Saving Her Bear: A Second Chances Romance by Alana Hart, Michaela Wright Read Free Book Online

trucker, yet simply had to come back to the middle of nowhere to find me. You know why she’s here. No wonder it didn’t work out with any of those other girls. Thank God.”
    John sighed loud enough for Catherine to hear down the hall. “Come on. I haven’t seen her in ten years.”
    “Exactly! She comes back after ten years and you don’t see that as fate? That girl was always meant to be yours. She even looks at you the same way she used to.”
    “She does?” He asked, and there was a hint of excitement in his voice. “Well, sure it could be fate, but it doesn’t mean we need to start picking out curtains.”
    Janice set the lid on the cookie jar with a little too much force, and the clang echoed down the hallway. “I think it’s time to tell her.”
    John sighed again. “For fuck’s sake, Mom. I tried that once!”
    “And you failed.”
    “Yeah, I failed. We ended up in fucking Canada, because I thought if I drove around long enough I’d get up the balls.”
    “Language!”
    John groaned. “Pardon my French.”
    Catherine listened as Janice moved about the kitchen. “Well, you have another chance. I don’t think it’s a coincidence. And neither do you. I can tell.”
    Catherine coughed softly, then made a point of reclosing the bathroom door with a bit more force. Their conversation hushed instantly and she made her way back down the hall. “You ready to go?”
    John smiled at her and hopped up from his chair. He was blushing.
     
    The ride down the dirt drive was silent. It was late afternoon now and the gray sky still offered little to brighten Catherine’s mood. When John pulled his pickup to the metal gate, he parked just in front of it.
    “Alright, thank you for the ride,” Catherine said.
    “What’s up with you? You’re not upset about Pa Fenn, are you? He just needs a little persuasion, it’ll be fine.”
    Catherine shook her head. “No, no. I remember him being a bit of a hardass. It’s not that.”
    “Then what is it?”
    They sat in silence a moment longer as Catherine thought about her answer. “I just don’t feel like I have anywhere to go. Feeling kinda lost.”
    John shut down the engine, pulling the keys from the ignition to keep it from dinging at them. He didn’t speak, just waited.
    Catherine took a deep breath. “I shot my stepdad.”
    John’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what?”
    She let her head fall back against the truck seat. “I didn’t kill him or anything. Hardly even winged him, but I shot him.”
    “Holy shit, Catie!”
    “There was a warrant out for my arrest when I left New Hampshire. They’ve dropped the charges now, but – yeah.”
    John started laughing heartily. “Good grief.”
    “I don’t appreciate you laughing at me.”
    This didn’t stop him. “I had no idea I was sleeping with an attempted murderess last night.”
    The memory of waking that morning with him almost cracked a smile on her face and she swatted at him. “I’m not an attempted murderess. If I wanted to murder him, he’d be dead. I’m a damn good shot, thank you very much.”
    “Oh I remember. So why the hell are you on the lamb for shooting at your stepdad.”
    She made a face, crinkling her nose. “Cause he’s a drunk abusive asshole, obviously.”
    John touched her arm. “Yeah, I remember that, too.”
    “Yeah, well. It got worse. Mom finally kicked him out a few months ago and life was great. Come Spring, he was back, and by my birthday they were drinking and fighting again.”
    “Jesus Christ, I can’t believe she’s still with that guy after all this time?”
    “Yeah, sadly. I came home about a week ago to him choking my mom, wouldn’t get off her no matter how hard I hit him. So I grabbed my Dad’s old 1911, and I shot the fucker.”
    “Holy shit. Where’d you hit him?”
    Catherine shrugged. “Shoulder. It was meant to be a graze, really. Teach him a lesson, kind of thing.”
    “Damn fine lesson.”
    Catherine frowned. “Not really. He told the cops