Second Chances (Fairshore Series Book 1)

by Christina Butrum

  Amelia walked into the kitchen to fill her glass with tea.

  “So, did he say anything about Courtney?”

  “Before he kissed me, he said hi to her. She said hi back. Then he asked me how my day was going. I told him good because Courtney and I were gabbing all day. He asked if we were talking about anything good. Then he said, ‘Maybe this will give you two something to talk about.’ And he kissed me,” Amelia said with a wide-eyed expression.

  “Oh, boy. He’s definitely showing off.” Bailey crossed her legs. “He’s happy he has you.”

  Amelia laughed as she tossed her head back against the couch. “He doesn’t have me! We’ve gone on a few dates. He doesn’t have me. I don’t even know what we are!” Amelia said loudly while tossing her arms up above her head.

  “He has you,” Bailey stated as a matter of fact.

  “How so?”

  “Look at you. It’s written all over your face. If he asked you to be his girlfriend, you would in a heartbeat, and you know it. There’s no denying it.”

  “Ha! Okay, whatever you say.”

  “So, what’d Courtney say about him?”

  “He was cute and it’s every girl’s dream to date him.”

  “You’ve got Prince Charming on your hands.”

  “She said that, too. ‘He’s like Prince Charming in one of those fairy tales.’” Amelia made quotation marks with her fingers. As she said it, she crinkled her nose and showed a bit of jealousy.

  “Do I hear some jealousy in your voice?”

  Amelia sat back against the couch. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “I like him. I admit I got a little jealous when Courtney was telling me about her and the other girls liking him.” Amelia held up a finger to stop Bailey from interrupting her. “Until I realized that he chose me, like you said.”

  Bailey nodded and grinned. “Exactly.”

  “I don’t think I can face Courtney tomorrow.” Amelia stated. Bailey grunted. Amelia explained, “I mean, we became friends. This whole incident probably ruined our friendship.”

  “You’ll never know. If it ruins the friendship, it just means she isn’t mature. You don’t need immature people in your life.”

  Amelia enjoyed these talks with Bailey. Bailey was not afraid to state her opinions. She was not afraid to tell it like it was. She was not afraid to give advice to Amelia when she needed it, either.

  “You’re the bestest friend. Have I told you that lately?”

  Bailey shrugged. “A lot.” She smiled.

  Amelia figured now would be a good time to tell Bailey about the trip back home. “I have days off next week. Do you still want to go with me to Linford?”

  “Of course! What days?”

  “Monday through Friday. Anna gave me Thursday and Friday off as a favor.”

  “Okay, I’ll put in a request for time off. I should be able to get them off. Are you going to ask Zach to come with us?”

  Amelia glanced at the clock. Zach should be at Amelia’s in an hour. “He should be here soon. I’ll ask him when he gets here.”

  “Have you told your parents about the dates with him?”

  Amelia thought about how devastated her mother was when things did not work out with Ryan. She did not want to get her mother’s hopes up for another relationship, just to let her down again. “I don’t want to make my mom go through another failed relationship with me again.”

  “Amelia, that’s what mothers are for. They’re supposed to be your support and guidance throughout your life. They should be there through the good times and the bad.”

  “I know. It just sucked when I told her I failed at the relationship with Ryan.”

  Bailey scowled. “No, you didn’t fail. Ryan failed. He’s the one that failed at the relationship. Not you.”

  Amelia looked away from Bailey. She knew the therapy had helped her, but it had not healed her completely. She still felt guilty, and she took most of the blame.

  Bailey scooted closer to Amelia, and she wrapped her arm around her. “It’s not your fault that the scumbag cheated on you and left you when you needed him the most. I’m sure your mom knows that.”

  Amelia nodded.

  “I better get going. I have some things on my to-do list needing my attention.” She walked into the kitchen and placed her glass in the sink. “Besides, you and Zach will need time alone together.”

  “Okay.” Amelia agreed. She stood up from the couch and hugged Bailey. “I’ll see you tomorrow after work. Wish me luck with Courtney.”

