Season of Second Chances by Brighton Walsh Read Free Book Online Page A

train of thought. He grabbed his cell, looking at the caller ID before a grin slowly curved his lips. “Hey, baby girl. Merry Christmas.”
    Claire smiled. Sophie was talking so loudly and excitedly on the other line, Claire could hear her from her perch on the stool at the breakfast bar. She listened to half the conversation, hearing only jumbled, high-pitched chatter from the other end as Logan asked Sophie about her night and this morning, told her about his flight being canceled and being stuck in the city, that he was home and he couldn’t wait to see her. That, yes, Santa had visited her here too. That he missed her.
    He had such a genuine smile on his face as he talked to his daughter, Claire couldn’t help but return it. He was a wonderful father. Intent and utterly focused on Sophie. He’d always been good at that—at giving one-hundred percent of his attention when he was there, in the moment. And not just with his daughter, but with Claire too. It had been the time he wasn’t with them that his attention waned, focusing instead on the latest troubled job site or some contractor he had to deal with. The time he spent with the people he loved, he was in , completely. It was the obligations he couldn’t seem to say no to, the issues he felt rested solely on his shoulders as owner of his business which started to encroach on home life that had been the problem.
    “What am I going to do today? Well, I’m not sure. Claire—you remember Claire?—well, she got stuck at the airport, too, so she’s here with me.”
    She couldn’t help but listen a little closer, trying to detect any change in the cadence of Sophie’s voice on the other line, but she still sounded excited even after hearing Claire was with her father. She didn’t know how children handled the comings and goings of people in their lives, had little to no experience with kids before Sophie. In fact, when she’d first met Logan, she almost hadn’t accepted his invitation for a date because she hadn’t wanted the complication of children. She’d seen firsthand what could happen to innocent kids when life didn’t go as planned, and she hadn’t wanted that for herself or a would-be family—hadn’t wanted the responsibility of being the sole person a child depended on.
    But then Logan had brought Sophie to the job site one day on their way to a daddy-daughter lunch, and Claire had been smitten immediately. With Sophie’s bright eyes and infectious laugh, Claire didn’t stand a chance—was a goner from the start.
    The lowered timber of Logan’s voice made her look up, focusing as his eyes locked with hers. “I’m not sure. We’ll have to see.” He paused, listening to the other side of the conversation. “I know, I hope so too. Okay, let me talk to your mom. Love you.”
    Before he could start talking to his ex-girlfriend, Claire moved to stand in front of the sliding glass door in the living room to give him some privacy. She’d always liked Brooke and had been incredibly thankful for that. Her brother-in-law had been married before, and her sister had to deal with his bitch of an ex-wife, so Claire had been prepared for the worst when she and Logan had started dating. She was pleasantly surprised by Brooke and Logan’s relationship. If ever there was a poster couple for an amicable split and raising a child together, they would be it.
    Looking out the window, she was still shocked at how much snow had accumulated and how much was still coming down. Weather reports said it was just less than two feet, and the city was crawling along at a snail’s pace because of it. There was no way she was getting out today, maybe not even tomorrow. Yesterday, this would’ve been problematic for a different reason entirely—having only wanted to spend the holiday with her family. Now, though...now she had to worry about a whole new set of problems that had nothing at all to do with family and everything to do with the sinfully handsome man that