Page 43 of Second Chances
Chapter 17
Megan rolled over andsaw the sun rising over the jagged peaks. She yawned and stretched in bed. She had never been a morning person, but today she wanted to jump out of bed and sing in the shower. She was excited to get to the café and see Charlotte’s vision come to life. Every other morning that she had woken up in Charlotte’s mountain house had reminded her that her life was in shambles. Charlotte told her that sometimes things have to fall apart for something greater to be built. Megan had chalked that up to Charlotte seeing one too many motivational speakers, but today, for the first time, she really believed it.
Yes, her husband of fifteen years had cheated on her. Yes, she was broke. But, today, all she saw were possibilities. The possibility of running a business with one of her best friends. The endless combinations of recipes she could play with for the menu, and even though part of her was afraid to admit it, the possibility of getting to kiss Josh Johnson, to feel the brush of his beard on her face, his hands on her waist.
She realized that she had been in a rut with Alex, that she hadn’t felt a fire in her belly to do anything for a while, but now, she felt like she could take on the world, and leave that cheating son of a bitch in her wake.
She padded into the kitchen and saw Charlotte poring over the café’s drawing while she scrolled through the city’s real estate listings on her computer and talked on the phone to a client. Always the multi-tasker.
Megan poured herself a cup of coffee and perched on one of the wooden barstools beside Charlotte. Charlotte smiled at her and raised one finger, signaling that she would be off the phone in a minute. Megan looked out the window at the gently falling snow and felt at peace. Maybe there was a bit of a small-town girl in her after all.
“Morning, Sunshine. You’re up early today,” Charlotte said as she ended her call.
“I wanted to get up and experiment with some recipes before I head into the café. Has the designer sent all the paint colors? The drywallers are starting today and I want to make sure the painters have everything they need to get started.”
Charlotte smiled at Megan.
“What?” Megan looked at her quizzically.
“Just proud of you, that’s all. A new woman walked down those stairs and into my kitchen. And I really like her.” Charlotte took a sip of her coffee and then quickly added, “Not like I didn’t like the other Megan. This is like Megan version 2.0. More powerful and focused.”
“I have you to thank,” Megan jumped off the stool and started pulling baking ingredients out of the cupboards. “I can’t believe that you trusted me with this project.”
“I knew that you could do it.”
“Well, with you behind the curtain, it certainly helped. I do feel a little guilty misleading everyone about my involvement here.”
Charlotte shuffled all her listing paperwork into a pile. “If things keep going, you’re going to BE part owner of The Sugar Peak Café, and then you won’t be lying to anyone.
“Well, Josh thinks that I own this house.”
“This house?” Charlotte pressed her pointer finger into the marble island.
“He just assumed, and I didn’t correct him,” Megan said, and she tied her hair up into a ponytail. “Now I don’t know how I’m going to tell him.”
“I don’t think that he’ll care. I saw the way he looked at you when you jumped into the car last night. It looks like I might have interrupted a moment there.”
“Actually, you didn’t, Freddie did.”
“Freddie who?” Charlotte leaned onto the table, her eyes steeled on Megan.
Charlotte measured out some flour and dumped it into a large steel mixing bowl. “Freddie Brush.”
“That was Freddie Brush? The guy standing with you and Josh, the one in the blue hat?”
“Yeah, he’s a little rough around the edges, but he seems like a good kid. Can I use these eggs?” Megan asked as she pulled a dozen free range eggs from the massive refrigerator.
“Did he see me?”
“I don’t know. It was dark and snowing pretty hard. Why, do you know him? He’s a lot younger than you are.”
“I knew his brother.”
“Oh, Logan?” Megan separated the egg yolks from the whites into two small bowls and set them aside on the counter. “Did you know that he played in the NHL?”
“I heard that,” Charlotte murmured. “Meg. I don’t want to tell you who to hang out with, but that Logan Brush is an asshole with a capital A, and I’m sure his brother is cut from the same cloth.”
“Char, when was the last time you saw any of these people from high school? People change you know. You did.” Meg pointed at Charlotte with the flour covered wooden spoon.