  Bailey walked to the door. As she opened the screen door, she turned and said, “Good luck. Have a good night.” She winked and walked out the door.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zach showed up at Amelia’s house at seven-thirty. He walked to the door and knocked once before he opened the door. Amelia met him at the door. She wrapped her arms around his neck. He stood in the entrance with his innocent boy look, tousled, gel-slicked hair and clean shaved face. He placed his arms around her waist.

  “You look great.” He said as he pecked her forehead with his lips.

  Amelia had put pajamas on shortly after Bailey had left her house. She was not sure how great she looked. She was comfortable so it did not matter. She managed a smile and said, “Thanks.”

  He walked to the couch and bent down to kiss her. “Long day?”

  Amelia wrapped her arms around his neck. “You have no idea.”

  “Courtney didn’t tell you all the secrets about me, did she?” He smirked.

  Amelia rolled her eyes. “Just that every girl wants to be with you.”

  She watched his reaction. He sat down on the couch next to her. He nodded his head slowly. “Yeah…about that.” He shook his head. “I’ve had many girls chasing me the last few years. I don’t know why.” He tried to be humble. He paid no attention to the other girls. “Honestly, I couldn’t care less about them. I usually don’t go on dates. Nor have I really had any serious relationships, except of course, with Crazy Courtney.”

  Amelia nodded. She said nothing. She was not sure what to say.

  “Until you, I couldn’t care less if I was single or not.” He sat so close to Amelia, she could feel the heat from his body. He continued to talk, “The last few weeks have been great. The dates with you have been amazing.” He smiled. His smile showed his bright white teeth. “The only thing I’ve been thinking about lately is you.” He took hold of her hand and ran his thumb across her fingers. “I care I’m single now, and I no longer want to be. I want to be with you.”

  Amelia swallowed hard as she took a drink of her tea. The butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She knew where this conversation was headed. She no longer doubted if she was ready for a relationship. She knew she was. Zach’s everything I could ever want, period, Amelia thought.

  Zach’s eyes locked onto hers. “I want to be in a relationship with you. I know you said you didn’t want to rush. I know you said you’re nervous…”

  Amelia put a finger on his lips. She scooted closer to him. “Shh…” She wrapped her arms around his neck. One hand ran through his hair. She lightly pressed her lips against his. She sat back and looked into his eyes.

  While he kept eye contact, he took her hand in his. “Amelia, I want you to be my girlfriend. I want you to be with me. I want us more than anything. Will you be my girlfriend?”

  Amelia smiled. She liked him, and she was falling in love with him. There was no way to deny it. “Yes, I will. I’d love to be with you.”

  Zach leaned forward and kissed her. His lips were soft, but firm, against hers. She wrapped her arms around him. She did not let go of him until he sat back. Tears filled Amelia’s eyes. As the tears trickled down her cheeks, she quickly wiped them away.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.” Her lips formed a smile.

  “Same goes for you.” Zach touched the end of her nose with his finger, and Amelia giggled.

  “You have no idea.�
�� Amelia grinned.

  “I think I have an idea. You should give me some credit.” He winked.

  “This is all too good to be true.”

  Zach brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “You have nothing to worry about. This is a good thing. I’m not going anywhere.”

  “It’s hard to believe because of my past.”

  “You never told me about it,” Zach stated. He squeezed her hand gently.

  “I will eventually. Just not now.”

  Zach nodded. “Okay.”

  Amelia changed the subject. “Bailey and I are heading to Linford next week.”

  “You are? For what?”

  “To visit my parents and some friends.”

  “That’s good. I’m sure they miss you.”

  Amelia nodded. “Of course. I miss them too.” She took a drink of her tea and looked at him. “Would you like to go with us?”

  Zach ran a hand through his hair. “I’d love to, but I can’t. With my furniture store picking up sales, and my Grandma needing help at her store, I don’t have any time available to take off.”

  A light bulb clicked on in Amelia’s head. “Who’s your Grandma?”

  He looked at her like she was crazy. “You know who my Grandma is, silly. You work for her. Anna’s my Grandma.”

