Second Chance Love Read Online Free PDF

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    Now he was back, quoting lines from their favorite movies and dressed like a rich man. She looked around her cramped apartment and knew that their socioeconomic divide must now be even greater. His life surely revolved around charity dinners, rich socialites, and power lunches with important contacts. Hers revolved around TV dinners and paying her electric bill the final day before it was turned off. Their worlds could no longer possibly have anything in common.
    Still… every time she tried to push him out of her mind and focus on making breakfast, getting ready to go to Christmas Mass, whatever—he kept pushing his way back in. Even as she sat in her accustomed spot at the end of the fourth right-side pew from the rear and prayed, he was there, tickling the back of her mind.
    When Mass let out, she walked out of the cathedral and into bright sunshine. After days of blustery, snowy weather, the sun deigned to put in an appearance. The wind had stopped. The temperature was above freezing for the first time all week.
    It was Christmas Day, and the only things left on her agenda were reading and talking to Sebastian. With at least a hint of warmth in the air, she wasn’t ready to give up on the day, so she decided to go for a walk. She walked past the department stores, with their large front windows still decorated with trains, elves, and Christmas trees. She walked past the park, but even the unexpected sun hadn’t brought kids out to play.
    She checked her watch and saw that it was 12:25. She'd lost track of time. She hadn’t decided whether she wanted to see Steve again or not, but now the time had come and gone. Surely so had he, he was such a busy man. She decided to head for home, but her legs turned traitor. Without conscious thought, four blocks later she found herself approaching Moe’s Café.
    Elizabeth hesitated. Surely he was gone by now, wasn’t he? She approached close along the wall of the building, so she could snoop on who was sitting in the booths.
    There. In the booth right by the front door, there he was.
    He wasn’t reading the paper or looking at his phone. He was just staring at the door.
    She hadn’t gotten a full look at him yesterday, thanks to the combination of approaching darkness and her abrupt retreat. From this angle, she could only see the left side of his familiar profile. His hair was still mostly blond, albeit shorter and maybe a little thinner, but much as she remembered him. I would recognize him on a city bus, if I got a good look at him.
    “All right, Elizabeth,” she said quietly, without realizing she was speaking out loud. “You’ve seen him. Now let’s go home.”
    She didn’t. She couldn't make herself start moving. She was in people's way, with several going around her saying "excuse me" in that tone that really means "excuse you .” Just as she was ready to break the spell and move away, Steve turned his head and looked her directly in the eye. She felt a jolt of electricity at the sudden, unexpected connection.
    He smiled, and his weary, relieved expression conveyed a lot. It wasn’t the flashing smile of Prince Charming riding in on his white charger to save the day. It was a man who had believed he was stood up, now relieved to see he wasn’t. The boyish quality of that expression brought back something for her. She felt herself thaw a bit inside.
    He stood up, but didn’t move away from the booth. He gestured with arched eyebrows toward the empty seat across from him. Over the years, she had built him up into a cocky, arrogant businessman. The real Steve looked an awful lot like a somewhat pudgier version of the young boy she had once known.
    She sighed, now resigned, and walked around through the front door. When she met his eyes again, they lit up.
    “Lizzy. It’s… it’s so good to see you.”
    “Is it?” she asked. “It’s been so long. When you left… college, it was so abrupt. And then, well, we promised to keep in touch, but I