Always My Hero Read Free

couldn’t go anywhere without a slap on the back, well wishes, and lots of “We’re so proud of you, son.” He had to admit that it was a pretty heady feeling. That last summer before college was the best of his life.
    And then he’d failed them. In one day, one freak accident, he’d blown his chances of a career in pro football. Oh, the people of Scallop Shores were too polite to say anything. They had put him up on a pedestal, and there he would stay. Instead of coming home a champ, he was coming home a chump. Well, an accountant, but really, for someone who was supposed to be the town football hero, what was the difference?
    “I’ll take Wes around tomorrow, show him my old stomping grounds.”
    Wesley, the one thing in his adult life that he was supremely proud of. Maybe folks would be so distracted by his son that no one would want to rehash his glory days.

Chapter 2
    It couldn’t have been more than fifteen degrees as Bree and Foster shuffled down the deserted business district in Port Kitt. Her breath came out in great plumes of icy vapor and she could no longer feel her nose. She’d dressed for a dinner date, not the outdoors, and pantyhose did nothing for the winter chill. Her feet and legs were screaming at her.
    They had eaten at Molly Malone’s, and as it was still early in the evening, decided to do a little window shopping. Hugging her arms around her middle, Bree stamped her feet while they paused in front of an art studio to study the portrait in the window.
    “Here, let me help.”
    Foster pulled off one of his gloves and one of her mittens. Wrapping her hand in his, he stuffed them both inside his coat pocket. It was a sweet gesture and she smiled up at him shyly. He returned the smile, those deep divots in his cheeks popping out in stark relief against his smooth skin. Bree waited. His thumb pressed a rhythmic circle into her palm. She should be feeling a bit breathless by now, right? Maybe it was just the bitter January night.
    “Thanks, but I really think it’s just too cold to be out and about tonight. How about we head back to my place for some hot cocoa?”
    “Sounds good to me.” He gave her hand a squeeze.
    Too late, Bree worried that she might be giving Foster the wrong message. She hoped he understood cocoa meant cocoa. It wasn’t code for “please spend the night and see how I look wearing your shirt as I cook breakfast in the morning.”
    On the way back to her place, she silently applauded the genius who invented heated car seats. Oh, happy bottom! She’d assumed that Foster’s parents were pretty well off, having such a successful restaurant in the harbor. But these luxurious leather seats and the satellite radio station tuned to soft jazz, not to mention the seat warmers and other fancy gadgets in this pricey hybrid, told her Foster wasn’t doing too bad for himself, either.
    They were both silent during the twenty minute drive, and though that could have been construed as a little awkward, Bree was relieved to have a moment to herself to reflect. She leaned her head back against the headrest and tried to think positively.
    She had been a busy beaver that week following the wedding, and should be patting herself on the back. It looked like fate was giving her a little nudge out of the starting gate. Just for kicks, she had stopped to check out the community bulletin board on her way in for her morning coffee at Cady’s Dream on Monday.
    The first step toward a happy ever after was to get out of her mother’s house and start living her own life, in her own place. Ever since her stepfather had died, Bree had been more of a second parent to her little brothers than a sister. She told herself she was needed. But it was really an excuse to keep from dealing with her own issues. Sam, Perry, and Theo kept her so busy she barely had time to dwell on the pain she was hiding.
    There was an ad for a duplex not too far from the library. Fully furnished and for less than she was