Last Chance Love: a single parent romance Read online

  last chance love

  A CONTEMPORARY SINGLE PARENT ROMANCE

  KL DONN

  contents

  Prologue

  1. EmaLeigh

  2. Sebastian

  3. EmaLeigh

  4. Sebastian

  5. EmaLeigh

  Epilogue

  What to read next?

  About the Author

  Also by KL Donn

  Copyright © 2021 by KL Donn

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover design & Formatting: Alluring Write Productions

  Editor: KA Matthews

  Created with Vellum

  synopsis

  Get ready to warm up this winter in USA Today Bestselling author KL Donn's latest small town holiday romance in the mountains of Alaska.

  Recluse. Mountain man. Loner.

  It’s what everyone has decided I am. I don’t mind.

  I craft furniture in the winter and chop down trees in the summer.

  I live a life of simplicity and until she showed up, I had no idea what I was missing.

  EmaLeigh Ruin is about to turn my world upside down and I ain’t even mad.

  My new mission in life is to make her smile.

  To hear her sigh my name as I’m buried deep inside her body.

  And if her son comes as part of the packaged deal, so be it.

  I was fond of the kid from the start.

  All I need to do is convince my sweet Ema to give love one last chance.

  Or I might lose her forever.

  dedication

  For my Shue family in Alaska, thanks for being amazing!

  Love you guys.

  prologue

  SEBASTIAN

  “Three, two, one!” Jumping into the frigid water for the annual polar plunge in my hometown, Polar Bear, Alaska, the ice anesthetizes my muscles as I remain under for a few more seconds than necessary. As I pop up, hands reach down for me, but I dismiss them as I pull myself out of the freezing cold water.

  Paramedics guide me over to one of the heated tents, where I’m handed a plush towel not quite big enough for my six and a half foot, nearly three-hundred-pound frame. My size is a plus in my line of work but can be a deficit in other aspects of life. As a logger during the summer months in Ketchikan, my size aligns perfectly, allowing me to perform the job of two men when needed. In the winters, I come home to rest and relax.

  Growing up on Bear Mountain with my grandfather, he taught me all about woodworking and craftsmanship, so in the colder winter months, I’m able to keep up with the trade. Building furniture for the residents of Polar Bear as well as across the state keeps those lonely nights at bay and leaves me satisfied in a constructive way.

  “Mr. Cole?” Glancing up, I’m stunned by the beauty smiling down at me. I’ve seen her around before, but I never caught her name. Her blonde hair is nearly white as she shows me the mukluks in her hand. “I made these. Would you like me to put them on you?” My eyes shift to the soft, worn leather adorned with intricate beadwork in blues and whites on the outside and lush wool inside. Nodding my acceptance, I can’t take my eyes off her slight frame as she kneels in front of me.

  The heat of her hand on my calf as she lifts first one leg to slip the shoe on, and then the other goes straight to my groin. My dick begins to engorge in a way I haven’t felt in years. Thirty years old, and I’ve never had a committed relationship in my adult life because no woman has ever captured my attention the way this young lady has.

  “EmaLeigh, let’s go!” an older woman, looking crankier than she has any right to, bellows at the lovely person at my feet, and as she smiles before taking off, regret sours my gut.

  Something about her is tempting me to go after her, to claim her as my own.

  CHAPTER 1

  emaleigh

  A FEW WEEKS LATER.

  Driving the old Suburban up the side of Bear Mountain with a sleeping toddler and angry mother isn’t my idea of fun. A fresh snowfall makes it slightly more challenging because the snowplows haven’t been up this way yet, and Mr. Cole obviously hasn’t made the effort to come down and plow on his own either. Not that he should have to, but he could.

  “You need to hurry up so we can get back to town before nightfall,” Mom instructs.

  “I will.” I don’t mention that it’s only nine, and we have hours of sunlight left.

  Finally seeing the smoke from the house in the distance, I speed up slightly until we’re pulling into the driveway. I’m already nervous about coming here but having my disapproving mother along for the ride makes everything worse.

  “I’ll just be a few minutes,” I tell her as I rummage through my purse for the design I had in mind. Checking that my son, Damien, is still sleeping, I quietly open the door, ready to dash into the traditional barn that I see Mr. Cole working in.

  “You’re not going to leave him here, are you?” Mom questions as she pulls out her knitting bag from between her feet.

  Staring at Damien and then the barn, I respond, “I’ll only be a minute. He’s sleeping; I don’t want to wake him.” Damien has night terrors, so when he finally falls asleep, I always let him. Even when my parents gripe about it.

  “You chose to have him, EmaLeigh; he’s your responsibility, not mine,” she huffs. “Now hurry up and close that door. It’s cold.”

  Grinding my jaw, I get out and shut the door, moving to open Damien’s just as his eyes pop open and he lets out a god-awful howl of fright. “Ssshhh, baby, Mamma’s here.” I can hear birds taking flight as I unbuckle him from his car seat and pull him into my arms as he sobs into my neck, hiding his face.

