The Good Girl's Second Chance (The Bravos Of Justice Creek 2) Read online

  “But look how he turned out,” Tracy piped up. “Rich and successful, with a beautiful daughter, about to marry the one and only Chloe Winchester.” Tracy raised her glass and everyone followed suit. “To Chloe. You go, girl.”

  Chloe blushed a little. “Aww.”

  Nell shook her gorgeous head of auburn hair. “Chloe. Seriously. You and Quinn? Never woulda seen that coming.”

  Chloe beamed at her future sister-in-law, her heart full of fondness, her brain pleasantly hazy with the champagne and the good family feelings. She really was starting to feel seriously bondy with Nell. Was it only five days ago that they’d squared off in the trailer at Bravo Construction?

  “Heads up, my sisters,” Elise whispered out of the side of her mouth. “Don’t look now, but here comes trouble.”

  Trouble in the tall, thin form of Monique Hightower. Wearing jeans, a silk top and giant sunglasses, Monique had just breezed in the door. She said something to the hostess and then spotted the Bravo women at the round table in the center of the dining room. Slowly, she eased the big sunglasses up to rest on her head. And then she smiled.

  And then she came striding on over. “Hey, Clara, Elise, everyone. Looks like a party...”

  Nell said, “It is. We are celebrating.”

  About then, Monique zeroed in on Chloe. “Chloe. Well. How’s every little thing?”

  Chloe raised her champagne glass—with her left hand, so that her engagement diamond caught the light and sparkled. “Remember how I told you if I played my cards right, I might have a chance with Quinn?”

  Somebody snickered. Chloe thought it was Elise, but it could have been Tracy.

  Monique’s eyes got wider. “Wow. That’s, uh...” For once, she actually seemed at a loss for words. Chloe savored the moment.

  Then Nell instructed, “Pull yourself together, Monique. Quinn and Chloe are getting married. You need to wish my future sister-in-law a life of love and happiness.”

  Monique sent Nell a quelling glance that had zero effect on Quinn’s baby sister. Nell just rolled her eyes and drank more champagne as Monique trotted out another big, fake smile and a too-perky “Best wishes, Chloe. Quinn’s a lucky man.”

  “Thank you, Monique.”

  Clara, ever the peacemaker, offered, “Monique, why don’t you join us for a glass of champagne?”

  Everyone went dead quiet then. They’d been having such a great time and Monique would have them trying to remember to watch what they said, because anything Monique heard was fair game for her gossip mill.

  Then Monique sighed. “Wish I could. But I got called in early. I need to change and get to work.”

  “That’s too bad.” Somehow Nell kept a straight face when she said it.

  By then, Monique had recovered her equilibrium. “Chloe. That ring is spectacular. And truly, I’m so happy for you.”

  “Monique. What can I say? Thank you again. That’s so nice to hear.” And strangely enough, it kind of was. Chloe had the definite warm fuzzies at the moment. She was crazy about the Bravo women, crazy about Quinn. Crazy about everyone. She was even crazy about Monique, who couldn’t keep a confidence if her life depended on it.

  Champagne at lunchtime? She should try it more often.

  Nobody said a word until Monique disappeared into the kitchen. And then Nell tapped her water glass with her spoon. “So. Engagement party. We need to throw one.”

  Chloe started to protest that they didn’t have to.

  But then again, that could be fun, right?

  How much fun had she had in her life, really?

  Not enough. She’d always been mama’s good girl, a busy little bee, working so hard to do everything right, to get straight As and get into a great college and find the perfect husband to make a perfect life.

  There’d been no time for fun, not when she was so laser-focused on chasing the life her mother wanted for her.

  And after her marriage to Ted? Well, it only went downhill from there. Hard to have fun when your life that looked so perfect on the outside was empty at the core, when you lived with a man you couldn’t trust not to hurt you.

  But now she had Quinn and anything seemed possible. All the good things: passion and tenderness and lots of laughter. And sisters to call her own.

  And, for the first time, champagne at lunch.

  Chloe let Quinn’s sisters plan the party. She smiled and nodded and giggled a lot.

