One More Chance

“I’ll answer him when it’s time. It just isn’t time yet.”

Mase let out a frustrated sigh. “You’re carrying his baby. He needs to know that. This ain’t right, what you’re doing.”

I brushed the wisps of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail holder out of my face. He wouldn’t understand why I couldn’t tell Grant. I was tired of having this conversation with him.

“No one will persuade me to give up my baby. I will not choose myself over this child. I can’t. I won’t. I just . . . don’t ask me to again, just understand that I have to do this my way.”

Mase tensed beside me. Any reminder that I was taking a gamble with my life upset him. But it was my life to choose. I didn’t push him to agree. We walked in silence to the house.

Maryann stood over the stove in a blue and white polka-dotted apron, which I knew was monogrammed on the front. It had been a gift from me when I was seventeen. When the screen door slammed behind us, Maryann glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Just about ready. Set the table for me, will you?” she said, then turned back to the stove.

Mase went to the silverware drawer, and I went for the plates. This had become a regular routine. After putting down four place settings, I went to get the mason jars and fill them with ice and sweet tea.

“Five places today. Major will be here for lunch. He called this morning to let me know he was on his way into town. Dad agreed to hire him for the next six months. He needs a break from the drama at home, and we need another strong pair of arms around here.”

From what I remembered of Major, he was a bully. A scrawny, mean bully. But then, I hadn’t seen Mase’s cousin since he was ten, so things could have changed. He should be taller than four and a half feet and have his braces off by now.

“Uncle Chap still planning on divorcing this one?” Mase asked as concern wrinkled his brow. We never talked about his cousin, mostly because Major had lived in a different country every time Mase had mentioned him. Uncle Chap was a Marine, and he was hard-core. He also made it his goal in life to marry as many young, beautiful women as he could. Major always had a new mom. That much I remembered.

Maryann sighed and set the biscuits on the table. “The thing is, this time it isn’t about some pretty young thing wanting a sugar daddy. Hillary also wanted Major, and apparently, she got him. Major made a mistake, and, well, Chap isn’t very happy with his wife or his son. Major can’t go home and face his dad now, and he doesn’t want to go back to college. He’s confused and unhappy.”

Mase set the pitcher of tea on the table and swung a surprised expression toward me. He hadn’t known this bit of information. Interesting. “You mean . . . Major tapped his stepmom?”

“Don’t say tapped,” Maryann said as she frowned at her son. “And yes, he did. But Hillary was only four years older than Major. What did Chap expect? He’s an old man, and he married a young girl, then put her in a house with his beautiful son while he went off to work all the time.”

Mase let out a low whistle and then chuckled. “Major tapped his stepmom,” he said again.

“That’s enough. He will be here any minute, and I know he’s embarrassed about all this. Be nice. Ask him about college or what he wants to do. Just don’t talk about Hillary or his dad.”

I was trying hard not to look completely disturbed by this. I couldn’t picture Major as beautiful by any stretch of the imagination. But then, all I knew was the ten-year-old Major, not the twenty-one-year-old who could attract a woman who shouldn’t want him.

A swift knock on the door got our attention, and all eyes in the kitchen turned to the door as the grown-up version of Major Colt walked into the room.

His green eyes were almost emerald. I was surprised I hadn’t remembered that. An unsure smile touched his face as he looked at his aunt and then at Mase. I took a quick glance at the rest of him. He had to be at least six-four now, and every inch of him was well built. Thick, corded arms that reminded me a lot of Mase’s were showcased in the short sleeves of his gray T-shirt.

“So you slept with your stepmom.” Those were the first words to break the silence. Of course, they came from Mase.

“Mase Colt-Manning, I am going to tan your hide,” Maryann said in a stern voice, quickly wiping her hands on her apron and making her way to Major. The small smile that tugged at Major’s lips as he looked at Mase made me think maybe he wasn’t going to get as upset as Maryann thought he was. It wasn’t like he was a kid who was taken advantage of. He was every bit a man.

He turned to look at Maryann but stopped when his eyes found me. He paused, then began grinning. A real smile this time. He recognized me. Not surprising, since my face had been all over the media the past two months.

“Well, if it ain’t Little Miss Gone Missing,” Major said. “You’re even prettier than the photos they keep showing of you on TV.”

“Easy,” Mase said, and took a step to stand between Major and me. “I realize you’re Casanova now, but she ain’t available for romancing. I’m sure Uncle Chap will have a new wife soon, and you can see how long it takes to get in her pants.”

“Enough!” Maryann said, slapping Mase on the arm like a naughty child before pulling Major into a hug. “We’re thrilled you’re here. Ignore your cousin’s attempt at humor. He has no filter, and I apologize for that.”

Major returned her hug and smirked at Mase over her head, which didn’t even reach his shoulder. “Thanks, Aunt Maryann. I won’t let him get to me. I can handle it, I swear.”