Second Time Around

Emily raised her eyes and met Kevin's. Her demure smile seemed to hold a touch of sadness and the air whooshed from his lungs, leaving him with a burning need for oxygen.

He studied her intently, remembering…. Suddenly her hunter-green dress faded to white, a veil covered her face and her smile was full of love…. Kevin furiously blinked the dream away.

“Why didn't you tell me Emily was coming?” Kevin asked.

His best friend, Bryan, looked unconvincingly baffled. “Did I forget to mention that?”

“Yeah, I'd say you forgot to mention that!” Kevin mocked.

“A lot has changed in seven years.”

Kevin scowled at his friend. “Eight. And yeah, a lot has changed. I've just made a bid that will put my entire business at stake, and I don't need some woman turning my life around to fit her agenda.”

“I wouldn't exactly call your ex-fiancée
some woman.
”

Two are better than one, because they have a good
reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up
his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he
falls and has not another to lift him up….
A threefold cord is not quickly broken.

—
Ecclesiastes
4:9-10, 12

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Letter to Reader

F
rom the parlor, building contractor Kevin MacIntyre heard the church bells outside announcing the celebration. He ran a finger inside his shirt collar, suddenly feeling as stuffed as insulation between two-by-four studs. Why the suit bothered him today, he hadn't a clue. He wasn't the type to shy away from formal occasions. In fact, he typically enjoyed them. He guessed it was because his best friend was making the long-awaited trip to the altar, and Kevin had yet to find Miss Perfect.
With all the hours I'm putting in at work, I don't have time for anyone else, anyway. What do I care?

Kevin picked up a miniature plastic football and tossed it to the groom. The music began softly, then grew louder and faster. Kevin opened the door to the chapel and peeked out to see if it was time for them to take their places. The usher escorted the beautiful guest down the aisle on his arm. Dr. Emily Berthoff was as gorgeous as ever.

Emily raised her eyes and met Kevin's. Her de
mure smile seemed to hold a touch of sadness, and the air whooshed from his lungs, leaving him with a burning need for oxygen.

He studied her intently, remembering… Suddenly, her hunter-green dress faded to white, a veil covered her face, and her smile was full of love…. Kevin furiously blinked the dream away. No longer concerned with starting any wedding, he pushed the door closed. “Why didn't you tell me Emily was coming?”

The groom looked unconvincingly baffled. “Did I forget to mention that?” Bryan threw the football back across the room, the ball hitting Kevin in the stomach before dropping to the floor.

“Yeah, I'd say you forgot to mention that!” Kevin mocked.

Bryan followed his chortling toddler across the room to get the toy, and the two embraced in a growling hug. “Just be glad Barb is feeling better. Laura was going to ask Emily to stand in as the maid of honor.”

Kevin straightened his suit, then combed the unruly waves of hair back into place with his fingers. “Laura's trying to get even with me, isn't she? Your future wife has a warped sense of humor.”

Bryan chuckled.

Jacob handed Kevin the football. He picked the toddler up and tossed Bryan the ball. “Go tackle your dad,” Kevin whispered into Jacob's ear as he set the boy down. Then Kevin watched with envy as his best friend and son played together, casually waiting for Pastor Mike to come for them.
I'm going to miss having Jacob around.

“She's a romantic. Thinks you and Emily should
give it another try.” Bryan checked his watch, stuffed the toys into a baby-size backpack, then pulled his suit jacket on. “You've got to admit, Emily is still available—not to mention as beautiful as always.”

“Even if I did admit it, it doesn't mean anything.” Kevin had chased away memories of Emily Berthoff long ago. Moved on with his life. Pursued his dreams and was on the verge of making them come true. And she was no longer a part of the plan.

“Maybe Laura's right, Kevin. A lot has changed in seven years.”

He scowled at his friend. “Eight. It was the year the Buffs beat Nebraska. Yeah, a lot has changed. I've just made a bid that will put my entire business at stake, not to mention the risk I've let you take on this investment. I want to pay you back as soon as possible. I don't need some woman turning my life around to fit her agenda.”

Bryan smoothed his son's tiny vest, while obviously trying to wipe the smirk from his own lips. “I wouldn't exactly call your ex-fiancée
some woman.
That in itself tells me how you feel about her.”