  “Lord, quiet him down,” I hear my mother mumble. Slamming the door shut, I drop to the snow-covered ground and hold Damien to my chest as tight as I can without hurting him because it’s one of the few things that will calm him down enough to realize he’s safe, and hopefully, talk about what’s scaring him.

  This is one of the reasons I’ve decided we’re leaving Alaska after Christmas. Something here is terrifying him, and I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m hoping a change of scenery, a new life with just the two of us will help him.

  “Everything alright out here?” Looking up, I see Sebastian Cole coming forward, and the air is sucked from my lungs as he gets closer. Mr. Cole is a massive man, probably the largest I’ve ever seen, and right now, he’s shirtless and covered in sweat. Meanwhile, I’m sitting in the snow, soaked from the waist down.

  “Fine. He woke up and didn’t recognize where we were and got scared.” I lie through my teeth. Nobody understands Damien’s night terrors and trying to explain them, especially to a virtual stranger, only upsets us both.

  “You’ll catch a cold on the ground, EmaLeigh.” My body quivers at the way he says my name. Familiar, like a lover’s kiss.

  “So will you without a shirt,” I point out, trying not to stare at his muscular build and wondering what he’d feel like to cuddle up to with all the thick hair on his chest.

  The crooked smirk as he looks down and then back up at us makes my belly flutter. Shaking off the way he continuously makes me feel, I put Damien on his feet and stumble to mine. Damien clings to my legs while wiping his tears away as Sebastian gets closer, stopping only a foot away.

  “What brings you up the mountain?” he finally asks after assessing us. His gaze feels like a wispy caress.

  “Well, I was hoping you could make something for me.”
I point down at Damien’s head to indicate it’s for him. “But I understand if it’s not enough time.”

  “He yours?” I bristle at this question because I’ve spent years defending my choices to what feels like everyone we know. It’s difficult to accept it as an innocent question.

  “Yes.” Pulling my boy’s hat down a little further to distract myself, I’m surprised by Sebastian’s curiosity.

  “How old?”

  “Three in March.” I can feel my son’s head turn a little to stare at the stranger now that he’s calmed down a bit.

  “Can we hurry this along already?” my mother yells out from her window. Her impatience is showing and wearing me down.

  “Maybe this was a mistake. We’ll go. I don’t want to waste your time.” I’m upset because I’d come here to have something made special for Damien so he could take a bit of Alaska with him wherever he goes in life. I should have known I couldn’t succeed with my mom in tow.

  “Ema, wait.” Sebastian’s sizable hand grasping my daintier one stops me in my tracks. It’s like that day at the plunge a few weeks ago. I touched him and nearly melted inside. Opening the driver’s door of my SUV, Sebastian looks my mom dead in the eyes and tells her, “If you’re in such a hurry, take off. I’ll drive them home once Ema’s decided on her design and I’ve got her squared away.” Her mouth hangs open, and if not for the fire in her eyes, I’d laugh, but I know I’ll take a verbal lashing for his words later. “Anything you two need from in here?” Opening the back door, I grab Damien’s comfort bag and my purse and step back.

  “Don’t forget about this.” Sebastian quickly grabs Damien’s car seat before stepping out of my mother’s way.

  “Fine. Don’t expect me to come back up here to get you,” Mom snaps as she climbs out of her side and around the hood. Slamming the door behind her, she speeds out of the driveway like her ass is on fire.

  “Lovely lady,” Sebastian comments, and I bite my lip.

  “That’s my mother for you.” It dawns on me that we’re stranded here, and I don’t even know this man. Until this year’s polar plunge, I don’t think I’d ever seen him before. I know his name, of course, given that his artisanship is unmatched in the area, but otherwise, I know nothing about him. “You’re not going to kill me and bury my body behind the barn, are you?”

  I can feel him staring at me, but he doesn’t say anything. With a cross between a growl and a huff, he begins walking back to the barn, leaving us to either follow or start hiking down the mountain. “Cold, Mamma.” Damien pulls on my jacket. He’s not the most verbal child, so when he speaks, I listen.

  Slipping his bag over my head and my purse on my shoulder, I pick him up and go after Sebastian. Entering the barn, it feels bigger than it looks. With both front doors spread wide open, it’s warmer than I would have imagined too. Several types of wood lean against one wall, crafter furniture covered with clear tarps sits against another, and in the middle is the machinery and instruments he uses to work.

  A traditional totem is used as a support pole up to the roof, and I’m immediately awestruck by his talent. “Did you do this?” I nod at the pillar.

  “My grandfather and I did it together when I was a teenager. Before he got sick.” A nostalgic look enters his eyes, and I envy him that. To have a fond memory about family.

  Mine are all filled with bitterness and hatred. My parents aren’t the nicest people, and when I turned up pregnant with Damien at seventeen, they weren’t pleased and tried to force me into an abortion three times. Thankfully, the doctors they took me to had morals and refused to do the procedure unless I consented.

  When Damien’s father explained he wasn’t ready to be a parent and wanted to live life first, I was angry and spiteful. I wanted to toss him into the nearest lake. But after some space and time, I understood. At least, he wasn’t trying to talk me into doing something I didn’t want. He didn’t try to tell me that the baby wasn’t his. He just wanted me to understand his position in life.

