Page 55 of Second Chances

Henry cleared his throat. “It’s hard to talk about my failures with my family.”

They’d arrived at Charlotte’s house, but neither one made a move to walk up the path to her door. “That’s not how you see yourself, though, is it? As a failure?” Solemn brown eyes glazed with tears, she shook her head. “Because you’re not. From what I’ve experienced, you are an amazing dad. Josh does nothing but rave about you, how you’ve been the constant in his life, how you supported him in every way. Your sister thinks you’re a genius. Everything is ‘Henry knows this’ and ‘Henry can do that’. And around town, everyone has a story about how you’ve helped them.”

“Not that anyone is biased or anything,” he responded, unused to this attention.

At her door, she faced him. “And what you’ve made me feel.” She tipped her head back. “When I came to Beverley, I wasn’t looking for romance, with anyone. All I wanted was a fresh start. And then I saw you, sitting on that bench. Reading. Do you know how turned on I was from the first second?” Her hands grasped his arms. “And then there’s the way you lean into me when I’m speaking, especially after you’ve asked a question. Like you really care about my answer.” Her voice dropped to a low murmur. “And the way I saw myself, through your eyes, last night, in the mirror. Sensual, passionate, desirable, despite my flaws.”

“No flaws,” he said fiercely. “Only beauty.”

“Henry.” Charlotte gazed up at him, under the longest lashes he’d ever seen, transfixing him by the way they brushed her cheeks. “If you keep staring at me like that, not to mention this sexy leaning thing you’re doing…”

Henry rubbed a finger from her cheekbone to her ear, tempted to follow her into her house. “I had the most amazing night with you, Charlotte,” he said, and his phone rang in his pocket, followed by a ping. Then another ping. Then another. “I’m sorry,” he said to Charlotte before checking his phone.

Are you busy?

Need to talk to you!

Emergency! Coming to your house!

“It’s Liam,” he explained. “He’s on his way to my house, says it’s urgent. I’d better go see what he needs.”

Charlotte nodded, rubbing his arm. “Of course. I’ll call you later, okay?”

“I don’t want to get in your way with Amy here.”

“Maybe we can get together, the three of us, tonight?” Relieved at the prospect of seeing her again today, he pulled her close for a deep, lingering kiss.

As briskly as he could, with Charlotte on his mind the entire way, Henry texted Liam and strode home, finding his nephew inside, slumped in a chair on his porch.

“Liam, what’s wrong?”

“Uncle Henry! I need your help, your wisdom, your maturity. Do you have any coffee?” As soon as they were inside, Liam went to the kitchen and opened a cupboard. “I need some joe desperately.”

“Do you want flavored or not?” Henry reached into his coffee cabinet, which held a dozen different labeled jars of coffee.

“Um…you pick.” Just as Henry chose a Brazilian roast that was strong enough to bring back the dead, Liam changed his mind. “No, actually, maybe something with, like, caramel tones in it? You once made a chocolate brownie flavor with sea salt caramel. That was so good.” Henry plucked that blend from the top shelf and ground the beans. His nephew continued, “Anyway, I really needed you last night, but I didn’t bother you because I saw you dancing with Charlotte at the street dance. Good on you for that, by the way. Oh,” Liam darted his eyes around the room, “I’m not interrupting anything here, am I? I mean, I know no one is here, but are you expecting company? If you are, I’ll be okay. We can talk another time. Besides, Cait will give me hell if she knows I’m here this morning. I was under strict orders to leave you alone, because, well…Charlotte…” Liam finally took a breath while Henry poured him a cup of coffee, which he drank after doctoring it with an alarming amount of sugar.

“No, it’s fine that you’re here.” Wanting to keep Charlotte to himself for the time being, he kept the conversation back on Liam. “What was so urgent that you needed to talk to me?” Armed with his own cup of coffee, he took eggs and sausage out of the fridge for breakfast.

Liam rubbed his hands through the chestnut-colored hair he had inherited from his mom, then looked at Henry with blue eyes so light they were grey. His nephew’s charming swagger hid an emotional depth that most people never saw, because they never looked beyond his attractive facade. Like Henry, his nephew had the tendency to question whether he was good enough to deserve love. “It’s Lana.”

“Have you been in touch with her?”

“Kind of? She’s been texting me these messages, pouring her heart out…showing her vulnerability. But…I don’t know.”

“You don’t know if you’re ready to forgive her?”

“It’s not about me forgiving her, because she didn’t do anything that requires forgiveness. I just don’t know if I can open myself up again.”

“That doesn’t sound like you, Liam.” Or it hadn’t, but Liam had changed in the past year, growing quieter, duller, and more withdrawn. “Tell me what happened.”

“No one really knows this, but last summer, when I saw her in New York…Uncle Henry…I was going to propose…”

“What do you mean? Let it out, son.” He put an arm around Liam’s wide shoulders as his emotion took over.

“She…she wouldn’t even let me get it out, turned me down before I could even ask her, then walked away from me. That’s when I gave up and quit messaging her.” Henry offered Liam a box of tissues from the counter, and he blew his nose, “Now she’s sending me mind-blowing messages, but I’ve moved on…or I tried to, anyway, when I dated Sabrina, but I couldn’t. She’s the only one I’ve ever…the only woman I’ve ever loved. Still love.”

“I know Josh and Effie invited her to the wedding. Is she coming?”