A Second Chance (26 page)

The breath in his lungs escaped him as
he focused on her smile. “What have you done?”

“
Stolen you away from the
woman you love.”

It was Carlos that retreated a step
this time and sat down in the chair closest to him. Wasn’t she the
woman he loved? Kathy was obviously having next-morning jitters.
“What are you talking about?”

“
Listen, since the day I met
you, I knew your heart belonged to Madeline.”

Carlos’s shoulders dropped, and he was
sure his chin had hit the floor. “Kathy…”

She shook her head. “For the past year
I tried to convinced myself you loved me more than you love her.
But I was wrong. So I’m going to Hawaii alone and you’re going to
Mexico.”

He sat before her dumbfounded. The
throbbing in his head increased and so did his heart rate. “Why are
you telling me this now? What good does it do me now?” The moment
the words hit the air, he wished he could retract them, but it was
too late. “That’s not what I meant.”

She smiled and her eyes began to dry.
“Oh, Carlos. You’re a good man. Too good to have me as your wife.”
She laid a gentle hand on his arm. “You and I were trying to fill a
hole. We each needed something. You needed to take care of someone,
and I needed you to be there for me. You were.” She moved past him
and paced the kitchen. “Madeline needs you too.”

“
Kathy.”

“
No.” She raised her hand to
stop his protest. “First, I want you to know I’m not upset. This
all comes from my heart. But when I watched you say good-bye to her
the other day… When I watched you kiss her…”

He stood and she backed away. Oh, he
hadn’t meant to kiss Madeline. He had to tell her that.

“
Please, let me finish.” She
moved again to create space between them. “Carlos, you need to be
with her. And I needed a wedding. I got my wedding, and I’m so
sorry to say I was disappointed.”

His brows drew together and his lips
pursed. The woman had lost her mind.

Kathy picked up the towel near the
sink and folded it, he knew, to keep her hands occupied.

“
I love you. You’re such a
wonderful man. But I think you belong with your family, and I
should take some time to find the right person for me.”

He rubbed the ache in his forehead.
Perhaps the champagne still pulsed through his veins, because he
wasn’t feeling very steady. “Are you standing here in our kitchen
telling me, your husband, that you don’t want to be married to
me?”

“
Yes.”

He threw his hands in the air. “Kathy,
it hasn’t even been twenty-four hours. What’s wrong with
you?”

Instead of crying, she began to laugh.
“Don’t you see? Nothing is wrong. Except that we don’t belong
together.” She dropped her hands to her sides. “Curtis and Simone
had more going on last night than we did.”

He’d noticed that his little brother
had his hands all over the French beauty, and she’d been
reciprocating. Carlos pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping to
release the pressure in his head. “Let’s give this some time. I’m
sure it’s nerves.”

“
No. Nerves got me to this
point.” She neared him and touched his cheek. “Even I can see that
you and Madeline should be together. You love her. It’s always been
her. And she loves you.” She stepped back. “It’s been less than
twenty-four hours. That’s a short enough time that we can tear up
the marriage license and send back the gifts.” She turned to the
kitchen table and picked up an envelope. “I leave for Hawaii in
four hours. Then I’m headed to California. I’m going to move in
with my sister for a bit and let my life take a new
course.”

Carlos stood silent. He wasn’t sure
what to say. This was his wife. He should be stopping her from
speaking nonsense, but something was holding him back.

Kathy handed him the envelope. “I had
Judy work her travel agent magic. She dropped this off
earlier.”

Carlos took the envelope and opened
it. She’d done what she set out to do, he figured. His stomach
began to flutter with nerves at the chance everything was going to
be okay. “This is a plane ticket to Mexico.”

Kathy nodded. “Go get her. Don’t let
her go again.” She stepped to him and kissed his cheek. “Wow, I can
breathe again.” She held a hand to her chest. “For the past few
weeks I’ve known this was the right thing to do. I should have done
it then, but at least it’s done now.”

“
I can’t believe you did
this.”

“
Call your kids. Tell them
you’re going to go get your wife back.” She rested her hands on his
chest. “I’m okay. I know you’ll worry about that for a long time.
That’s how you are. But really, I’m going to be fine. I’m actually
giddy about starting over in California.”

“
I wish I had
words.”

“
A thank-you will
do.”

He swallowed back the excitement he
felt and tried to sound sincere when he sighed, “Thank
you.”

Chapter
Twelve

Carlos scanned the people in the hotel
lobby as the concierge rang Madeline’s room.

The concierge pursed his lips and hung
up the phone. “I’m sorry, sir. No one answers. However, many of our
guests spend their days out by the pool. Perhaps you’ll find her
there.”

He nodded. He knew he might. If there
was sun and water, there was probably a seat for Madeline
there.

Carlos walked out of the hotel, in the
direction the attendant had pointed. There was large circular bar
overlooking the pool, with its thatched roof that shaded those who
had come in from the sun. He propped his arm on the bar and scanned
the many people sitting in lounge chairs by the pool. She wasn’t
there. But beyond the pool was a walkway toward the beach, where
many more rows of people lay hidden beneath brightly colored
umbrellas.

A man walked up next to him in swim
trunks and dark sunglasses. “Looks like you just flew in and
couldn’t wait to get to the beach.” The man motioned to the
bartender. “Two strawberry daiquiris, please.” Carlos felt eyes on
him and turned. The guy gave him a quick nod. “Looking for
someone?”

Carlos’s jaw tightened. He didn’t have
time to chat with some man who was on vacation. He was on a
mission. “My ex-wife.” The words, after all these years, were still
bitter on his tongue.