  Amelia smiled. Now it all made sense. How Zach knew she got the job, and why he hugged and kissed Anna on the cheek earlier. “Did you tell her about us?”

  Zach smiled. “Not yet. I figured she already knew or you’d tell her.”

  Amelia laughed. “Ha! I’m not going to tell her. You’ll have to.”

  “Okay. We can tell her tomorrow.” He smiled. “We can tell everyone tomorrow.”

  “It’s a small town. Everyone will find out tomorrow no matter if we tell one person or all of them.”

  Zach smiled and leaned into her for a kiss. She would never be able to get enough of him or his kisses. He kissed her one last time and stood up. “I better get going. I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll stop in and visit you at the grocery store.”

  Amelia smiled. “Okay. See you tomorrow, then.”

  She stood up and hugged him. He kissed her forehead and walked out the front door. She knew she was falling hard for him. It was inevitable. Her fears of a serious relationship had vanished. Zach had made every fear and doubt disappear.

  She sat down on the couch and turned the television on. She only hoped that her fear of her past would vanish too. She knew it was impossible for her past to disappear, but she wished it would not haunt her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Amelia woke up earlier than she had planned to. She showered and got ready for work. After she showered and dressed, she thought about work. She hoped Courtney would not be upset. Amelia had seen the jealousy and the hurt in Courtney’s actions. She remembered watching Courtney from the corner of her eye. She had stood by the counter with her arms crossed, and her facial expression had said it all with a sour distaste.

  Amelia glanced at the clock as she tied her shoes. She still had forty-five minutes until she had to be at the store. She walked out the door and locked it behind her on the way out. She walked over to Bailey’s and knocked on the door. She heard Bella bark, and Bailey told Bella to sit. The door creaked as it opened and Bailey’s face appeared. “Hey, Amelia, come on in.” Bailey opened the door wider and allowed Amelia to walk into the house.

  “Hey, Bai.” Amelia sat down in the chair by the couch.

  “It’s early,” Bailey said, as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

  “I’m sorry. I’m just nervous.” Amelia spun her key ring around her finger.

  Bailey tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Nervous? About what?”

  “Courtney.”

  Bailey sat down on the couch and leaned forward. She placed her elbows on her knees. “Why?”

  Amelia shrugged. “I value friendships. It’s hard for me not to care about others. Her feelings got hurt yesterday. I could see she was hurt behind the jealousy.”

  Bailey shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well. It is what it is. It’ll be what it’ll be. No sense in getting yourself worked up over someone’s crush. No pun intended.” Bailey looked at Amelia and smirked. Amelia sat still in the chair. Her legs were drawn up close to her body. She had her arms wrapped around her knees. “Maybe you should just go to work and see what she says. You never know. She’s still young. Most likely, she has already moved on to another guy and is crushing on him now.”

  Amelia nodded. Bailey was right. It was not good for her to sit and dwell on things that she had no control over. “You’re right. She’s a few years younger than me.”

  Bailey smiled. “See, all of this worrying for nothing. She probably still sees you as a friend. You didn’t do anything to hurt her. Yeah, her crush likes you and he’s going on dates with you, but that’s not your fault.”

  Amelia felt a little better now. She loved talks with Bailey. Everything seemed to improve and dissipate after their talks. She stood up and put her shoes on. “Thanks,” She said as she bent over to pick up her shoes. She walked over to the chair and sat down. She tied her shoes and said, “You’re the best.”

  Bailey grinned. “I try to be.” She walked over and gave Amelia a hug. “Have a good day. You can tell me about it tonight.”

  “Okay. I’m sorry I woke you up,” Amelia apologized as she opened the door.

  “No worries. I’ll go back to sleep in a few minutes.” Bailey smiled. She pointed a finger at Amelia and said, “Oh, and also, you can tell me about what happened last night with Zach.” She wiggled her eyebrows and nudged Amelia with her elbow.

  Amelia blushed and tried to hide it. She hurried out the door and called back to Bailey. “I’ll see you later!”

