A Secret Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Chance Rapids Book 4) Read online

  A Secret Chance

  Chance Rapids Series

  Book 4

  A.J. Wynter

  Copyright

  Copyright 2020 by AJ Wynter - All rights reserved.

  Editor: Theresa Banschbach www.icanedit4u.com

  Cover Design: Kari March

  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.

  Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third party websites or their content.

  All sexual acts within the book are consensual and the characters are 18+.

  Join AJ’s Reader’s Club

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Disclaimer

  Also By A.J. Wynter

  About Secret Chances

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  Deleted Scene

  Sneak Peek: For Richer, For Poorer

  Coming Soon

  Connect with A.J.

  Also By A.J. Wynter

  Chance Rapids Series

  Second Chances

  One More Chance

  Accidental Chances

  A Secret Chance

  Her First Time Series

  The Biker’s Virgin

  The Mountain Man’s Virgin

  The Rancher’s Virgin

  Her First Time Boxed Set

  The Billionaires of Torver Corporation Series

  One Perfect CEO

  One Perfect Boss

  One Perfect Billionaire

  One Perfect Professor

  One Perfect Fake Boyfriend

  About Secret Chances

  HOW DO YOU TELL YOUR one night stand he’s a daddy?

  A second chance with a billionaire?

  Not for me. Nope. No thank you.

  Am I crazy to turn down a man as hot and rich as him?

  Maybe.

  But we can’t be together.

  Not when I’ve kept a secret like this one for the past ten years.

  That night we spent tangled up in the sheets together at the heli skiing lodge changed my life forever.

  Now, the man I thought I’d never see again is sitting across from me at the bargaining table - and it’s my job to destroy him.

  My simple small-town life just got really complicated...

  Chapter 1

  “DO I REALLY HAVE TO go?” Logan yelled from where he was lounging on the sofa with Freddie.

  “Yeah, it’s the third period. It’s almost over.” Freddie pointed to the giant screen TV where the hockey players were on a power play.

  “Yes.” Charlotte and Serena said at the same time. They looked at each other and smiled.

  “She’s my niece,” Charlotte said. She picked up the remote control and shut off the game and the brothers groaned.

  “Hey guys, at least she’s having the party somewhere with a liquor license,” Serena added.

  “It’s still a nine-year old’s birthday party – how wild can it get?” Freddie groaned theatrically as he peeled himself off the sofa.

  “Car’s running, boys.” Charlotte slapped the back of Freddie’s worn sofa and leaned over the back of the sofa to plant a kiss on Logan’s cheek.

  “Alright, alright,” he groaned. Logan pushed himself up from his well-worn spot on the sofa. The sky was clear when the four of them left Freddie’s downtown house, but as they crossed the covered bridge heading toward the ski hill, clouds were rolling in and snow was starting to fall. Charlotte navigated her SUV up the switchbacks of the mountain road. By the time they reached the base of the mountain, tire tracks in the fluffy white powder followed them into the parking lot.

  “How was opening day?” Logan asked.

  The ski resort had just had one of its earliest openings ever; the leaves had barely fallen from the trees when the snow started accumulating on the higher peaks.

  “It was a little patchy up there, but not bad considering it’s November,” Freddie said. Aside from the years he was sidelined with knee injuries, Freddie was always on the mountain on opening day.

  The foursome headed to the chalet and Logan and Freddie stumbled blindly along behind their girlfriends, peering around the elaborately wrapped presents in their arms.

  They were met with a wall of noise as they stepped into the day lodge. Kids were screaming, a piñata swung wildly in the corner, and a frazzled-looking bartender had twenty Shirley Temples, complete with paper umbrellas, lined up on the bar.

  “Thank god you’re here,” Lauren rushed over to them. “They turn into wild animals when they’re in packs like this.” Lauren took one of the boxes from Freddie’s arms.

  “Where would you like the rest of these?” he asked.

  “Follow me,” Lauren replied, and the two men disappeared into the throngs of red-cheeked, snow pants wearing tweens.

  “Want to get a drink?” Charlotte asked.

  “I think we’re going to need one,” Serena replied and the two of them headed to the bar.

  As Logan and Freddie added to the pile of presents, they heard a squeal and turned, and saw that the usually reserved Tabitha had a huge smile on her face. “Uncle Logan, Uncle Freddie,” she bounded over to the brothers and they bent down to hug her.

  “Happy birthday, sweetie,” Logan whispered in her ear.

  “Thanks,” she smiled. “Are you guys going to take a turn at the piñata?”

  “Of course,” Freddie grinned.

  “Good,” Tabitha replied. “We need someone with some actual arm strength to bust it open.” She grabbed Freddie by the hand and led him away.

  Logan turned and Charlotte slid a glass of beer into his hand, her eyebrows raised. “Now aren’t you glad you came?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Logan smiled. “That little hug was worth this...” he paused as he looked around the room, “this, chaos.”

