Second Down Scrooge Excerpt

“Hey. It’s me.”
My chest tightens as I hear his voice. It shouldn’t tighten. I should be past all this by now, ready to move on with some hot new hunk.
I’m not ready, and I wish I knew why he’s calling me at work rather than on my phone.
“Why didn’t you just call my phone?” I ask. It’s throwing me off to be on my office line with him.
“I did. It went to voicemail.”
I glance at my desk as I look for my phone, and I don’t even see it. I have Christmas music playing while I work on a set of wreaths to hang up in the shop, and I have little faux cookies and cakes scattered all over my desk. I decorated those with red and green paint yesterday, and I’m hot-gluing them on the wreaths today.
I move some red and green ribbon, and voila…there’s the phone.
I pick it up and spot the missed call.
“Sorry,” I mutter. “I’m in the middle of something. What do you need?”
“I can’t do next Tuesday with Mia.” He sounds apologetic, and it’s rare he misses time with our daughter, but that doesn’t make the feeling of being let down any less brutal. “I got invited to this charity thing, and the entire coaching staff will be there, so I need to make sure to put in my time. Can I make it up to you by spending some time with her after practice on Friday?” he asks.
“That’s fine.” I yank on some of the mesh that looks crooked. “I guess I’ll see you then.”
“Are you ready to give this another chance yet?” he asks.
I chuckle. He ends pretty much every conversation the same way.
“Not yet,” I say lightly.

Coming December 3rd!