The Second Chance Café (Hope Springs, #1) by Alison Kent

of her?
Were
they taking care of her, or was she stuck in a room with five other kids, sharing one big bed and fistfights over toys?
    That’s what had got to him the most. That’s when he’d start imagining her being raised elsewhere, by folks who knew all the things kids needed. Like bedtime stories and stuffed pink puppies, lessons on tying shoelaces and help with a toothbrush and comb and piggyback rides.
    He rubbed at his eyes, smearing the grit from the kitchen that was stinging them. That Luna. Such a sweetheart. He knew why she’d told him. She wanted him to have what Harry did. She adored her father, and her father thought being wrapped around her little finger was the best place to be.
    It wouldn’t happen. No way he and Kaylie could have the same thing. No way, no chance. The past was the past. He’d had four years to be a father and had made a mess of it. Trying to get that back was a fool’s errand, and Mitch Pepper was done with being a fool.
    No matter how badly he ached with the thought of being this close to his girl.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
    M ax Malina was a crusty Brooklynite who’d set up shop in Hope Springs the year Tennessee Keller was born. Ten had probably eaten as much of Max’s cooking as he had of his own, or anyone else’s. Malina’s was open when he was ready for breakfast and when he called it a day. It was only at lunch that he had to fend for himself, which meant most of the time he didn’t bother with more than a protein bar from the stash he kept in his truck. He could see why Kaylie had decided to do something about feeding lunch to Hope Springs. Good call on her part.
    Sitting in a booth near the front door of Malina’s Diner, he sipped from his second cup of coffee and wondered why he was here. To meet Manny, sure. But the rest of it? He’d been in a weird frame of mind when they’d spoken the other day, and not in the mood to hear the other man harsh on Will. That didn’t mean Manny was in the wrong any more than it meant Ten’s intuition about his newest hire would play out. But since he was a big part of Manny’s program, he owed the other man the floor. And an explanation. Just not one that involved what he was feeling for Kaylie.
    “Is it getting to be too much?” Manny asked, sliding into the opposite side of the booth.
    Ten returned his coffee mug to the table and sat back. “Good morning to you, too.”
    Manny signaled to the waitress for his own cup, then leaned forward and scowled fiercely at Ten. “Well?”
    Fine. He could get down to business, too. “What? Giving these guys a job? Why would you think that?”
    “I don’t think that. I’m just asking. Dakota’s been off my caseload for years. And you’ve put in plenty trying to make up for what he did.”
    “That’s not why I do this.”
    “Sure it is. You didn’t go after Robby. Dakota did, and ended up behind bars. The guilt’s still eating you alive. You’ve gotta let it go. You did what you could for your brother. I know you would’ve served his time, too, but the system doesn’t work that way. And I need to know I’m sending my guys into a working situation that’s not going to mess with their already messed-up psyches.”
    Ten didn’t like having his head examined. Especially by a parole officer. “I’m fine. Will’s fine. If you’ve got someone else you need put to work, send him along and he’ll be fine.”
    “Fine.”
    “Fine. Now can we eat? You’ve got to get on the road. And I’ve got a job to get to.”
    “Sure,” Manny said, taking the coffee from their waitress’s hand before she could set the cup on the table. “Tell me about it.”
    “Because you’re interested as a friend? Or because you want to know what Bowman’s up to?”
    “Can it be a little bit of both?” he asked, then smiled as he brought his coffee to his mouth.
    “If it’ll get me out of here faster, sure,” Ten said, grinning as well, then giving his order to their waitress before she