“Wait just a minute here! Don't go assuming anything. Seeing her here surprised me. That's all.” Kevin checked his pocket for Laura's wedding ring, wishing Bryan would let the issue die, just as his and Emily's relationship had died. “It's been too long to care what the doctor does. She made her choices.”

Until he had unexpectedly run into Emily in Laura's hospital room two months ago, he'd successfully erased the enchanting woman from existence. Since then, unmanageable thoughts plagued his mind with reruns of the years they had been to
gether: dreams of a family, of traveling across the country together, of waking up to one another—

Bryan's somber voice interrupted him again. “Put the show aside, Kevin. I know it hurts. You're not going to like this, but I'm going to say it anyway….”

Kevin wanted to walk out of the room in the worst way. He didn't need Mr. Happy here to throw his own words back in his face. Problem was, on the other side of that door was a chapel full of smiling loved ones ready to celebrate “happily ever after.” There was no escaping. No matter how desperately he wanted to leave, he couldn't do that to his best friend. Not today.

“It's time you put the past behind you and looked at your future. And Emily's as good a place as any to start.”

Kevin started to say something, and was politely told to wait his turn. The echo of his own words reverberated in his ears. He couldn't believe it had been little more than a year since he'd used that same line on Bryan. “Just because it worked for you, don't count on it changing my life.”

“Come on, Jacob, hold still.” Bryan stood his son on the sofa and straightened the toddler's tiny bow tie. Returning his attention to Kevin, he added, “You never stopped caring for her. If it hadn't been for your dad, you probably would have gone after her then.”

Kevin tugged on the knot of his own necktie, certain it was getting tighter by the minute. “Drop the subject, Bryan.”

Bryan stepped in front of him and looked him in the eye as he readjusted the silk strip around Kevin's neck. “That's why you haven't stayed with any other
woman. You only have feelings for the one who walked away. Swallow your pride, Kevin. Talk to her. You owe it to both of you to settle it, once and for all.”

“Forget it.” There was nothing more to say. He didn't want to see, let alone talk to Emily Berthoff, M.D., again. Not because it might rekindle the fire, but because his fire had never gone out.

The tall oak door opened and a middle-aged pastor with a receding hairline nodded. “Morning, Kevin. You ready, Bryan?”

“Thought you'd never get here.” Still staring Kevin in the eye, Bryan waggled his eyebrows. “Best day of my life.”

Kevin walked behind Pastor Mike and the groom into the small chapel filled with candles and flowers and smiling faces. He watched the bride's father present Laura to Bryan. Their gazes were fixed on each other and love radiated between them.

“We are gathered here to celebrate the union of Laura Bates and Bryan Beaumont….”

Even in his sulking mood, he couldn't help but feel the happiness choke out the bitterness. He laughed at Laura's youngest son, who was fidgeting with his suit. Kevin lowered his eyebrows and shook his head slightly until the boy stopped. Bryan was going to have his hands full. In just over a year he'd gone from no children to four; from married, to widowed, to honeymooner.
You have my best wishes, friend.

The soloist sang about love that never ended, and Kevin felt the noose around his neck slip another notch tighter.

He found Emily instinctively, yet stubbornly
turned away. With beautiful red hair and a bright smile, she had always stood out in a crowd. Always would. His mind drifted to bitter memories of that day, a month before their wedding, when Emily had announced she'd unexpectedly been accepted into a prestigious medical school—across the country. The day when the very foundation of his dreams had crumbled like bad concrete.

Though they had known there was a remote possibility she'd be accepted at Johns Hopkins, they'd made their plans based upon her attending medical school in-state.

Time was supposed to heal all wounds, so the saying went. It hadn't worked in eight years, and he doubted it ever would. In that respect, Bryan was right; there would be no one for him, because the only woman he'd ever loved had walked away.

Bryan nudged his hand, and Kevin realized he had missed his cue. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Laura's wedding ring. He glanced at the bride, who had the smug look of a woman who already had a scheme in mind.

“Relax, your time will come,” Bryan whispered as Kevin handed him the ring.

“Not a chance.” He was supposed to be the one calming the groom. Not the other way around.

In what seemed like minutes, Laura and Bryan were pronounced husband and wife, and the two were joined by four rambunctious children for a walk down the aisle. Kevin waited for the music to change, then followed, trying to ignore the striking woman in the third pew.

