Another Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 7) Read online

  Copyright 2019 Natalie Ann

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without a written consent.

  Author’s Note

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  The Road Series-See where it all started!!

  Lucas and Brooke’s Story- Road to Recovery

  Jack and Cori’s Story – Road to Redemption

  Mac and Beth’s Story- Road to Reality

  Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story- Road to Reason

  The All Series

  William and Isabel’s Story — All for Love

  Ben and Presley’s Story – All or Nothing

  Phil and Sophia’s Story – All of Me

  Alec and Brynn’s Story – All the Way

  Sean and Carly’s Story — All I Want

  Drew and Jordyn’s Story— All My Love

  Finn and Olivia’s Story—All About You

  The Lake Placid Series

  Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning – Second Chance

  Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker – Give Me A Chance

  Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire – Our Chance

  Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan – Take A Chance

  Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon- Deserve A Chance

  Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton – Last Chance

  Matt Winters and Dena Hall- Another Chance

  The Fierce Five Series

  Gavin Fierce and Jolene O’Malley- How Gavin Stole Christmas

  Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed - Brody

  Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti- Aiden

  Mason Fierce and Jessica Corning- Mason

  Cade Fierce and Alex Marshall - Cade

  Ella Fierce and Travis McKinley- Ella

  Fierce Family

  Sam Fierce and Dani Rhodes- Sam

  Love Collection

  Vin Steele and Piper Fielding – Secret Love

  Jared Hawk and Shelby McDonald – True Love

  Erik McMann and Sheldon Case – Finding Love

  Connor Landers and Melissa Mahoney- Beach Love

  Ian Price and Cam Mason- Intense Love

  Liam Sullivan and Ali Rogers - Autumn Love

  Owen Taylor and Jill Duncan - Holiday Love

  Chase Martin and Noelle Bennett - Christmas Love

  Zeke Collins and Kendall Hendricks - Winter Love

  Troy Walker and Meena Dawson – Chasing Love

  Jace Stratton and Lauren Towne - First Love

  Gabe Richards and Leah Morrison – Forever Love

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  Dena Hall had her life all planned out. She was already making wedding plans with her high school sweetheart and thinking of the number of kids she wanted. He’d said he wanted the same thing, only he didn’t want it in Lake Placid. But she wasn’t leaving her hometown. Rather than talk it out, he broke it off out of the blue, swift and harsh. She swore never to forgive him or take him back.

  Matt Winters had everything charted out exactly as he wanted it in life. He was going to be a high-profile attorney in a big city. Lake Placid couldn’t give him what he wanted, so he left his true love behind when she wouldn’t agree to move. Then life changed drastically years later, his world was turned upside down, and he realized that having it all meant nothing if he couldn’t have Dena. But she swore she’d never give him another chance and he was determined to win her over...somehow.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Convinced Him

  Blew Up

  Bigger Fool

  Seriously Wrong

  Not Leaving

  Not Enough

  Be a Man

  A Heart of Gold

  Thorn in Her Side

  Hopes and Dreams

  Forthcoming

  Determined to Do

  No Part of It

  Not Helping

  Not So Confident

  To Impress You

  Tongues Wagging

  Took It to Heart

  Good for You

  Warn Me Away

  Best Laid Plan

  Priorities Straight

  Knocking Myself Silly

  No Return

  Serious History

  More Space

  Words with You

  Comfort Zone

  Waiting for Him

  Best in Person

  Right Decisions

  Paid More Attention

  Going to Have

  Smile On His Face

  Focus On Other Things

  How We Feel

  Shot in The Heart

  A Test

  Out On Top

  Old Times

  Next Step

  Understand Each Other

  In Her Heart

  Flying Away

  A Promise

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  “Dad, I’m going out,” Dena yelled as she made her way down the stairs at the front of the house.

  She was just ready to open the door when he shouted back, “We have to leave early in the morning. Don’t stay out too late. I don’t want to be dealing with all those other parents dropping their kids off this weekend.”

  She giggled. “But you are one of those parents bringing their kid to college,” she said, turning to look at him in the living room. “Are you going to miss me?”

  “Of course not. It will be nice to have more bathroom time.”

  She rolled her eyes. It had been just her and her father in the house since she was ten. Her mother had enough of the small town living. Or the cold weather. Maybe it was her and her father.

  At this stage, Dena didn’t care anymore. Her mother left one day and never returned. Didn’t even leave a letter. They would have wondered what had happened if her mother didn’t call from another state and say she was gone and not coming back.

  Since then, she and her father had been on their own and it suited them both just fine.

  “I’ll be back by curfew. I promise.”

