Second Chance (A Secret Baby Romance Novel)

by Carter, Charity

  “No, it’s not a problem. I guess I just misunderstood. Well, I guess I’ll let you get back to waiting for your package. Just give me a call when he’s ready to come home.”

  “No, you don’t have to go. The package that I was waiting for arrived already.”

  “Wow that was fast.”

  “Yeah. Since I don’t have to wait around here anymore, why don’t the two of us grab something to eat and see a movie later?”

  “You want to take me out to eat and to a movie?”

  “Sure do. You don’t even have to worry about CJ. When I told my parents that CJ told me he was my son, you should have heard how happy they were. They can’t wait to spend time with him.

  They’ll be going over to Jeremy’s later to see him. Now that she can say whatever she wants in public, my mom can’t wait to go around bragging about her grandson.”

  I knew things were going to be changing, but I had no clue things would change as fast as they were. Not only had CJ’s relationship with his father changed, but my relationship with Chance was going to change as well.

  He wouldn’t have to go around acting like he was interested in me just to spend time with CJ. I had a feeling that he wanted to take me to dinner and a move as a way to put the final touches on our whole scheme.

  “So what do you say?” he asked, interrupting my train of thought.

  “Sure, I’d love to,” I said, realizing that it was probably going to be the final time he and I were out together.

  * * *

  The movie he took me to see was hilarious. After ten years, he still remembered that my favorite actress was Reese Witherspoon.

  He didn’t even have to ask me what I wanted to see. He just strolled up to the ticket booth and confidently bought our tickets, knowing I’d like it.

  After the movie, he took me to a new restaurant that everyone around town had been raving about. It was a small Italian place, and the atmosphere was very romantic, almost to the point that I started to feel like I was out on an actual date.

  I kept checking my watch, worrying that CJ was going to wear out his welcome with Chance’s family, but he told me to stop worrying about it.

  He said his parents and brothers wanted a chance to bond with their grandson and nephew. He assured me they would call if we needed to pick him up for some reason.

  We made a lot of small talk as we drank some of the best white wine I’d ever tasted. He asked me about my job, but there wasn’t really a whole lot to tell. It was a different story when I asked about his.

  “After your run-ins with juvenile officers when you were a kid, what made you decide to become a juvenile officer yourself?” I asked him.

  “When I was in the detention center, I looked around at all the people I was in there with. I was surrounded by kids who were there for dealing drugs and all kinds of things. There was even one kid who was in there for murder. When he turned 18, he was going to be transferred to an adult prison. He’d never see the outside of prison gates again. It really made me think about what I was doing with my life. I expected to come out and tell you I was changing my ways, but you were already gone. I decided that I wanted to try to make a difference to kids and maybe keep them from going down that path, so I became a juvenile officer.”

  “That’s a great reason.”

  “Yeah, but that’s not all. I didn’t just want to be an officer. I wanted to be someone kids could come to if they needed someone to talk to. I wanted to be a role model for these kids, so I made sure to stay as active as I can in the community. There're kids out there that were on the same path I was, and I was able to get them turned in the right direction. It’s rewarding.”

  I could tell that he meant every word he was saying. I’d seen it for myself with CJ. The biggest reason we came back to Kansas City was that I feared he was heading down that path. I’m happy to say that Chance seemed to have him moving in the right direction. I looked down at my watch and saw that it was nearly 10:00 pm.

  “Chance, don’t you think we should go get CJ? It really is getting late.”

  “Yeah, we probably should. We’ll go together. Let’s go get our boy.”

  * * *

  Autumn has always been my favorite season, but it was never the same in Minnesota as it was in Missouri. Fall was always cold up north.

  Now that I was back home, it was nice to put on a sweater and a pair of sweatpants while I sat in a chair on my front porch and watched the leaves change colors. Of course, all of the pumpkin spiced flavored coffees didn’t hurt either.

  It had been almost a month since CJ had told Chance that he was his father, and I was taking a break from my normal life to sit outside, appreciate nature and think about a lot of things.

  Chance had come over every single evening to spend time with his son. He didn’t miss one night. While he gave our son lots of attention when he was there, he wasn’t the only person getting attention. He was also paying a lot of attention to me.

  Much to my surprise, Chance kept asking me out to dinner and movies. He asked me to events that he and his friends were attending. I constantly shut him down.

  I was trying to get a grasp on my own feelings and being around him all the time wasn’t helping. Each time I thought I was successful at putting a little bit of space between us, he moved right in and erased it.

  Every Friday, a new bouquet of flowers arrived at my door like clockwork. Each one included a card that said he was thinking of me. One day, I decided to ask him what he was up to.

  “Chance, why do you keep sending these flowers to me every week?”

  “I send them because I like to. Like the cards say, I think about you and sending you flowers is how I like letting you know.”

  I thought his reply was sweet, but I was still hesitant to see what was right before my eyes. Instead, I kept trying to convince myself that he was just being nice because I was the mother of his son and that he wanted us to get along and have a good, friendly relationship for the sake of our child.

