Second Chance at Love (The MacKenna Born & Bred Trilogy) by Tara Paradise

visit.” Diana was as hospitable as ever, Brooke
thought, smiling warmly at her. Diana wrapped her arms around Brooke and
squeezed tight, holding on for a minute. She had been a big part of Brooke's
life all of the years Brooke had lived in Angel Ridge. And also Karissa's and
her parents' lives, Brooke thought. She'd always been like a second mother to
her and Rissa. And Nicholas had been a second father.
    “Mama, Dad wants to know if you---”  Logan stopped short,
his words trailing off when he saw Brooke standing in the foyer embracing his
mother. It touched him, and reminded him of so many times before when he'd
witnessed this closeness between the two of them. He wondered what had brought
her over.
    Diana stepped back, and spotted the bundle that Brooke
carried.
    “What have you got there, honey?” Diana asked, eyeing the
case she carried.
    “Oh, just a fresh, piping hot homemade apple pie compliments
of mama,” Brooke answered, gently waving the carry case back and forth in the
air. “Nothing you'd be interested in,” she added, teasingly.
    “Would you care to bet on that?” Diana teased back.
    “She wanted me to bring it over before it cooled.”
    “Oh, how thoughtful,” Diana beamed. “I'll give her a call
after dinner to thank her personally. I wanted to talk to her anyway.” She took
the case that Brooke held out to her.  Brooke smiled, and Diana cupped her
cheek with the palm of her hand.
    “So tell me, Brooke honey, how have things been going since
coming home?” Diana was curious. She knew that Logan and Brooke had run into
each other a handful of times, but that was all she knew. She loved her sons,
and because she did, she'd made it a point not to involve herself in their love
lives. They were grown men, and in her mind, they should be able to handle
their own affairs when it came to that sort of thing.
    “I can't really complain,” Brooke answered, a bit
uncomfortable. The hell she couldn't, Logan thought. Diana caught the
hesitation in her voice, and remembered that Logan was still standing there.
He'd been so quiet she'd forgotten.
    “Logan, sweetie, what did your father need?” she asked.
Logan took a second to regain his train of thought.
    “He wants to know if you remember where he put his reading
glasses.
    She looked back at Brooke and smiled. “He wants to know if I remember where he put his reading glasses,” she said, shaking her
head playfully, her stylish blonde hair bobbing back and forth. “What would our
men do without us?” she teased.
    Brooke met Logan's gaze. He watched her speculatively, and
she wondered what he was thinking at that moment.
     “It just so happens that I do remember,” she said to Logan.
“Tell him that they're in the drawer of the table next to the recliner, would
you, sweetie?”
    “Will do, mama,” he said, as she rubbed his shoulder
affectionately. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, then turned and headed back
to the man cave.
    She looked at Brooke, and just smiled. Tears misted her
blue-gray eyes. When alarm crossed Brooke's face, Diana just waved it off.
    “I'm just so happy to see you. I've thought about you so
many times over the years. We've missed you, Brooke.”
    “I've missed you, too.”  Brooke took Diana's hands in hers.
    “Please, stay for dinner,” Diana said. “I'm making baked
ziti, and I happen to know it's one of your favorites.” She used her most
persuasive voice.
    “Thank you, so much, for asking, but I really shouldn't.”
    “And why shouldn't you, exactly?” Diana asked, one perfectly
arched eyebrow raised.
    Brooke opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
How could she tell Diana MacKenna that the reason she couldn't stay for dinner
was because she was a big chicken? That she couldn't trust herself to be near
Logan because she wanted him entirely too much? And that her heart, even after
all this time, still wasn't ready for him.
    “That's what I thought,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Come
with