  When Amelia walked into Anna’s Deli, it was quiet. There were no customers. The store was empty. She walked to the time clock and punched in.

  Nervousness crept over her again. A knot formed in her stomach. The fear of not knowing what would happen increased her anxiety. Amelia had no idea how Courtney would act now.

  “There you are,” A familiar voice said behind Amelia.

  Amelia turned around. Courtney stood behind her with a smile on her face. Amelia relaxed. She let her shoulders fall, and she let out a sigh of relief. Within minutes, her nerves settled down and the knot in her gut had loosened its grip.

  “Hey, Court.” Amelia smiled.

  “Are you ready to help clean?” Courtney grinned while she rubbed her hands together.

  “It’s Thursday, isn’t it?” Amelia crinkled her nose and chuckled. Amelia liked to clean. It made the day go by faster it seemed. She was not as excited as Courtney though.

  “Yep, it is.” Courtney said as she walked away.

  Amelia walked with her to the back room. She opened the cleaning supply closet and wheeled the mop bucket out. Courtney grabbed the Pine-Sol out of the cabinet and poured some into the bucket. Amelia turned on the water faucet and filled the bucket with water. Soap suds and bubbles lined the top of the bucket. They each grabbed a mop and put them into the water to soak. They grabbed a large push broom and swept the aisles.

  Amelia was shocked by how much dirt and grime collected on the floor in only a few days. “It amazes me how much dirt there is on these floors! It looks like we never clean!” Amelia hollered at Courtney, who was an aisle or two over from her.

  Courtney hollered back, “It’s disgusting!”

  Their laughter filled the store. Anna walked down the aisle. She walked to Amelia. “Good morning, girls.”

  “Good morning, Anna.” Amelia said.

  “Good morning!” Courtney hollered over the shelves from the aisle over from where Amelia and Anna stood.

  Anna smiled. “I was going to ask you girls if you two would mind working the checkout today. I have a few errands to run today, and I’ll be out for the rest of the day. Tony said he’d work the meat counter.”

  “I don’t mind working the checko
ut,” Amelia said.

  “Me either,” Courtney said, as she walked around the corner of their aisle.

  “You girls are a blessing. Thank you both so much.”

  Amelia and Courtney smiled and nodded. “No problem, Anna.”

  As Anna walked away, Courtney asked Amelia, “How fast do you think we can mop these aisles?”

  “Pretty fast.”

  “Let’s race the clock. We have twenty minutes before she leaves.”

  Amelia nodded and took off away from Courtney in a sprint to the back room. She grabbed the mop and the bucket, and wheeled it out onto the floor in front of the meat counter.

  Tony, a tall man in his thirties, stood at the meat counter. He chuckled quietly as he watched Courtney and Amelia race each other. “No getting hurt, now.” He called out to them.

  “Shush it, Tony. You’ll jinx me.” Courtney giggled.

  “You don’t need jinxed. You’re clumsy enough without any help.” He clapped his hands and threw his head back as he laughed.

  “Oh whatever, Tony! It’s not funny! I’m not that clumsy,” Courtney clarified. She failed to prove she was not clumsy as she tripped over the mop bucket. She saved herself from the fall as she caught herself on the shelf. The shelf rocked slightly.

  Tony laughed louder. “Don’t knock the shelves over,” he called out to Courtney between laughs. Amelia looked at him. He laughed so hard, he bent over and slapped his thighs. His face was bright red.

  Amelia hollered back to him, “Breathe, Tony! Don’t die!”

  This, of course, did not stop his laughing. His laugh was contagious. Amelia laughed.

  “I’m glad you two think it is funny!” Courtney pouted.

  “We’re not laughing at you! We’re laughing with you.” Amelia said as she laughed.

  Soon Amelia and Courtney had their own fits of giggling. After a while, they finished mopping. Amelia’s cheeks were sore from laughing and her stomach muscles were sore too.

  Courtney and Amelia walked together up front to the checkout counter.

  “I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time,” Amelia said.