  What confused me more than anything else was the fact that our late nights behind the back yard came to an end with no warning on the night he took me out to dinner and a movie.

  He never said why he stopped coming by. He didn’t even mention it. I sure as hell wasn’t going to bring it up. I had way too much pride for that.

  Every day, he came by as soon as he got off work and each day, I invited him to stay for dinner, which he always agreed to do. I still saw him on a daily basis and still spent time with him alone after CJ went to bed.

  We’d sit out on the front porch, and he’d ask me about my day, and I’d ask about his. These talks had become a regular thing, and I enjoyed them even more than our late night rendezvous.

  As I sat there watching an orange leaf fall off a tree and float slowly to the ground, I thought about CJ. He was a completely different kid now that his dad was in his life. The love that his father had for him showed, and he gave the love right back to him.

  In fact, the entire Sparks family was giving him as much love as they could. His normally dark attitude had been replaced by a lighter, happier one.

  He was always smiling and upbeat. His grades improved drastically, and he enjoyed going to school for the first time in as long as I remember. I knew that coming back to Kansas City had definitely been the correct thing to do.

  It was getting dark, and I was tired after a long day so I stood up off the step and went inside to get ready for bed. Chance had left early that night, saying he had a mountain of paperwork at the station that couldn’t wait until the next day.

  Before he left, he grabbed me and kissed me as hard and deep as he’d ever kissed me, but he kept his hands to himself.

  That kiss was different. Even though he hadn’t touched me, there was a feeling of love and emotion in the kiss. I knew that he wanted me and that he was fighting his emotions just as much as I was fighting mine.

  Of course, all that did was make things even more confusing for me. I knew why
I was fighting my emotions. I didn’t want to get hurt again. Why was he fighting his?

  That was on my mind for the rest of the night. I thought about it while I was getting ready for bed. Why had Chance ended all of the physical contact between the two of us? Did he think things had been more serious than they actually were?

  As I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep, I came to the realization that if Chance wasn’t going to show up at our secret spot behind the back yard, he’d surely be there when I dreamed.

  The next morning, I decided to go to the diner with CJ since he was off school and I had the day off work. We were only there for a few minutes when one of the waitresses came up and started talking to me.

  “Hey, I don’t mean to intrude, but how are you and Officer Sparks doing?”

  “Excuse me?” I asked, caught completely off guard by the question.

  “You and Officer Sparks. How’s that whole thing going? Everybody that comes in here talks about it, but we never see him in here anymore. I figured you’re the next best person to ask. The whole town is curious.”

  “Do you mean they’re talking about Chance and CJ?”

  “No honey, that’s already old news. Hell, everyone knew that boy was his kid from the time he arrived here. Chance was the only one who didn’t know for the longest time. They’re definitely talking about the two of you.”

  “Why are people talking about us?”

  “Girl, everyone in town can see how hard he is working to trying to win you back. That man is head over heels for you. Has it worked yet? Are ya’ll a couple?”

  I grinned at the thought. “Why do people think he’s trying to win me back? What are people saying? This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

  “You can’t be that blind, can you sweetie? Every dang girl around here is jealous of you because you’ve been able to tame that man. Trust me, his heart beats for you and you alone. If you don’t see it, you might want to wake up before it’s too late.”

  “I’m really sorry, but I think you’re reading something wrong.”

  “No,” she said in a sharp tone. “There’s no mistaking this one.”

  “Maybe you can explain it to me then. I’m not sure what everyone thinks he’s doing to try to win me over. I see the man every day, and he isn’t doing anything different.”

  “Oh please, there’s a rumor going around that’s he’s sending you flowers on a weekly basis. What kind of man does that for no reason? You also have a neighbor across the street that said he leaves your house at a decent time every night, meaning he isn’t just stopping by for one thing. Someone said he’s doing that to protect your reputation, and so the neighbors won’t have something to gossip about.”

  “That’s all true, but none of that really means anything.”

  “Oh sweetie, you have no idea how wrong you are. Do you know how many women out there would kill for a man willing to do thoughtful things like that? Things like that mean everything in the world, especially when it comes to someone like Chance.”

  “What does that mean? A man like Chance?”

  “Everybody knows that man has always been a womanizer. He’s gone through one woman after another, never getting serious about a single one of them. Even with that knowledge, women were still willing to throw themselves at him. Ever since you came back into town, things have been different. The girls who have thrown themselves at him are still there, but he doesn’t even notice them anymore. He only has eyes for you. He’s in love with you. Everything he’s doing is to try to get you back. A bunch of us are getting a kick out of the fact that you’re making it hard for him.”

  I couldn’t believe that everyone around town thought I was playing hard to get. I had been too naive to even realize he’d been trying to get me back.

  Did this waitress even know what she was talking about? Was Chance really doing everything in an attempt to get me back after so long apart? I wanted to ask her these things, but I knew I’d only get opinion and here say.

