Second Chance Family - Cindy Kirk Page 0,1

time with Janae and her family.

When it came time for her to leave, Charlie had wrapped his arms around her and given her a kiss. Looping an arm around his waist, Margaret had teased Janae that she was taking him with her. But, as always, she’d left Wyoming alone, single seat on the aisle.

“They’re ginormous.” Charlie whirled around, his eyes wide with awe.

“Super big,” Margaret agreed then sighed when he turned back to the aquarium. She’d once hoped to have a husband to love and a child like Charlie to cherish. But she was already in her early thirties and that dream was looking less likely with each passing year.

As a physical therapist who dealt primarily with stroke patients, Margaret didn’t have much opportunity to meet eligible men at work. And she’d never been one for the bar scene. To complicate matters, most of her friends were married. Of course, she reminded herself, if she’d been willing to exchange vows with a man she liked and respected but wasn’t madly in love with, she’d be married, too.

But last year, after much soul-searching, she broke it off with her fiancé. She hadn’t regretted her decision. Okay, maybe a couple of times on dark, lonely nights when she remembered how good he’d been to her and feared she’d simply been expecting too much. After all, they’d gotten along well and had fun when they were together. Did “madly in love” really have to be part of the equation?

She’d wondered.

Then she’d run into him and his new girlfriend a couple of weeks ago. The way they looked at each other told her she’d been right to call off the wedding. Not only for her sake but for his. Everyone deserved to be loved with such passion.

“Me an’ my dad used to go fishing,” Charlie said, gazing at the tank. “Mommy would sometimes come, too. But Daddy had to put the worm on the hook for her.”

“That was nice of him.” Lexi said. “You had a nice daddy.”

Having Lexi overseeing Charlie’s case felt almost like having a family member involved. When the attractive social worker with the sleek brown bob had introduced herself, she’d mentioned she was a good friend of Margaret’s older brother, Travis, a local ob-gyn.

Margaret knew Travis and his wife, Mary Karen, had a group of close-knit friends. Like Lexi, all were married with children. Margaret sighed. Sometimes it felt as if everyone had the life she wanted…except her.

“Have you seen the will?” Lexi asked in a low tone, leaning over the arm of her chair.

Margaret shook her head. “But I have a good idea what’s in it.”

At the funeral, when Ryan asked her to come to his office for the reading, she hadn’t been surprised by the request. Last year, when one of their high school classmates had died of cancer, Janae had broached the subject of Margaret raising Charlie if anything should happen to her and Ty. She’d been flattered but wondered why Janae wouldn’t want her child raised by family.

Janae had informed her she’d already approached her parents. Apparently they’d stammered and offered a whole litany of excuses—they’d retired to Florida because of Larry’s health, the gated community they’d settled into didn’t allow children, it would be best for Charlie to remain in familiar surroundings....

Margaret’s heart had ached for her friend. All these years Janae had been right. She’d always insisted that her parents really had only one child—her brother—and that she wasn’t that important to them.

Ty’s own family situation wasn’t much better. He’d been estranged from them for years. They’d sent a small plant for the memorial service.

“Charlie, honey, don’t press so hard against the glass,” Lexi called out to the boy but made no move to get up.

With an older child and a busy toddler at home, this was probably the only chance the social worker had to rest. Margaret stifled a smile and rose to her feet. She crossed the room, her heels clicking loudly on the hardwood. Normally she favored more comfortable clothing than the silver-blue suit and certainly more sensible footwear than high heels. But this had seemed an appropriate day to forgo comfort for something more stylish and businesslike.

She crouched down beside the boy, who had his nose pressed against the aquarium glass. “Which one do you like best?”

“The yellow one.” Charlie pointed to a large silver angelfish with a blanket of gold over the head and back.

“It’s very pretty.” Margaret resisted the urge to brush the tousle of chocolate-brown hair back