Second Look (A New Beginning Book 3) by Connie Stephany Read Free Book Online Page A

studied him for a few seconds and then finally gave him a smile. “Thank you.”
    “I appreciate you taking the time to hear me out. I really am sorry for how badly I behaved. You deserved a lot better.”
    “Thank you, Adam. I moved on with my life. I hope you can do the same and find some happiness in yours.”
    “Me too.”
    “I’m really sorry about your dad.”
    “Yeah.” He nodded and took a breath. “Well, I took enough of your time, so I’ll get going. But, I think I’ll surprise my co-workers. Could you box up a couple dozen treats?”
    “Sure.”
    As he walked out the door of the bakery, he turned back around and gave Abby one more glance. She was staring after him with a genuine smile, which was a lot better than the look she gave him when he first walked in the door that morning.
    He gave a little wave and left with a grin.
    *****
    Abby had a kid. And another on the way. What would that be like to have a family?
    He shook his head, trying to envision what her life was like, and he realized he had no idea how it would feel to have a wife and child. He’d gotten a glimpse of it when he thought Amber was his daughter, but that was so short-lived that he never had time to process it.
    Getting closure with Abby felt good. Really good. He needed that with Jennifer, too.
    The last time he saw her, they found out he wasn’t Amber’s father. He was so confused and too upset to do anything other than walk away.
    Now?
    He needed to know how she was. Had she found Amber’s father? Did they have a relationship? He was convinced that if he was able to just talk to Jennifer, see how she and Amber were doing and closed that chapter in his life, maybe then, he wouldn’t be so scared to have more than just a casual relationship.
    There was only one problem. He had no idea where Jennifer was and he was having a hell of a time finding her.
    When he tried calling her number, some Russian-speaking person answered the phone. Adam was glad the man knew enough English to tell him it was now his number as of a year ago.
    After that, he started searching online. The last he saw her she was in California. He was pretty sure she was no longer there but he didn’t know where she was now because his only connection to her was his sister and she wouldn’t tell him a damn thing.
    Adam ran his hands through his hair and blew out a deep breath. Where the hell could she be? He was beginning to think he’d need to ask his sister, but just the thought made him sweat.
    After trying every trick in the book, Adam decided his sister was his last resort.
    *****
    “Come on, Mandi! Please give me her number.”
    Adam wasn’t ashamed to be begging. He asked her to come have lunch with him in hopes of being able to pry the information out of her while she ate a nice meal at Granite City. It was one of her favorite places to meet him for lunch.
    “Nope. Sorry, bro. Can’t do it.”
    She zipped her lips with her finger before taking another bite of her salad.
    “I just want to talk to her. See how she is, but I can’t find her.”
    “Adam, she’s been very clear with her wishes. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”
    “I need to do this to move on, Mandi. Have a heart.” He paused and took a deep breath. “It has a lot to do with dad.”
    Mandi gave a sympathetic click of her tongue. “I get it. I do. But she doesn’t want to talk to you. Hell, she doesn’t even want to hear your name.”
    She doesn’t want to hear my name?
    “I know I could have handled things better, but I’m not totally to blame here.”
    She narrowed her eyes, and stared at him in silence.
    Am I finally getting to her?
    “I agree, but I’m following her wishes. I can try to work it into the conversation that you want to talk to her, but nothing more.”
    “Well, that’s something, I guess. Give her my number if you do that.”
    She shook her head. “I make no promises. Sorry, bro.”
    “Understood.” Adam smiled at his sister. “And thanks, Mandi.