to invest.” Holden slurped his steaming coffee. “In fact, we should probably talk about your portfolio.” He managed Laurel’s savings.

Laurel closed her eyes and tried to recall how she’d felt in the mercantile. Joyful. Certain.

“Sign the contract, Laurel, and we’ll devise a new way to protect your assets.”

“I’ve found a place here, Holden. No financial plan can protect my heart.” Her chest constricted. Truer words were never spoken.

“Putting your heart in a business?” He sipped his coffee. “That’s old-school.”

“It’s how Grandpa Harlan made his fortune.” Multiple times over.

“And how hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs go bankrupt every year.” Holden held her gaze. “Second Chance isn’t for Monroes.”

He was so wrong.

“I’m not hungry.” Laurel got up.

She needed to find Mitch. But she couldn’t pass Odette and Flip without saying something.

“You are both strong, talented women. And if you’re too afraid to put your work on display and put a price on it, so be it. The joy you create will go unnoticed.”

“Well...the nerve,” Odette harrumphed.

“Yep.” Flip laughed. “The nerve.”


“WHAT ARE YOU going to do, Dad?” Gabby asked as she changed the sheets on Laurel’s bed. “How are you going to fight for Laurel?”

“I’m not. In not so many words, we broke up.” He scrubbed Laurel’s toilet harder. “She’s going to be a fancy dress designer in Hollywood, make lots of money and forget us.”

“You barked at her, didn’t you?” The mattress squeaked as Gabby sat on the bed. “Because of the sexiest man alive? Dad, you’re almost as attractive as Wyatt Halford.”

“This has nothing to do with that actor.” He’d never be able to watch one of his movies or shows again. “And everything to do with the choices Laurel made.”

“Her choices?” Gabby’s voice sounded small. “You think she’d pretend to be Ashley again and get pregnant by another famous hottie?”

“No.” Mitch scowled, grateful he was in the bathroom and Gabby couldn’t see his face. His cheeks were heating. This was practically a discussion about the birds and the bees. “Laurel isn’t like that.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Mitch’s chest squeezed.

What’s the problem?

He stopped scrubbing and leaned against the door frame, removing his plastic gloves and tossing them into his supply bucket. “Have I told you lately how brilliant you are?”

“No?”

He sat on the bed next to her and gave her a hug. “Why don’t you go downstairs and call your mother? She hasn’t heard from you in days.”

Gabby didn’t wait for him to think twice. She hightailed it out of there.

Outside the window, the day was as gray as his mood. The clouds were thick and low, and snow fell hurriedly to earth, guaranteeing another day of the passes being closed.

Facts were facts. Laurel was having the babies of the sexiest man alive. Mitch didn’t have any problem imagining what Wyatt could give those girls. Private school. Tuition to a prestigious college. A ski lodge in Aspen. A gap year in Europe. Mitch didn’t even know where he’d be next year. Much as he wanted to trust Shane, Second Chance might not earn historical significance, and even so, the Monroes might sell the town off anyway.

Mitch stared at his hands.

What kind of man couldn’t promise a stable future for his little girl?

He got to his feet, intending to finish Laurel’s bathroom, but his leg brushed a clipped stack of papers on the bedside table. They fell to the carpet.

The stack had been turned upside down. He righted them.

It was a contract.

He hadn’t seen it when he came in. It might have been under Laurel’s pillow or beneath the blankets.

He read the first page.

It was the contract Laurel’s mother had brought.

He read the last page.

Laurel hadn’t signed it.

His heart soared with hope.

Mitch sat back down and began to read the contract from the beginning.