Abrupt Changes: A Second Chance Romance (O-Town Book 3) by Karen Renee (comprehension books .TXT) 📕

“I’m sure I could. Be good.”

She kissed my cheek before I left, and I sat in my SUV until I saw her flick her light three times, telling me she’d locked the door behind herself.

I CALLED MAMÁ WHEN I got home. Talking to her while driving wouldn’t have been good for either one of us.

She picked up on the first ring. “Beginning to wonder what was taking you so long, mi hijo.”

I smiled at the wall. She broke out the Spanish endearments for me when she was in the wrong. Which meant Laura told her all about the drama, but Laura didn’t know I knew about the letter.

“I get an hijo tonight. How come?”

“I shouldn’t have spoken to Laura about it.”

To keep from pacing I stopped at the kitchen counter. The Bushmills stood like a small tower begging me to tip it over for a shot. Shaking my head, I turned away.

“How much of it did you talk about to her?”

She hesitated. I pictured her eyes turning hawkish, because she always did that when she realized one of us knew something she didn’t want us to.

“What are you asking me?”

“Laura know about the letter?”

“Letter?”

“Yeah. The letter. Or just Raegan and Penny?”

She sighed. Then she muttered in Spanish. Since Dad beat me every time I was trying to learn the language, I seemed to have blocked a fair amount of it, which pissed me off. More than anything I wished I could grasp my second language, but the brain is a powerful muscle. Still, I made out the word for letter and plenty of female pronouns.

“Her mother forced her to tell me about it, Ma.”

“De verdad,” she muttered.

That was one of her favorite words, and one of the few which stuck with me. Verdad literally meant the truth, but with the word de it meant ‘really’ and she used it frequently.

“Yes. And I’m stunned.”

“Stunned?”

“Sí. You spent hours teaching me to never toy with a girl. Never go out of my way to break her heart. If things were done, I had to be the man and say so. Never let someone else do my dirty work.”

“She did you dirty,” she hissed.

“Not really. But, Mamá. All my life, you taught us to control our tempers. Yet, you lashed out in your own temper. Went out of your way to hurt her.”

Her disgruntled sigh said it all.

After a moment, I said, “Apologize.”

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly.

I shook my head. “Not to me.”

“I will not.”

“Mamá.”

“I won’t,” she chirped.

“Okay,” I said.

She sighed. “Don’t be that way.”

I grinned. “Don’t be what way? I just said, ‘okay.’”

“With the disappointment and giving your own mother the guilt.”

I shook with laughter but kept it silent. “Just a word, Ma.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Fair enough. I’ll let you go.”

“I love you, mi hijo.”

“Te amo, Mamá.”

Chapter 6

Comfort Junk Food

Clint

I DIDN’T KNOW WHEN Mamá would apologize to Raegan, but I knew she would.

I didn’t know how long Penny planned to wait for Raegan and me to catch her hint, but I knew she needed to be set straight.

The letter she sent me came at the same time Raegan separated from Garrity. No way Penny could know she’d have a stroke, but she’d damn sure known her daughter was getting out of that marriage. It would be a long shot if her goal were to get us back together, but Penny was nothing if not a woman who gambled the long odds and shot the moon every chance she got.

Funny thing was, she caught the moon and won those long shots most of the time. With a twinkle in her eyes, she’d told me years ago she had a horseshoe up her ass. The first time I thought she was joking. Every time after, I realized she meant it.

Yes, the Connelly women were crazy. Once upon a time, I was crazy about them.

One of them wasn’t crazy enough about me.

I shook my head. Those thoughts had to stop.

You’re gonna let her get away.

I deep breathed to get rid of the errant thought.

Damn fuckin’ sure never good to let the one who is meant for you to get away. So, take care of that shit.

Of all the times for my past words to come back to me, it had to happen now...and those words in particular. Fuck.

Mamá warned me to stay away from her, and my own damn words were telling me not to let her get away. I leaned my head back on the headrest, waiting for Sullivan to join me in the car.

After a moment, the passenger door opened, and Brock buckled into his seat. “More of Dry-Cleaner Man?”

I looked at him with a grin. “Yep. Is this you crying, ‘Uncle?’”

His blue eyes went steely. “Not a fuckin’ chance, Ramsey.”

I smirked. “Just checking.”

By the time I parked the company sedan in the strip-mall parking lot, Brock had downed a good portion of his coffee.

I expected another day like yesterday, but I should’ve known better. When Slagle took his break, he didn’t amble down to the Domino’s store front. He bee-lined it for his vehicle and I had to wait on a pretentious asshole to back his SUV into the space next to us before I could motor to the exit.

“Shit! Did the tires squeal?” Brock asked.

“No,” I growled.

Two cars passed before I joined the flow of traffic behind our man. The surge of discomfort I felt blended with the familiar feel of adrenaline, which set me at ease. I liked feeling things that were incongruous with one another. Love mixed with hate. Dread meets anticipation. That yin and yang made me tick in the best way.

Like Raegan.

Goddammit!

“Lay off, man,” Brock said.

After a blink, I realized I was right on the bumper of the car behind our man. I let off the gas and rolled my shoulders.

The vehicle in front of me made a left, and I followed Slagle two miles down the road before he made a left. I knew the turn signal at that light took