Bittersweet Catastrophe (Second Chances #2.5) Read Online Free PDF

laugh. I guess motherhood hadn’t cured Maddie of her smart mouth. “Sure thing. I think we still have some juice boxes in the fridge. You want me to bring one out for the sassy little lady?”
    A knowing grin tugged at the corner of her mouth, and she turned her attention to Liberty. “What did I tell you? He’s got the fatherhood gene down pat.” Her appreciative smile trailed over to me as Iris climbed her like a jungle gym, and she mouthed “thank you”.
    I trudged back up the beach and climbed the deck leading to the house. As soon as I slid the back door open, I was slammed with the delicious aroma of chicken and dumplings simmering in the crockpot. God, it smelled out of this world, and I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it later tonight. One thing was for sure; my woman wasn’t lacking in her culinary skills and ability to whip up a mouth-watering meal. I definitely lucked out in that department.
    Reaching into the fridge, I grabbed two bottles of water, a Corona for Maddie, and a juice box for Iris. Setting them on the counter beside the sink, my gaze averted to the window looking out over the beach, and the vision that struck me had me weak in the knees. I had to grab hold of the counter as my breath was stolen from me in one clean sweep.
    Liberty was kneeling down in the sand and holding Iris above her, blowing raspberries against her bare tummy, and the smiles on both of their faces lit up the space around them brighter than a thousand suns. That wasn’t what had my heart thundering in my chest like Mike Tyson wailing on a speed bag, though. I had seen this exact scene before, experienced it firsthand. Flashes of my mother holding me in her arms in that very same spot came flooding back with a tidal wave of emotions. I could still see the wind blowing her hair around my face and feel the silky strands tickle my cheek. Memories like those were few and far between, and a rush of feelings I hadn’t felt in years caused a tightness to bear down on my chest.
    Liberty’s big brown eyes flickered up toward the house, and that’s when recognition finally set in. On the windowsill above the sink sat a small, framed photo that my father had taken of my mother and I when I was only three-years old, just two years before my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I glanced back and forth between the yellowing photo and my beautiful wife, and the booming heart palpitations began to settle to a steady-paced beat.
    I ran my fingers through my hair several times, tugging vigorously at the ends, and dragged my hands down my face in an effort to shake off those feelings and bring myself back to the present. Fuck, had it really been twenty-one years since that photo was taken? I was lucky enough to have shared six years with my mother, and even now, closing my eyes, I could still see her warm smile and smell her fragrant, honeysuckle perfume. Those memories that I would forever cherish had never left me, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried one day they would fade into nothingness. I prayed that seeing Liberty with our own children would keep those memories alive as we created new ones of our own.
    Cautiously, I peeled my eyelids open, only to find Liberty’s expression had morphed, her brows drawn together with concern. I eased up on my white-knuckled grip of the counter, letting the tension flow free from my body, and returned her questioning stare with a playful grin that was for her eyes only. She knew exactly what that grin meant, and from the blush that stained her cheeks, she was in complete agreement on the matter. That ’practice’ I had mentioned earlier was still fresh on our minds, and pretty soon, I was going to have to send Maddie on her way so that we could… How did she so eloquently put it? Ah yes… get down to business .
    With my eyes still locked on Liberty’s breathtaking smile, I hadn’t heard Maddie enter the kitchen. A light tap on my shoulder snapped my attention to the tiny