  “See that you are. You’ll see Matt again in a few months. It will do you two good to have a little time apart.”

  “Whatever,” she said, closing the door and walking to her car.

  She was in love with Matt Winters and had been since they were freshman and he moved here with his mother for his stepfather’s job. They’d dated for over three years and now they were going to college apart from each other.

  It was going to be hard, but she was sure they could make it work long distance. It wasn’t that long before Christmas break when they’d see each other again. They were only a few hours apart and could visit for weekends if they’d planned it well. She had it all worked out in her head.

  She pulled into the picnic area of the elementary school and got the basket out with the dinner she’d put together. She wanted something romantic for their last night together.

  For ten minutes she sat on the wooden bench waiting for him and wondering what was taking him so long. He’d never been late to meet her before. She hoped something hadn’t come up. Or that he still wasn’t mad at her that they weren’t going to the
same college together.

  For one, she couldn’t afford where he was going, and second, the big city wasn’t for her.

  Matt was going to Columbia in New York City. His father lived in Rye, New York, just outside the city with his wife and stepkids. Matt had been going back once a month to visit for years and every time he returned to Lake Placid he moaned and groaned, wishing he could have stayed with his father.

  She’d tried to put all those hurt feelings aside when he’d say that, thinking he didn’t want to be with her. That she wasn’t enough for him to come home to.

  After another ten minutes, he finally pulled his old Honda Civic next to her beat-up old Chevy Malibu. She stood up and walked toward him with her arms out to hug him. “Everything okay? You’re never late. I don’t want to lose a minute of the time we have left together.”

  “Everything is fine. Let’s go sit down. We’ve got to talk.”

  “Ah, okay,” she said, not sure what was going on. He didn’t look like everything was fine.

  “Listen, Dena,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I think it’s best we take a break while we’re at college.”

  “What?” she asked, wondering where this was coming from.

  They were in love.

  They were voted class couple.

  They never fought. They’d never even talked about breaking up or splitting or anything. Ever.

  “Don’t make me say it again. This is hard enough. You’re going to God only knows what small town and I’m going to Columbia.”

  Not the first time he threw that in her face. Like he was better than her. That she was some stupid redneck because she wanted to go to a smaller college that was more remote. More like home. She’d brushed it off though since most of it was said in jest. She was thinking it wasn’t so much a joke now.

  “And because of that you think we should break up?” she asked, her eyes filling, her heart racing and her breath lodged in her chest like she was choking on a whole loaf of bread with no water in sight.

  He inhaled deeply. “I have no desire to come back here and you don’t want to leave. I’m not meant for this life and have hated every bit of it.”

  “You’re right—I don’t want to leave. My father is here,” she said, swallowing past the lump.

  “That’s another thing. I always feel like I’ve got to fight for time with you. I don’t get it.”

  “There isn’t anything for you to get. I’ve told you. You know the story. We are all we’ve got in this world. I’d never leave my father.”

  “So you’ve decided to choose him over me. That’s why it’s better to end things now. No reason to drag it out. We don’t want the same things in life.”

  She was crying now. Her body was shaking and she wanted to just grab him by the shoulders and shake these crazy thoughts and words from his head. This couldn’t be the same person she’d been in love with for years.

  “Why are you telling me this now? Why the night before we both leave? Why spend the whole summer with me acting like everything was fine and hit me with it now?”

  “It’s the right thing to do,” he said firmly. His lawyer voice again. He was going for pre-law. She’d seen him talk like this before. Detached. Like he was holding everything in and no one could reach him. She’d tried before without much success.

  “Right for you. You didn’t ask what I wanted.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you want,” he said, his eyes showing no emotion at all. “You can’t have a relationship with someone if the other person is ready to move on.”

  “So that’s it. We’re done? Just like that?” It actually felt like her heart was being pried from her chest by a sloth’s nails…slow and painful.

  “Yes,” he said. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it like this. I should have done it sooner.”

  “But you didn’t because you’re a coward,” she shouted at him. “You can do it now and know you’ll never see me again. But you couldn’t do it months ago knowing you’d run into me.”

  “Believe what you want,” he said. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “But you are. I can see there is no talking to you about this either,” she said, running her hand under her nose. The flood of tears was more than she’d shed when she found out her mother was gone. That hadn’t been a surprise. Not like this.

  “No. I hope you have a good life, Dena, but I can’t stay here another day. Good-bye,” he said, turning and walking away from her.

  “I’ll never take you back,” she yelled at his retreating form. “I’ll never forgive you for this!”

  He never turned around once as she sat on the grass rocking herself while a faucet of tears poured from her eyes.

  Convinced Him

  Twelve years later

  “I’m so glad you all could come out with me tonight,” Dena said, looking around the table.

