Second Chance Christmas (The Colorado Cades) by Tanya Michaels

the bakery and florist without a six-year-old underfoot, but... Was Steven avoiding the little girl? He sometimes seemed to be at a loss for what to say to her, which she understood. He was an only child without a lot of experience with kids. But if they were going to be married, he couldn’t avoid Elisabeth’s daughter forever.
    That wasn’t a discussion for the lobby of Arden’s studio, however.
    “Thank you,” she told Justin. “You’ve made her day. Again.”
    “I’m glad. I’ve always liked her.” He watched fondly as Kaylee executed happy twirls around the reception area, her blue-and-green plaid skirt billowing out over her leggings. “It was horrible what she and her mother went through. Not that I met Michelle, but I’ve seen what cancer does. And when Kaylee moved here...”
    She waited, curious what he would say.
    “Never mind. You should be getting ready for your close-up, not wasting time with me.”
    She retreated to check her makeup and straighten Kaylee’s blue hair bow, but his casual words stayed with her. He’d said “wasting time.” There had been a point after their breakup when she’d wondered if the months with him had been a waste. Why had she invested so much in a relationship that a more intelligent woman might have seen was doomed from their first date? Yet, she didn’t think she’d ever truly loved a man until Justin. There’d been crushes, of course, and boyfriends about whom she’d cared deeply. But he had been different. Before him, she’d never once rolled over in the morning and thought, That’s the face I want to wake up to for the rest of my life . Even though their relationship hadn’t worked out, maybe he’d opened her up to new possibilities, new depths of feeling.
    Her time with Justin had been many things—unexpected, adventurous, infuriating, arousing and ultimately wrenching. But it hadn’t been a waste.
    * * *
    J USTIN FOUND HIMSELF half wishing that baby Hope would wake up and cry. At least then, he could walk with her, patting her back and feeling useful. While she slept peacefully in the carrier, he had nothing to do but watch and wait. He looked on while Arden and Elisabeth admired each other’s engagement rings, and he had a surreal moment where it felt as if everyone around him were getting married. In reality, he only knew of the two couples, but since he was in the room with one and a half of those couples, it still left him strangely isolated.
    Then Arden got the trio arranged in front of a formal background, and Justin had to admit the future Miller family looked good together. They’d color-coordinated in a way that was unifying but not so identical that it created a disturbing Stepford effect. Steven’s tie was the same color blue as the sweater beneath Elisabeth’s blazer, highlighting the blue in Kaylee’s print dress. Justin had to glance away. The tableau they made, smiling and nestled together, was too much. Too taunting, too treacherous.
    Looking at them would beguile most anyone into daydreams about white picket fences and silver anniversaries, but that wasn’t the whole story, was it? He remembered quite well how happy his parents had looked together. And how losing Rebecca Cade had devastated his father. As far as Justin was concerned, the man had died of a broken heart. After Rebecca’s death, Justin’s dad sank into depression and a series of seemingly unrelated maladies until his heart failed. For the final years of his life, the man had been more a ghost of himself than an actual father. And now there was Colin....
    Justin couldn’t imagine the hell Colin had endured when he lost his wife and young son; he only knew that since then, his brother had gone renegade. He’d given up his job, his home and all but a few remaining ties to his brother and sister. Thinking of how different Colin had become, how bitter, Justin forced himself to look back at Elisabeth. Despite the smiles beaming at the camera, was there anything on