  “I’m so glad you guys are here,” Lauren smiled. “If you think the kids are bad, you should see some of the parents,” she whispered. Lauren had raised Tabitha on her own and was the opposite of a helicopter parent. She didn’t have time to be hovering over her daughter every second. She had spent most of her life either working two jobs or working one job and going to law school full time. She looked over at her daughter, who was giving Freddie instructions on how to whack the unicorn piñata and smiled. She didn’t know if it was luck or the wa
y she was raised, but her daughter was an old soul in a young girl’s body. She was independent and, in many ways, Lauren’s co-pilot in life.

  “Do you need a drink?” Charlotte asked, shoving a martini into Lauren’s hand. “Thanks,” Lauren replied and downed it in one swig.

  “Easy, sis.” Charlotte took the glass from her hand.

  “No time for easy,” Lauren said. She wiped her lip with the back of her hand. “Is Megan here yet? She’s bringing the cake.”

  “What’s the big rush?” Charlotte asked.

  Lauren rolled her eyes. “The half-pipe contest starts at 2:30, and Ethan is up first.”

  “Ah,” Charlotte replied. Ethan was one of the town’s snowboarding stars. He oozed talent, and, provided he didn’t hurt himself, was on the fast track to the Olympic team. “He’s adorable.”

  “You’re not the only one who thinks that,” Lauren laughed. “All the girls have a crush on Ethan.”

  “I can see why,” Charlotte mused.

  Lauren rolled her eyes again. “Cougar.” She smiled and smacked her sister on the arm.

  “Hey,” Charlotte mock rubbed her arm. “I’m just stating the obvious.”

  “Obvious what?” Logan showed up beside them and wrapped his arm around Charlotte’s shoulders.

  “That Ethan Fraser is hot,” Lauren said.

  “Oh, he is,” Logan smiled. The three of them broke out into laughter, which was soon drowned out by deafening screams as the piñata exploded, and candy shrapnel ricocheted around the room.

  They looked over to see Freddie with his arms raised, holding the stick over his head while the kids wildly scrambled around on the floor collecting the candy.

  “Who let the big kid play?” Lauren laughed. She looked around the room, happy with the organized chaos. The party had been weighing on her for months. The case she had been working on had been intense but trying to plan a nine-year old’s birthday party made it look tame in comparison. As much as Lauren didn’t want to, she had Tabitha invite her entire class to the party. Growing up a poor kid from the wrong side of the tracks, she and her sister had been shunned from birthday parties as kids, and she didn’t want to do that to any other kids – even if that meant inviting their horrible parents.

  She saw Josh Johnson’s red wool hat at the entrance door and breathed a sigh of relief. Josh’s wife Megan had promised to make Tabitha’s cake, but Lauren heard that she had been having a rough time with their new colicky baby. Lauren wove through the crowd of sugar-fueled tweens and met Megan and Josh by the door.

  Lauren saw the unicorn cake in Megan’s hands and tears sprang to her eyes. “Hi. It’s perfect,” she gushed.

  “Hi, Lauren,” Megan smiled, her eyes were rimmed in red, dark bags beneath them.

  “Let me take that.” Lauren took the cake from Megan’s hands. “It’s amazing. You are amazing,” Lauren managed to hug Megan with one arm without messing up the frosting on the unicorn’s mane. “How are you doing?” Lauren asked.

  “I’m doing okay,” Megan smiled and started to shrug off her coat.

  “Let me get that for you.” Josh reached to help his wife out of her coat, but she stopped him. “You just make sure that he doesn’t wake up,” she pointed to the bulging baby sling on his chest.

  “He was up all night,” Josh explained, resting his big hand on the back of his sleeping son. “So was Meg.”

  “I remember those days,” Lauren commiserated, but her arms were starting to shake with the weight of the cake. “Look what you have to look forward to,” she laughed and tilted the unicorn’s horn to point at the pandemonium in the day lodge.

  “It’s amazing that he can sleep through this insanity.” Josh rubbed his son’s back gingerly, “But if the damn dog whines, or wags his tail, he wakes up.” Josh looked just as tired as Megan. Those years were over a decade ago, but Lauren remembered them well. She also remembered doing it alone. “You’re lucky to have each other,” she smiled. “Come on in, Charlotte and Serena are here somewhere...”

  Lauren left Josh and Megan in the crowded room and headed into the kitchen. She pulled the candles out of her purse and stabbed them into Megan’s creation.

  “Ooh, Megan’s so good.” Lauren turned to see her sister. “Let me help you with those,” Charlotte said.

  “Thanks.” Lauren shoved the pack of candles at her sister. “I haven’t had time to go to the bathroom all afternoon.”

  Lauren headed out into the hallway and made her way into the women’s bathroom. She flushed the toilet and stood up, pausing to enjoy the solitude of the stall. The main door banged open and she saw two pairs of adult-sized boots walk into the room. She didn’t feel like making small talk with any of the parents, so she paused, hoping to avoid whoever it was.