  It was her thirtieth birthday and she wanted dinner and drinks with her girls. Everyone was married, or soon to be, but her, not that it mattered. All that mattered was that she wasn’t alone on this night.

  “We wouldn’t make you have a solo drink,” Amber Monroe said. Amber and she had worked together for years for Dr. Max Hamilton and became the best of friends. Max’s wife, Quinn, was even sitting at the table with them.

  “I needed to get away from Cole and TJ tonight. I’m not sure which one of them was whining more,” Rene said. Rene McGuire got married over the summer to Cole, and TJ was almost a year old. Rene had been working with Amber and her for two years now and fit in so well in their office.

  “Cole always did whine when he was tired. They’re probably both sleeping on the couch right now,” Celeste Ryder said. Celeste was Cole’s twin sister and another close friend of the group. More like a co-worker of sorts. Celeste and Max jointly owned and operated a bed and breakfast solely catering to Max’s patients.

  “How’s Jocelyn sleeping?” Riley Hamilton asked Quinn. Riley was Max’s sister, and Quinn had Jocelyn last May. Max also had two older kids from his first marriage.

  “Sounds like she is sleeping much better than TJ is,” Quinn said, grinning.

  “I’ll take Jocelyn anytime you and Max want a date night. I’ll take all three kids,” Riley said. “It will give Trevor and me some practice.”

  Everyone at the table laughed. Trevor Miles, Chief of Police of Lake Placid, and Riley were newly engaged. “Come on now, Riley,” Amber said. “Max was telling us all that Trevor has the magic touch with the kids. You need the practice, not him.”

  Riley wrinkled her nose. “I need kids in the house to practice though,” she argued.

  Dena watched all the women at the table and fought back the envy. She should have been the first one married with kids by now. Not the last.

  Twelve years ago she had it all planned out. She and Matt were going to college and when they were both done, they’d marry and have kids. Live happily ever after.

  Sure, she knew Matt wanted no part of moving back to Lake Placid, but she’d been positive she could have convinced him otherwise. Except he dropped her like a hot potato straight out of the microwave and never gave her a chance to even decide if she wanted to move or not to be with him.

  If she’d been given the choice, she might have. But she never was and it was water under the bridge of the tears she’d shed.

  Now what mattered was the waitress who came over and started to take their orders. “Two bottles of wine,” Dena said. “My treat.”

  “Shots,” Amber said. “My treat.”

  “Just water for me,” Celeste said, looking down.

  The waitress walked away and all eyes turned to Celeste. She’d been married well over a year now and had been trying to get pregnant. Since she’d had childhood cancer and extreme treatments, there was the possibility of her not conceiving. It wasn’t something that was talked about often, but right now might be a different story.

  “You’re going to say it now?” Rene asked her sister-in-law.

  “I
really shouldn’t say anything. It’s too soon,” Celeste said, her eyes filling but a bright smile on her face. “I know you know what is going on, Rene.”

  “Are you pregnant?” Amber asked, jumping out of her chair and running to Celeste. “Did Caleb’s swimmers hit home?”

  Celeste laughed. “Modern medicine might have had a part in it,” she said. “We haven’t wanted anyone to know, but we tried in vitro fertilization and it did confirm I’m pregnant.”

  There was a lot of squealing at the table, Dena running over and hugging Celeste too. She was jealous, but she wasn’t a bitch. If anyone deserved this, it was Celeste. “I’m so happy.”

  “Please don’t say anything,” Celeste pleaded. “I’ve got to tell Caleb you all know. I mean Rene knew.”

  “You kept this secret,” Amber said to Rene.

  “Yeah,” Dena said, staring at Rene too.

  “Please. We’re family. She had to tell us,” Rene argued.

  “Leave Rene alone,” Quinn said. The quietest of the group, and though she was only a few years older than Dena and closer to Celeste’s age, she was more motherly than them all. “You all would have done the same thing, but now we know and we won’t tell a soul, but we will talk about it in this group only. Right, Celeste?”

  “Yes,” she said. “But this is Dena’s night, not mine. So, Dena,” Celeste said, “any exciting plans for your birthday?”

  “You’re looking at it,” she said. “I’m out with my girls and that’s the best thing to do on your birthday.”

  “It sure is,” Riley said.

  The waitress brought over the bottles of wine and the shots. Everyone held their shots up and Dena said, “To me. The last of the single ladies. Maybe this is my lucky year.”

  “To Dena,” they all said, downing their drinks.

  The minute Dena put her glass down, she turned to see the man that walked in the door, felt her face pale and had to fight the urge to not regurgitate the fireball they all downed.