  He was the only one who was honest with me, and he stayed through the pregnancy as a support system that I didn’t have at home. I left his name off the birth certificate, and he signed over his rights right after the baby was born. He met Damien just that once at the hospital after I gave birth, but otherwise, he’s never laid eyes on him.

  When Clayton left for college, he promised he’d send money when he could. I told him he didn’t have to, but he knew what life was like at home. And like clockwork, every month, he has sent us a little bit of money to help with things that Damien is continually growing out of. We decided that I wouldn’t send pictures and he wouldn’t ask for them, neither of us wanting the guilt of a forced relationship between the two of them, and for now, it’s what’s best. I can only hope I’m making the correct choices.

  “EmaLeigh?” Startled by my name, my eyes focus on Sebastian as he sits at a drafting table. “You want to tell me what it is you were wanting?”

  Nodding, I put Damien on his feet again, but he doesn’t let me go and walks with me as I move forward to give the drawing to Sebastian. My lips twitch as his eyes roam over the paper. “This is nice work. You draw this?” I shrug when he looks up. “Why don’t you two come sit?” Pulling out stools for us, he waves us over, but Damien refuses to budge, and my anxiety begins to climb when I fear Sebastien will get annoyed with the only man in my life that’s never let me down.

  Sebastian

  Someone has done a fucking number on these two. I’ve not been able to stop thinking about EmaLeigh since she put those ridiculous mukluks on my feet. Her soft hand against my roughened body has kept my dick hard as a rock for weeks. Having her show up today, with a damn kid in tow, was shocking, but not enough to scare me away.

  Offspring isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but she’s already got one foot out the door. It’s going to take convincing her that I want them both to get her to stay. I’ve always liked a challenge.

  “What’s his name?” I nod at the boy who won’t let her go. Christ, when he let that scream rip, I thought someone was out there slaughtering them. Her excuse about not recognizing his surrounding was a lie I let go of. When she’s ready, she’ll tell me more. Though, if I had to guess, it had more to do with the wretched mother who was so eager to leave.

  “Damien.” She rubs a loving hand over her son’s head.

  Opening a drawer in my drafting table, I pull out a miniature totem I carved before I left in the spring and offer it to him. “Do you like bears, Damien?” His eyes don’t leave the stunning woman at his side. Even when she nods, he won’t reach out for it or acknowledge my existence.

  “I’m sorry, new people make him nervous. Add in unfamiliar surroundings, and it’s a domino effect.” I can hear the tears in her voice, but I suspect it has nothing to do with her son and everything to do with the way people react to him.

  “Nothing to be sorry for.” I hand her the item. “When he’s interested, you can give it to him. He doesn’t know me from Adam. No reason he should treat me like a long-lost friend.”

  “Thank you.” Her voice cracks as she tries to hide her emotions.

  Nodding, I let the interaction go because I can see she’s bothered by something. Glancing back over the drawing she gave me, I wasn’t kidding when I told her this was good. She’s got an artistic talent brewing inside of her. “This for him?” I look down to see he’s loosened his hold on her leg some but not completely. She nods. “You want these carved in?” I trace the mountains and trees with a finger as she nods again. The clock will be a talked-about piece, and not because of my handiwork, but because of the details she’s included in it. “How big do you want it?” Small isn't an option with the moon and stars and small woodland creatures.

  “I was sort of hoping you’d advise me on that. I don’t know anything other than drawing. You’re the wood expert.” Quirking a brow at her choice of words, her ruddy blush suggests she knows what she said, and it wasn’t intended.

  “I think, in
this case, bigger is better. Christmas gift?” Placing the paper down, I give her my full attention.

  “Yes. We’re moving in January, and I wanted him to have something to remember home by. The mountains are his favorite place.” The deep-seated sadness hanging on her shoulders can be felt around the room.

  “Where you moving to?” The boy has caught my attention as he steps away from Ema a bit, still holding onto her pant leg with an iron fist.

  “Washington.” My gaze flies up to meet hers.

  She’s leaving after I just found her. I don’t know if I can let that happen. There’s something special about this girl, and I have the distinct feeling that nobody in her life sees it. Not the way I do.

  “Kind of far.”

  “Yeah.” She doesn’t offer more. And I don’t push. Not yet. There will be time for that later. After I’ve convinced her to confide in me. To trust me.

  “Mamma, hunggy.” Damien’s soft voice has her dropping to her knees next to him and digging through one of the bags she brought with her. Offering him two different options, he pulls open the bag to look for something else. When he doesn’t see it, tears well in his bright blue eyes as he stares up at the woman he obviously worships. “’Nana?”

  “I’m sorry, baby, I don’t have one.” Their interaction is so innocent that when I see her eyes gather tears, I feel a clench in my chest to protect these two from everything hurtful in the world.

  “I have bananas.” Assuming that’s what he wants.

  Her shoulders drop, and I can see she’s struggling to accept my offer. When Damien grasps one of the bags in her hand and slowly walks over to me, he offers the bag of crackers while asking, “’Nana?”