  Whoever it was didn’t use the stalls. The boots paused in front of the sinks. Lauren heard the water running and then the sound of makeup compacts being opened and closed.

  “A little over the top don’t you think?” voice one, a husky smoker’s voice said.

  “Those girls feel like they have to prove something,” a second, higher-pitched voice said. “But at least the kids are having fun.”

  “Just pisses me off a little,” the husky voice continued. “The way those trash rats come back to town with a little bit of money and then throw it in our faces like this.”

  “I think she just wanted her daughter to have a nice birthday,” voice two replied. Lauren didn’t know who either of the women were, but she was thankful for the kindness of voice two. Growing up as an outcast, Lauren grew a thick skin early in life and the whispers of the women in the bathroom were nothing she hadn’t heard before. She rested against the door, tapping her fingers on her face, waiting for them to finish so she could leave.

  “But, the second voice was quieter now, “Did anyone ever find out who knocked her up?”

  The husky voice cackled, “I don’t think she even knows.”

  “I would die of embarrassment. I mean, people talk.”

  Lauren felt tears stinging her eyes but wiped them away before they could fall down her face. She couldn’t believe the nerve of these women, shit-talking about her in the bathroom of the party she was hosting.

  “Well, they were a family of sluts,” the husky voice continued. “I don’t think that they were picky about dicks.”

  The second voice laughed. “I wonder if the kid will follow in the family tradition.”

  Lauren’s face was burning, she was holding her breath and could feel the rage building inside of her. The rumors from her teenage years hadn’t died, and as much as she knew she couldn’t stop, or change them, they couldn’t have been further from the truth. Yes, she had made a mistake. The first and only mistake in her life, but if she could do it all over again, she would. That mistake had given her the best thing in her life, her daughter. She could handle people talking about her, but there was no way she was going to let these small-town bitches get away with talking about Tabitha.

  She turned and flushed the empty toilet, announcing her presence.

  “Shit, there’s someone in here,” the husky voice whispered. Lauren could hear the zipping of purses and clattering of makeup as the two women tried to make a quick escape, but she wasn’t having it. She burst out of the bathroom stall; her hands balled into fists at her sides.

  “Oh, no,” the second voice gasped. It belonged to Jennifer, the mother of one of the boys in Tabitha’s class. The husky voice, Lauren should’ve known, was Carrie’s. She was the mother of another boy in Tabitha’s class, and younger sister to Stacy, the woman who hated Charlotte and Lauren like it was a sport. Carrie folded her arms in front of her chest, her cheeks red.

  “I’m sorry, Lauren. I-I didn’t know you were in here,” Jennifer stammered.

  Lauren looked to Carrie, waiting for an apology. “Shouldn’t hide in the stalls.” Carrie narrowed her overlined lips, sticky with fresh gloss.

  “You two.” Lauren stepped forward, her voice strained. S
he inhaled deeply and then stepped back. She resisted slapping Carrie across her smug leathery face because that’s the kind of drama she wanted. Lauren refused to lower herself to Carrie’s level.

  “I may have grown up with nothing,” Lauren said through her teeth. “But at least I have something that you two will never, ever have.”

  “And what’s that?” Carrie huffed. “A bastard child?”

  “Class,” Lauren whispered. She held open the bathroom door. “I highly suggest that you collect your kids. Oh, and be sure to think of a good excuse to explain why you’re leaving the best birthday party of the year early.”

  Jennifer’s face was beet red and Lauren could see the tears in her eyes. She was doing what most people in Chance Rapids did. Talk about their ‘friends’ behind their backs, and Lauren knew that she would probably go home and feel bad about the whole thing. Carrie, on the other hand, was a woman who came from a family of bad apples, and she would go home and feel good about herself, proud that she had brought down one of the Bunkman sisters.

  Jennifer scuttled out of the bathroom, staring at the floor. As she left, she whispered, “Sorry.”

  Carrie tilted her hip against the sink, her rhinestone belt jingling against the ceramic counter. “What if I don’t want to leave?”

  “You’re not welcome here.” Lauren crossed her arms across her chest, holding the door open with her back.

  Lauren wasn’t a confrontational person. The only time she’d ever been in a physical fight was with her sister, and it had been over something stupid, like clothes. She worked as a lawyer, but in the courtroom, she had time and experience on her side. She could make anyone crumble on the stand, but she never had to do it with the blood boiling in her veins.

  Lauren’s heart was beating in her throat as she watched Carrie examine her long bubble-gum pink fingernails. She squeezed her eyes tight and imagined slapping the cheap lipstick right off of her face. Carrie bent down and picked up her purse from the bathroom floor and brushed by Lauren. “It was a shitty party anyway.”

  After Lauren watched Carrie strut away in her pleather stiletto boots, she bent over the sink and rested her head in her hands.