A broken marriage. A fatherless boy. A past that won't let go. When baseball star Mike Connor stumbles across his ex-wife six years after their divorce, he’s stunned to find that she's the mother of a kindergartner who wears his jersey. And shares his last name. The last thing Meg Connor wants is to be around Mike. After all, he was the one who hurt and abandoned her... moreA broken marriage. A fatherless boy. A past that won't let go. When baseball star Mike Connor stumbles across his ex-wife six years after their divorce, he’s stunned to find that she's the mother of a kindergartner who wears his jersey. And shares his last name. The last thing Meg Connor wants is to be around Mike. After all, he was the one who hurt and abandoned her. But she can’t deny him—or their son—time together to build a relationship, which means Mike is around too often, reminding her of why she fell in love with him so long ago. If only she could forget their past… The painful and the good. Between their guilt and closely held hurts, Meg and Mike struggle against each other, their feelings, and God as they fight their own desires for the future, a future that might never happen when the past that tore them apart collides with their present. EXCERPT She glanced over her shoulder at him, face pinched. “Go outside with Terrell,” she said, scrubbing a plate harder than seemed necessary. “I’ll clean up.” “I told him I’d be out in a bit.” Mike set the dishes next to the sink. He leaned backward against the counter. “I missed you last night.” She kept quiet, intent on the dirty dishes. “They put me at a table with some Bears players. Nice guys. Big, though. The mayor was at the next table over. My friend Travis got stuck with a bunch of highbrows, but knowing him, he probably enjoyed it.” She dropped silverware into the water, the clatter a slap to his dying patience. “Felt like I talked to everybody there. People stopped by my table all night.” He gave her a sideways glance, but she didn’t seem to be listening. “Of course, I would have told them to get lost if you’d been there.” Still no reaction. “You can’t be mad at me for this, Meg. I wanted to take you. It stunk going with someone else.” “Didn’t look like it,” she snapped. This woman… “I paid for two tickets. I had to take someone. So stop making judgments based on what you think you’ve seen.” She faced him, her jaw clenched, anger blazing in her eyes. “What I think I’ve seen? What about what I know happened?” “I’m not talking about the past, Meg! I’m talking about last night. You saw… what? Half a second of us with our hands together? I wasn’t holding her hand. She held mine, and I got out of it as fast as I could.” This wasn’t worth it. This was not worth it. If only he liked Sara; then he’d call her back like she wanted. But he didn’t like her. Not that he liked Meg at the moment, either. He bit down on his tongue and forced himself to stay. To wait for her to speak. She rinsed one dish after another, the dishwasher slowly filling. She was gonna drive him crazy. He leaned back to catch her eye and force her to acknowledge him. Her cheeks looked damp. “Are you crying?” “No.” She swiped her cheeks with her wrist. “I splashed water on my face.” He’d never meant to hurt her. At least, not this time. Why were they suddenly so bad for each other? “Meg, you can’t jump to conclusions.” He reached for her shoulder. less