“
Oh, well, the beach is full
of those.” The man laughed. “I’ve been out here most the morning.
Maybe I can help you.” He turned around and scanned over the crowd.
“What does she look like?”

Carlos shook his head. He wasn’t in
the mood for games. “I don’t know.”

The man turned back to him. “How long
has it been since you’ve seen her?”

“
Not that long.” Carlos let
out a grunt of a laugh as the bartender placed the man’s drinks on
the bar.

Carlos twisted Madeline’s wedding ring
on his pinkie. He’d dug it out of a box he’d kept buried in his
closet. He pursed his lips. It never should have been in the box.
It never should have left her finger.

Carlos looked out over the sunbathers
again.

The man reached for his drinks. “Let’s
start with the basics. Is she here with girlfriends?”

“
No.”

“
Tall and leggy? Short and
curvy?”

Carlos finally smiled. “Short and
curvy. Italian with beautiful eyes.”

The man nodded. “What color
hair?”

“
Brown.” He shook his head.
“Well, wait.” He laughed again, this time with ease. “It was brown
until we shaved it off.”

The man’s expression was priceless,
but the memory of the day he, Maddie, and Ed shaved their heads
made Carlos smile until his cheeks hurt.

“
I didn’t think this would
be so hard.” Carlos turned to the bartender. “Two glasses of
champagne, please.” He turned back around. “Okay. She either has a
scarf on her head or is wearing a stunning head of red
hair.”

The man turned back around, set down
his drinks, and held a hand up to the bartender, stopping him from
pouring the glasses of champagne.

Carlos turned to the bartender and
then back to the man. “Is there a problem?”

The man shook his head and took off
his sunglasses. “Not for you.”

Carlos ran his hand over the back of
his neck. “I beg your pardon.”

The man held out his hand to Carlos.
“Corbin. Corbin Mason.”

“
Carlos.”

“
Yeah. I figured.” Corbin
put his sunglasses back on. “Madeline?”

Carlos felt the blood drain from his
head. Oh, God, he’d never considered that she’d made plans to
travel to Mexico with another man. Suddenly the heat and the sun
were getting to him. He leaned his back up against the padded edge
of the bar to steady himself. The wedding cake from his wedding was
the last thing he even remembered eating, and now it was a solid
mass in the pit of his stomach.

Corbin looked out over the beach. “She
opted for the orange scarf today but left the floppy hat in the
room. She’s just a little pink from all the sun she got yesterday,
but she has a healthy glow.” He nodded toward the ring on Carlos’s
finger. “Planning on dropping that ring into her
champagne?”

“
Thought had crossed my
mind.” He turned to Corbin. “Are you here with her?”

Corbin smiled. “We met on the beach
and have enjoyed each other’s company.”

Suddenly the strength of the bar
wasn’t enough to keep Carlos upright. He sat on the empty stool
beside him.

He wiped the sweat from his brow and
thought about what Madeline and this man had been doing together.
It wasn’t like her, and he assumed that was the point.

Carlos tried to swallow down the
bitter taste of regret but found his mouth had gone dry. Add that
to the heart ache that squeezed his chest, he thought he might just
die on that barstool.

Corbin looked back out over the beach.
“In those past few days I’ve learned a lot about our
Madeline.”

Our Madeline.
The words struck another blow. This man was trying
to kill him.

Corbin gave a glance of consideration
to Carlos and then looked around behind him. “Where’s your
wife?”

Oh, the man did know a lot. They’d
obviously spent a long time together, probably wrapped up in each
other’s arms—and sheets. Carlos tried to expel the breath he was
holding. “She dumped me yesterday morning.”

“
Knew you were still in love
with Maddie?”

Maddie?
He’d already begun with the pet names. But Carlos only
nodded.

“
Well, then.” He handed
Carlos one of the daiquiris. “She’s grown fond of these. I wouldn’t
recommend putting the ring in it, though. Perhaps teeter it on the
umbrella.”

“
I don’t understand.” This
man, who had spent time with
their
Maddie
, was giving him advice? Carlos
didn’t know if he should punch him or thank him. Punching him
seemed more logical. Had this guy touched her? The thought made him
tense.

“
She’ll be very glad to see
you.”

After having met Corbin, Carlos wasn’t
so sure she would.

“
These are on me.” He picked
up the other drink and handed it to him too. “Give her my best. And
good luck to you. She loves you very much, and she didn’t have to
tell me specifically for me to know.”

Corbin gave him a firm pat on the
back. “She’s under umbrella thirty-three just over there.” He
pointed in the distance.

“
That’s it? You can walk
away from her like that?”

Corbin put his sunglasses back on his
face. “She was never mine. Only for a moment, but never
forever.”

The sun was hot, and Madeline was glad
Corbin had talked her into the umbrella. With its shade, she
figured she could spend all day on the beach.

She closed her eyes and let the warmth
wash over her. Certainly, the next vacation she took she was going
to take with Regan and Arianna. No matter what, they were still her
friends, and damnit, she wasn’t going to lose that.

With her eyes still closed, she felt
the presence of someone standing over her and she
smiled.

“
I wondered how long it was
going to take you,” she said, letting out an airy laugh.

He didn’t say anything. She heard him
set the glass on the table beside her and relax in the
lounge.

Madeline sat up and lifted her
sunglasses.

The shock of finding Carlos lounged
next to her in a white linen shirt and khaki pants gave her heart
an unnatural rhythm.

“
What are you doing here?”
Her skin stuck to the lounge or she would have shot up.

“
Soaking in the sun with
your new favorite drink.” He sipped from his and gave her a
sideways glance. “This isn’t bad. Corbin said you liked
these.”

She felt the blood drain from her face
as she sat up fully. “Corbin? You met Corbin?”