  Nell leaned close to her. “Better cut back on the bubbly, baby.”

  And Chloe giggled some more. But she took Nell’s advice and started drinking ice water. By three-thirty, when they left the restaurant, she was almost sober.

  They filed out to the parking lot. There were hugs and cheek kisses. Chloe thanked them all profusely.

  Nell tapped her shoulder. “You still look a little high. Ride with me. You can get your car later.”

  So just to be on the safe side, she let Nell take her back to the showroom. When Nell pulled in at the curb, Chloe leaned across the seats and hugged her good and hard. “I’m so glad you’re going to be my sister. I never had a sister before.”

  Nell hugged her back. “Well, now you’ve got four—five, including Tracy, who always gets insulted if we don’t include her.”

  * * *

  That evening, Manny went to Boulder to visit his girlfriend. Quinn and Annabelle picked Chloe up at the showroom and took her back to the restaurant to get her car.

  Then she joined them at the log house. They had pizza. And after Annabelle was all ready for bed, they watched Frozen, which Annabelle seemed to know by heart.

  She kept popping in with “Look out!” or “Watch this!” just before something surprising would happen.

  Quinn finally had to pause the movie and remind her that it was no fun to watch a movie when little girls were shouting.

  Annabelle was sweetly contrite. She turned to Chloe. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I’m not s’posed to do that. But I get so ’cited!”

  Chloe said, “Well, maybe if you don’t do it again, your dad will let us watch the rest.”

  Annabelle turned those big brown eyes on Quinn. “Daddy, I promise I will be quiet.”

  She managed to get through the rest of the movie without a single exclamation. And by the end, she had edged up close to Chloe on the sofa and rested her head against Chloe’s arm. Chloe treasured that small, perfect moment: the first time Annabelle had leaned on her.

  It took a while to get the little girl to bed for the night. Quinn spent twenty minutes or so tucking her in. Then, half an hour later, she came out carrying a ratty blanket and an ancient-looking one-eyed teddy bear and demanded that he chase the monsters away. Quinn scooped her up in his arms, blanket, bear and all. He sent Chloe a sheepish look before heading upstairs to Annabelle’s bedroom.

  “I think she’ll stay in bed now,” he said when he returned a few minutes later. He confessed that he enjoyed chasing monsters. “It’s more of a game with us than anything.”

  “Don’t even think you need to explain,” Chloe reassured him. “It looked like you were both having fun and she didn’t seem scared in the least.”

  “Manny says I’m a sucker for Annabelle’s monster act.”

  Chloe chuckled. “Sometimes being a sucker is a good thing.”

  “I’m going to tell Manny you said that.”

  They sat on the sofa in the living room in front of the unlit fireplace, with the lights on low. He reached over and ran a finger along the curve of her cheek.

  She shivered a little in pleasure, remembering that first night, when he’d come up the hill to her. His daughter had been on his mind that night. “Did she ever have more questions for you about her mom?”

  He idly smoothed a curl of her hair back over her shoulder. “Not yet. Just about every night, I think she’s going to bring it up. But then she doesn’t.”

  “Give her time.”

  “I just hope when she does that I don’t blow it.”

  “No way can you blow it,
Quinn. You love her and she loves you. She feels safe and protected. And you give her space, you really do. She’s allowed to be a little girl, to let her imagination run a little wild...” Chloe felt kind of wistful suddenly.

  And Quinn picked up on that. “Hey...” He touched her mouth, traced the bow of her upper lip. “Why the sad face?”

  “I don’t know. I had a great time with your sisters today at lunch. And it kind of got me thinking that I never had much fun growing up.”

  “Too busy trying to please your mom?”

  “That’s right.” She made the edges of her mouth turn up. “But I think I’ll look on the bright side. Your sisters will be my sisters. Did I tell you they’re throwing us an engagement party? Probably at McKellan’s, in the party room upstairs.” The popular pub was owned by Ryan McKellan, lifetime best friend of Clara Bravo. Ryan’s brother, Walker, was engaged to the family princess, Rory.

  “And when is this big event?”

