Second Chances Read Online Free Page B

floor by the time they accomplished their herculean task.
    "Rose, where do you want this thing?"  Jake called out wondering where she was.
    She stepped out of the kitchen drying her hands on a dish towel. There was a dab of flour on her cheek and wisps of long red hair escaped from her upswept ponytail to curl around her face.  The smell of freshly baked sugar cookies filled the condo.  At the enormity of the tree they’d chosen, she couldn’t hold back her laugh.
    "Goodness gracious, Ryan, did you get the biggest tree they had?"
    "Only the biggest for you, sweetheart."  He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Rose threw the towel at him.
    "Hey!"
    "Jake, take this Neanderthal and his giant tree into the living room.  I’ve got the stand set up by the big window on the other side of the fireplace.  
    "Yes, ma’am."  Jake gave her a mock salute before grabbing the top portion of the tree from the floor where it rested supported against his lower leg.  "You heard the lady, Neanderthal.  To the living room."
    "Shut up, jackass."  Ryan picked up the base of the tree, motioning for Jake to precede him. 
    Supporting the weight of the tree he helped carry, Jake laughed at the sarcasm in Ryan’s remark.  He shifted his end of the tree toward the large bay window at the front of the condo.  The tree stand was right where Rose said it was and between him and Ryan they wrestled the tree into the stand, screwing in the brackets to hold it in place.  Once upright, the tree nearly touched the roof.  They might have to trim it to get the topper attached. 
    Maybe they had gone a little overboard when picking out this particular tree.  Ryan had been a little down in the dumps, so Jake joked and cajoled, picking out the most pathetic and scrawny trees and tried to get him to pick one of those to take home to Rose.
    Ryan finally picked out this monster of a Scotch pine, its dark green boughs full and the shape perfect.  The scent of the forest filled the living space.  The tree sat in the water-filled tree stand, and the branches relaxed, spreading out as the netting that wrapped it was cut loose. 
    "Be careful of those boxes of ornaments."  Rose’s voice carried from the kitchen and both men looked at the mountain of boxes stacked on the sofa and chair.  Even more piles of garland and tinsel were mounded on the floor. 
    "Is she planning to put all of these on this tree?"  Jake looked from the boxes to the tree and back to the boxes.  "No way in hell they’ll all fit."
    "Trust me, they’ll fit.  Somehow she does it every year.  The tree will look amazing by the time she’s finished."  Ryan’s voice filled with pride, his love so apparent for Rose it almost hurt for Jake to hear it.  He wanted something like that for himself, a special someone to make him complete.  He’d come close once . . .
    Rose walked in with a tray in her hands and Jake rushed forward to take it, nudging aside a few of the ornament-filled boxes stacked on the sofa.  When they tumbled to the floor, he gently pushed them aside with his foot and set the tray down on the coffee table.
    "Cookies?  We get to eat cookies early?"  Ryan’s childlike tone had Jake and Rose laughing. 
    "Since you both worked so hard getting the tree for me, I’ll let you have a couple early."  
    Ryan grabbed Rose around the waist, lifted her off her feet and swung her around, then kissed her quickly before snatching up a frosted star with sprinkles across it, shoving the entire thing in his mouth.  Jake reached for a bell-shaped cookie covered with red frosting.  Both men groaned aloud as the sweetness of fresh baked cookies and frosting hit their taste buds and Rose grinned. 
    This is how it should always be for them.   Jake’s thoughts sobered him for a moment and he shook his head at his thoughts.  Ryan had retreated further and further away the last few months, the dreams taking an alarming toll.  He admitted it; he was worried about his