Free A Second Chance at Love: A Hometown Hero Series Novel by Clare Connelly

she felt like she was getting a grip on her old self. It was a short drive into town. Despite being a Friday evening, the diner was not too busy. The waitress led them to a table at the front, tucked near a window. The frost had set, and the window had icy little strips along the base. The ocean seemed to churn with the expectation of a frigid night.
    “What’s going on?” Dean cut to the chase, leaning forward and taking her hand in his.
    She shook her head. “I don’t know where to begin. I feel… awful.”
    “What is it, Mads?”
    She broke away from him to smile at the approaching waitress. “A mineral water, please.”
    Dean shook his head. “And a bottle of,” he scanned a finger down the wine list, frowning at the poor selection. He landed on the most expensive red they offered, “the merlot.”
    The waitress stuffed her pen behind her ear and sashayed through the tables, leaving Madeline free to return her attention to Dean. She was wearing a simple black dress, a pearl choker, and her hair had been set in waves around her face. Her lipstick was bright red, her eyes lined in the kohl pencil that was her signature look.
    “You look good,” he observed dispassionately.
    The waitress shuttled back with the wine and placed it between them. She’d forgotten the mineral water, but Madeline no longer cared. She watched as Dean poured two measures into the glasses, then slid one across the shiny timber table top. He was in the Armani scarf she’d given him the Christmas before, and the taupe color complimented his dark hair.
    “Thanks. I feel like hell.”
    He nodded sympathetically. “Your brother still not back?”
    “No. KB has very cleverly invented reasons to stay away. He’ll make it in time to have a dignified farewell, and that will be all anyone remembers.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I wish I’d been so smart.”
    “You’re too good for that. It’s right that you’re here.” Dean was the only person on earth who knew why she’d left Harrison. Well, Dean and Kenneth. She’d figured she could trust him to keep the secret, and he had done so. “Though I don’t know how you can stand to be in the same room as him.”
    “I hardly have been,” she responded drily, sipping her merlot.
    “And? What’s got you so worked up then?”
    She closed her eyes, as a memory of being handcuffed by Harrison came flooding back to her on a tide of guilty desire. “I came face to face with my past, and I did not win the encounter.” She grimaced, shaking her head in a way that made her blonde hair lift and fall prettily about her shoulders.
    “Your past? As in, your ex? Harrison?”
    “Yeah. Harrison.” She closed her eyes. “I’m sorry, Dean.”
    He frowned. “Whatever for?”
    “I… we… I didn’t mean to … but we…” She had another sip of her wine. “Three nights ago. We slept together.”
    He laughed softly, and reached over to pad his thumb across her hand. “I’m glad to hear it, baby. Why do you seem guilty?”
    She flushed, and lifted her eyes to his face. “It’s cheating.”
    “Come on, Mads. Our marriage is a con job. We both went into it with that expectation. You know I’ve seen other people. David and I have been dating on and off for two years. Why the heck do you think I’d mind that you’ve reunited with your ex?”
    “I know. It’s stupid. It’s just… it’s such a mess. I don’t know how I should feel, or how I should behave.”
    Dean stood and switched to the chair beside her, so that he could put an arm around her shoulders and speak more privately. “You love him?”
    “No!” She denied hotly. “I mean, maybe. I used to love him, and it’s hard to just forget that, right?”
    “But now? How did you feel when you saw him?” She closed her eyes as the swift sense of falling down a deep, dark hole came back to her.
    “Helpless,” she said on a slow breath. “Like I was twenty again, and he was my whole world.”
    Dean had felt a weight of