  “Tentatively, Saturday night two weeks from tomorrow. Clara said she’d get with Ryan and call me this weekend to firm up the date, location and time.”

  He hooked an arm around her and drew her close against his side. His warm lips brushed her hair. “Did you know that Clara and Dalton are getting married in three weeks?”

  “I did, yes.” Clara had a baby daughter, Kiera Anne, with Dalton Ames, president of Ames Bank and Trust. From what Chloe had heard, Clara had taken her time saying yes to her baby’s father. But anyone who saw them together could see how much in love they were.

  Quinn added, “It’ll be a small wedding, Clara said. Food and drinks at her house afterward.”

  “I heard. Nell said she thought Clara had too much on her plate. So, as soon as Clara sets up our engagement party with Ryan, Nell’s taking over to pull the party together.”

  “You should know we’re going to Clara’s wedding.” He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You, me, Manny and Annabelle.”

  “I would love to.” She snuggled in, rubbing her cheek against the soft knit fabric of his shirt.

  He traced the line of her jaw with his thumb, and then tipped up her chin so she looked in his eyes. “Hey.”

  “What?”

  “The other night, when you said yes?”

  “Um?” Oh, those beautiful eyes of his. She could just fall down inside them and never come out.

  “You said you wanted it small—and soon. So...” He lowered his wonderful bad-boy lips and brushed a hint of a kiss across her upturned mouth. “What do you say we set the date?”

  Set the date. Her heart contracted. Worse, she was suddenly thinking of her mother, and of Ted. Problems. Unresolved problems. Her problems that she’d yet to deal with effectively...

  But then again, how resolved were things ever going to get with those two? She might never speak to her mother again. And Ted? The best that could happen with him would be nothing. Ever. For the rest of her life.

  So it wasn’t about resolving anything; it wasn’t about closure...

  “Chloe?” Quinn looked at her so tenderly, reminding her suddenly of the little boy who never fit in at school and used to sneak inside before class to leave chocolate candy Kisses for the teacher who’d been kind to him. “So when you said soon, you didn’t mean that soon?” He asked the question gently.

  She let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I’m thinking if we could at least wait until after the engagement party to start planning the wedding?”

  His chuckled, the sound low and lovely. “I just don’t get it. Why are you dragging your feet? We’ve been engaged for two whole days now.”

  She echoed his teasing tone. “People will start thinking we have trouble making commitments.”

  But then his expression turned serious. “Is it all going too fast for you?”

  “I didn’t say that.” She hated the edge of defensiveness in her tone.

  “Hey. I mean it. We can have a long engagement if you want it that way. It’s okay with me.”

  “But I don’t want a long engagement.” It came out as a whine. Dear God, what was the matter with her? Her emotions were bouncing all over the place. She made it worse by grumbling, “And I meant it about a small, simple wedding, too. I really did.”

  “Easy.” He bent close, nipped a kiss against her throat.

  “Sorry,” she murmured, honestly contrite, not really understanding herself at that moment.

  He nuzzled her cheek. “We got no problem here.”

  Oh, yes, we do. I’m the problem. My mother’s a hopeless bitch and I married a psychopath-in-training.

  Why would a great guy like Quinn, with everything going for him now, with a good life he’d worked so hard to earn, want to marry someone with her history and track record, anyway?

  People always used to treat her like some kind of prize. She was no prize. Not anymore, anyway. In her case, the bloom was seriously off the rose. Perfect Chloe Winchester? What a joke.

  And wait a minute.

  Really, she needed to snap out of it.

  Where had all these grim thoughts come from?

  It was dangerous to start running herself down. Half the battle for sanity and a good life was in keeping her spirits up, fostering a positive attitude.

  She’d worked hard to face the tough challenges life had thrown in her path. She’d survived the disaster of her own choice, her own making: her marriage to Ted. She’d fought and fought hard to get free, to make a new life. To hold her head up and move on.

  And she’d honestly begun to believe that she’d done it, that she’d put the past behind her.

  Until Ted sent her flowers and made her fear deep in her soul that she hadn’t seen the last of him, after all. Until her mother showed up on her doorstep spouting such ugliness and rage, revealing such an unforgiveable betrayal, that she’d had no choice but to sever ties with her.