Two hours later, the celebration was winding down. Kevin must have talked to every person in the
reception hall, except the pretty doctor. Somehow they had managed to miss one another. He supposed he had the pastor to thank for keeping Emily company. Glancing quickly around the room, he consoled himself with the realization that she had left first, without making any effort to talk to him.

He backed through the arched doorway and spun around, ready to make a quick escape up the stairs, out the door, and away from this lousy trip into his unpleasant past.

“They're perfect for each other, aren't they?”

Kevin stumbled up the step as he turned toward the all-too-familiar voice. The slick sole of his shoes on the metal edge sent him sprawling across the stairs. Clenching his jaw to swallow the cry, a deep rumble vibrated against his vocal cords.

“Kevin! Are you okay?”

He groaned. “Why in blazes are you hiding in here?”

“I was paged and needed a quieter place to phone the hospital.” Emily extended her hand to help him up. “I didn't mean to startle you.”

He brushed her hand aside, stunned by the sincerity of her remark. After all this time, he wasn't going to let Emily get to him. “I'll be fine, thanks for the concern, Doc.”

Children squealed and raced past them across the room in a raucous game of kissing tag. A look of admiration softened Emily's green eyes. She tipped her head toward the chaos. “Who would have pictured Bryan as a father of four? Laura is so much better for him than Andrea, isn't she?”

Tearing his gaze from Emily, Kevin looked at the
bride and groom. “Like night and day. It took a while, but I finally got through to them.”

She flipped her cellular phone closed and put it into a compact purse, her tone turning cold. “How generous of you. Must have been the jealousy routine. You were always so good at that one.”

He studied her as she concentrated on the newlyweds. Emily's full lips turned into a smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes as she watched the giddy couple behind the tiered cake. Kevin closed his eyes, wishing after all these years he could forget how wonderful it was to hold her in his arms and kiss the soft fullness of her lips.
Don't be a fool. Emily is off-limits.

Wishing she didn't still have the power to make his heart skip a beat, Kevin tugged the knot of his tie loose. “So that was it. Your mother convinced you that all men were like your father, huh? And all this time, I thought it was medical school that lured you away.”

The smile disappeared and her eyebrows arched up. “And apparently you still think I should have given up the opportunity of a lifetime to follow
your
dreams. I'm relieved to know I made the right decision.” Emily turned to leave.

Following her through the doorway, he grabbed her hand. “We can both be happy you realized your career was more important than a family
before
it was too late.”

“How dare you,” she countered in a broken voice.

Kevin stepped in front of her, deliberately blocking her view of the festivities.

“Sorry if I hit a nerve.”

“You're not a bit sorry.”

“Oh, there you're wrong, Doc. There are a lot of things I'm sorry about.” He could never forget the tailspin her announcement had sent him into. It had short-circuited his very existence. “But I guess you're not interested in hearing all of that, are you?”

Emily's green eyes widened like those of a cat ready to pounce, yet she remained silent.

He let go of her silky-soft hand, and she stepped back as if giving up without a battle. He should have remembered, their arguments always made her nervous, the tragic remains of a broken home. She lowered her head, and he could no longer see her face through her veil of red curls.

She glanced at him, then away.

Was that a tear?
He yanked his tie from around his neck, unfastened the top button, and dragged in a quick breath, inhaling the sweet smell of her perfume. The last thing he had expected was that she would cry.

She cleared her throat and looked at the tie dangling in his hand. “You know, Kevin, I didn't notice you trying to contact me, either. The final decision was yours,” she said with renewed determination.

Kevin backed away. The old Emily wouldn't have made a scene. Especially not in a public place. “There
was
no choice,” he said quietly.

“No choice?” she repeated. “Funny, isn't it? You're here in Springville
now.
Yet the family's business that couldn't manage without you then, isn't.”

He wondered if he should tell her why, then decided against it. It was best to leave things as they were. She was the one who had walked away. Let
her think what she wanted. Their future was long gone.

Raw pain glimmered in her misty eyes.

He felt the rapid beating in his chest and wondered if he could have been wrong, then immediately pushed the thought away. He had his business to consider now.

“Fate is a funny thing for sure.” He studied her puzzled look and laughed softly. Forcing the question away, he added, “Who would ever have guessed we'd wind up here together?”

“‘Together' is a bit presumptuous, isn't it? We've managed to avoid each other up until now—that shouldn't be too difficult to continue. After all, we have no reason to see each other.” She walked into the main reception hall, stopped by the crowd gathering around the bride and groom.