  There was only one person who knew for sure and that was Chance. I figured the best thing to do was to go right to him and ask him myself.

  * * *

  Chance

  It was storming so hard outside that it was interrupting my satellite television signal. I had been lying on the couch and flipping through the channels. I was trying to get my mind off of Latrice.

  I already thought about her a lot, but knowing that CJ was spending the weekend with one of his school friends while Latrice was going to be sitting alone made going over there much too tempting.

  It had been well over a month since the last time she and I had been intimate, and I was wondering how long I was going to be able to hold out.

  There was no question that I wanted Latrice badly. It wasn’t easy to make the decision to stop going over there at night, but it was the only thing I could think to do to show her that I wanted more from her than just sex, even if it is the best sex I’d ever had. I wanted her to know that I truly cared about her.

  Ever since CJ and I went camping, I’ve done everything I could think of to show her that I was the man for her and find some way to get myself back into her heart.

  The problem was that I wasn’t sure whether or not my plan was working. There were too many mixed signals. I had no clue where I stood with her.

  The unexpected sound of my doorbell ringing got me up off the couch. I wasn’t expecting any company, and I don’t really know anyone who drops in unexpectedly.

  It was getting close to dinnertime, and I’d been making a big pot of soup so it wouldn’t surprise me if it were one of my brothers coming by to score some grub.

  I opened the door, ready to greet whoever it was with a smart ass comment, but stopped dead in my tracks when I saw that it wasn’t one of my brothers. Latrice was standing right in front of me.

  “Hey Latrice,” I said, wondering what had made her decide to show up at my house unannounced, not that I minded in the slightest.

  “Hi, Chance. Is this a good time? I wanted to talk to you about something.”

  “Sure, I was just watching television while I wait for the soup in the crock pot to be done. Come on in.”

  I looked her up and down as she walked past me and made her way into the living room. She was wearing an old pair of jeans and a hoodie that was a couple sizes too big for her, but she looked beautiful.

  I closed the door behind her and turned to see that she’d already made herself comfortable on the couch. I liked the looks of it. It looked like she belonged in the house.

  “The soup is just about ready. Would you like a bowl? It’s vegetable beef.”

  “That’s okay, I’m not really hungry right now. Thanks anyway.”

  As much as I wanted to sit as close to her as possible, I could tell that she wanted to talk to me about something important, so I sat in the recliner so I could look at her while she talked to me.”

  “So what’s going on?”

  “Well,” she said as she took a deep breath. “I decided to go to the diner today because I didn’t feel like cooking since it’s only me at the house. While I was there, I had a nice chat with that older waitress.”

  I nodded at her to show I was listening, but I had absolutely no clue where the conversation was going.

  “During our conversation,” she continued. “She mentioned something that I am having a hard time believing. I was just going to chalk it up to typical gossip, but it seems to be the consensus around town that what she was saying is true.”

  Latrice appeared to be nervous as she looked down at her fidgeting hands. “What was it? What did she say?”

  Seconds ticked off the clock, and Latrice wasn’t replying to my question. I’d never seen her like that. She’d never been one who was afraid to ask questions, regardless of who she was talking to. She certainly was never afraid to ask me anything.

  Sensing that she wasn’t going to say another word, I stood up from the recliner and sat down next to her on the couch. “Latr
ice, what’s this all about?”

  * * *

  My throat felt parched as I swallowed deep, trying to build up the courage to confront Chance with what I was told. It didn’t help that he had come and sat so close to me.

  With every breath I took, I inhaled his scent. I knew the time had come to just come out and ask him, but it was proving to be much more difficult than I’d anticipated. I decided it might be better if I tried to make a joke out of it.

  “I don’t know why they think this, but everyone thinks you’re trying to court me.”

  “Court you? What does that mean?”

  “You know, woo me? Pursue me?”

  Chance scooted even closer to me. The tension in the air was so thick, you could almost take a knife and cut right through it.

  “So you’re saying people are talking about us? They’re saying that I’m trying to win you over and be back in your life? They’re saying I’m trying to start a new relationship with you, but I’m having difficulties breaking down your walls and making you see that? Does that sound about right?”

  I nodded, realizing he’d used a lot more words to describe it than I did. I didn’t think he had any walls to break down when it came to me. As far as I was concerned, he did that weeks ago.

  “Yes, that’s exactly what they’re saying. Everyone believes it to be true. Isn’t that crazy?” I asked.

  “What’s silly about it? For once, I think the crazy old ladies have hit the nail right on the head.”

  He looked me square in the eyes when he said it.

  It took me a minute to realize exactly what he was saying, but once the meaning of his words sank in, my nervousness came back.

  “Really? But why?”

  “What do you mean why?” Chance asked, confused.

  “Why would you want to waste your time trying to be with me?”

  “Why do you say it’s a waste of time? I was devoted to earning the love of my son. Other than that, winning your love back is the only other thing in my life with any meaning.”