  Maybe it wasn’t the wedding she was putting off. Maybe she’d had no right to tell Quinn that she’d marry him in the first place.

  Maybe she needed to face the fact that he deserved better than her.

  “Chloe?”

  “Um?”

  “We got no problem at all,” he said again, more softly, but more firmly, too.

  She met his eyes. They were so steady. So knowing and wise. She asked in a tiny, weak, disgusting little voice, “We don’t?”

  “Uh-uh. We got each other, Chloe. We got it all.”

  And somehow, when he looked at her like that, when he spoke with such affection and total confidence, she believed him.

  She absolutely believed him.

  I love you, Quinn. She thought the words and knew that they were true.

  If only she felt she had the right to say them out loud.

  Chapter Nine

  Clara called Saturday afternoon. The engagement party was on for two weeks from that day. Nell called an hour later to go over the guest list.

  Monday, the demo began at Quinn’s house.

  Chloe let Tai run things at the showroom. She put on old jeans and one of Quinn’s Prime Sports and Fitness T-shirts and helped Nell and her crew of burly guys bust out some walls. The one between the kitchen and dining area had to go down. And the one between a bonus room and Manny’s room needed knocking out, to give him a larger private area. Same thing with the master suite. They were combining it with the smaller bedroom next door. With all the extra space, they would enlarge the master bath and walk-in closet, too.

  The men went upstairs. Nell and Chloe took the kitchen. Chloe got right to work attacking that wall. After just one blow, Nell teased her that she was dangerous with a sledgehammer.

  Chloe raised the hammer again and sent it crashing through the Sheetrock, making a nice, big raggedy hole that showed light on the other side. “There’s something about a demo that makes the whole world seem brighter.”

  “Whack it down, baby!” Nell made her own big hole.

  Upstairs, they heard other hammers demolishing other walls.

>   “Music to my ears,” said Chloe, and gave that wall another serious blow. It was very therapeutic, she decided, to get to beat a wall down.

  Since Friday, when she’d realized she wasn’t ready to set a wedding date and didn’t feel worthy to tell Quinn she loved him, she’d been feeling a little down.

  But wielding the hammer helped, made her feel useful and powerful, as though she was getting stuff done. Just what the doctor ordered, without a doubt.

  That evening she attended her first Self-Defense for Women class. She got some great tips on how to spot predators and avoid situations where she might be attacked. She almost raised her hand and asked what you did when someone you trusted hauled off and hit you.

  But really, she didn’t need to ask.

  She already knew the answer: you left and you never went back. You started again and rebuilt your life.

  And she was rebuilding, she reminded herself. Rebuilding in her hometown with a great guy and his sweet little girl. With more family than she’d ever had before, including cool, smart old Manny and a bunch of new sisters, Nell best of all.

  A week later, she presented her fairy princess ideas to Annabelle, whose eyes lit up so bright you would have thought Chloe had offered her the moon. “Chloe! I need to hug you.” And she reached out and threw her arms around Chloe’s legs.

  Laughing, Chloe grabbed her up. Annabelle wrapped her legs around Chloe’s waist and Chloe spun in a circle, both of them giggling.

  When Chloe finally let her go, Annabelle chose the design in lilac, hot pink and purple. The next day, Chloe visited her favorite fabric store and came out with plenty of satin, velvet, bridal tulle, organza, organdy and purple brocade. After the fabric store, she stopped in at the craft store, where she bought special paint and twelve-gauge wire to frame the wings. After lunch, in the studio behind her showroom, she started to work on the costume, taking a break before Tai went home to drive over to Quinn’s house down the hill from hers, where the electrician was busy rerouting some of the wiring and Nell’s crew was almost finished ripping out the old floors.

  She went home that evening feeling good about the remodeling, about Annabelle’s fairy princess dress, about pretty much everything. With so much to do and her soon-to-be new family around her, the dark mood brought on by Ted’s unwanted flowers and her mother’s betrayal had faded. Life seemed bright and full of promise once again.