Page 14 of Third Time's the Charm

I almost did. “I have to go.”

He held me tighter...then let me go. “You are hereby freed from the mistletoe.”

I staggered backward, right into Doug. “Ooops!”

He barked.

“Sorry, buddy.” I scooped up his leash. “Have a nice Christmas, Jack.” I tried not to run away. That would be rather telling (as if that entire kiss wasn’t telling.) So I forced myself to walk at a quick but steady pace because I could feel him watching me.

We had that connection after all. It seemed time, fighting, and resentment hadn’t changed that one little bit.

And I really wasn’t sure what to think about that.

Chapter 3 (Part 2)

How Jack Saw It

Jack

“Stop, Ma.”

She fluttered around, shoving freshly baked rolls and butter at me as if food could solve a broken heart. “I thought you knew.”

“How would I know that my ex-wife was getting married? We’re not friends.” Not for lack of trying on my part. “I don’t live here. There isn’t a divorce Bat Signal that goes up when your ex says yes to another man.”

Mom whimpered and dropped into the chair across from me. “It was just such big news here. Berlin is an original—you know how people are about the locals. And Ryker Larson has become a big name here.”

Yeah, yeah. Money does that. It gets you places you didn’t earn.

“Well, I know now. Thanks for the butter roll.”

At least that made Mom smile. “I’m sorry, baby boy. This has to hurt.”

She called all her kids baby boy or girl. There were a lot of us. I used to joke she used the generic nickname so she didn’t have to remember our real names. I usually gave her a hard time because I was clearly no longer a baby or a boy, but at the moment I liked being “baby boy” because it reinforced the false idea that my mother was in charge and could somehow protect me from the very real pain I was feeling.

Berlin was getting married.

To a man who wasn’t me.

Fuck that. Just . . . fuck that. “Where did I go wrong?”

She slid her hand into her lap as she sat back and gave me her mom glare. “Do you really want me to answer that, or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?”

“They’re not the same thing?”

She shook her head.

Damn. Did everyone know I ruined our marriage except me? Was I seriously the only person who was clueless?

I guess that answered most of my original question. “Give it to me, Ma.”

“Well,” she said entirely too fast. Like she’d been waiting all this time to punch me in the nose just like Harrison. “You were selfish. You still can be, but not like you were.”

I grimaced, but nodded. “I know. I was young and cocky and stupid.” I thought landing the youngest head-coaching job in professional hockey made me hot shit. Untouchable. My career was obviously the most important thing in the world. And Berlin was understanding.

At first.

Then she got pissed. At the time our fights seemed so unfair. I was doing something rare. It paid me a lot of money. Of course my schedule was more important than hers.

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