Another Chance to Love

by Cheris Hodges

  “Brian,” she said quietly. “Are you sleeping?”

  “Trying.”

  She dropped her hand and turned over on her side. “You know how I feel about you. But you have to understand why I’m a little apprehensive about accepting your marriage proposal.”

  “Paige, why don’t you drop it,” he said. “You said no, let’s just move on.”

  She threw the covers back and hopped out of the bed. “You can be selfish sometimes, Brian. I know you’re going though a lot right now and you love your son, but that doesn’t mean you can just piss on my feelings and try to use me as a tool in your on-going battle with your ex- wife.” Paige grabbed her jeans and tee shirt from the floor and angrily pulled on her clothes. “I want to be with you, but I don’t know if I’m ready to get married. It’s better you find that out now than ten years down the road when we end up hating each other.”

  “Are you staying or going? I’m going to try and get some sleep.”

  His coldness shocked her. Paige threw her hands up and stormed out of the bedroom and the house. Hot tears of anger and disappointment stung her eyes. Why was he being such a hard ass? He had just gotten out of a marriage, so he should understand her wanting to take things slowly. She knew that he was the man for her, but shouldn’t they wait until things in his life calmed down before they started planning their future? Paige slammed into her house and went into the kitchen and grabbed a can of diet cola. She popped the top just as the phone rang.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “Paige,” Brian said quietly. “I overreacted.”

  “You do that a lot and I’m getting damned tired of it,” she said. “You’re stressed and you have a lot weighing on you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be your verbal punching bag.”

  “Oh, okay, you can stop with the over-dramatization,” Brian said.

  Paige ended the call and tossed her phone across the room. Why does every thing have to be so damned complicated, she thought as she downed the soda.

  Brian held the phone in front of his face as the dial tone sounded in his ear. Maybe he was going about this the wrong way, but when did a marriage proposal make a woman turn and run? He loved Paige and she said she loved him. What was the problem? He felt as if he had been sucker-punched. Brian threw himself on the bed. Lying on his stomach and clutching the pillow, he muttered something under his breath about the fickle nature of women.

  “Daddy,” Mickey said from the doorway. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”

  Brian turned over and smiled at his son. “Sure, champ,” he said as he lifted him into the bed. “How are you feeling?”

  Mickey shrugged his shoulders. Brian checked the bandage on his leg to make sure he wasn’t bleeding. He held his son and watched him sleep, wishing Paige were there with him, sharing this moment. All right, he thought, I have to prove to Paige that this has nothing to do with custody, that I just need her in my life.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Paige tried to wrap her mind around the argument she and Brian had had the next morning as she sat at her kitchen table, sipping black coffee and reading the Sunday paper. As she reached for a piece of raisin toast, she knocked her mug over. She swore as she mopped up the coffee with a napkin. Tossing her paper into the trashcan, she walked into the living room. Paige looked across the street at Brian’s house and sighed.

  “You should just go over there and say yes.” But instead she plopped down on the sofa and turned the television on. Although she wasn’t paying attention to the movie that was playing, the knock on the door startled her. Paige walked to the door and opened it, expecting to see Brian. But it was Mickey.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked as she kneeled down to hug him.

  “I came to ask you to have breakfast with us,” he said with a smile. Paige mussed his hair. “Does your father know you’re here?”

  Mickey nodded. “He’s cooking for us. Come on, Miss Paige.”

  Mickey pulled her by the hand. Paige was helpless to resist him. “Okay, okay, I’ll go, but let me lock up.” She didn’t bother to change out of her cotton boxer shorts and tank top, just grabbed her keys, stuffed her feet in her slippers and followed Mickey across the street.

  When Paige walked into the house, she thought about the night before. Was Brian trying to use his little boy to get her to accept his proposal? He wouldn’t do that, she thought as she walked into the kitchen.

  “Mickey!” Brian called out as he walked out of the kitchen, bumping into Paige, chest first.

  Paige held on to his arms so she wouldn’t fall. Brian looked at her with shock.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Your son came and got me. He said you were cooking breakfast for us,” Paige said. Mickey held on to Paige’s leg.

  Brian looked at Mickey and shook his head. “You know better than to leave the house without my permission,” Brian said.

  “I’m sorry,” he said sadly.

  Paige removed her hand from Brian’s arm. “Maybe I should go.” She turned to Mickey. “You shouldn’t have left without telling your dad.”

  Mickey’s bottom lip quivered. “But you and Daddy were fighting last night just like when Mommy was here. I just don’t want Miss Paige to go to Atlanta too,” he said before breaking into tears.

  Paige scooped the little boy up in her arms. “I’m not going to Atlanta,” Paige said. “Anytime you need me, I’m going to be right here.”

  Brian stroked his son’s head. “Mick, sometimes, adults have dis- agreements and misunderstandings. That’s what happened last night.” Paige looked at Brian. Had she misunderstood his proposal? That should’ve made her felt better, but it didn’t. She wanted to marry Brian, she honestly did, but she wanted him to want her for the right reasons.

  “Can Miss Paige stay?” Mickey asked.

  “Well, Miss Paige will have to decide that,” Brian said, staring pointedly at her.

  Paige smiled. “Of course I’ll stay. Besides, Mickey, I love having breakfast with you.” She raised her eyebrow at Brian as she and Mickey took a seat.

  Brian had cooked a better breakfast than Paige had waiting for her at home. He had crispy bacon, waffles, scrambled eggs with cheese, and green peppers and fresh orange juice. “Paige, do you want coffee?” he asked.

  “Sure,” she said.

  “I want coffee too,” Mickey piped up.

  Paige and Brian laughed. “Not yet, son,” Brian said. “You definitely don’t need the caffeine.”

  Paige kissed Mickey’s cheek. She was glad to see that he was almost back to his cheery self. She looked up at Brian and wondered when they would find happiness again.

  Brian watched Paige with his son as the coffee brewed. This was what he wanted every day. Why couldn’t Paige see how much he wanted her and how much he needed her? The custody case wasn’t the motivation for him asking her to marry him. He loved her. He’d never thought he’d fall in love again, especially so soon after his drama with Olivia, but Paige was so easy to love, despite her little attitude at times. With Mickey, she was gentle, almost as if he were her son. He wondered what any child they had would be like. Imagining a miniature Paige running around with golden eyes and a puffy afro, probably terrorizing the little boys in her preschool class, made him smile. Mickey and his little sister would get along fabulously. He would be happy to have someone to play with, even a girl.

  “Brian, Brian,” Paige said, snapping him out of his fantasy. “The coffee pot’s overflowing.”

  Brian mopped up the mess. “Maybe none of us need the caffeine.”

  “I’ll have orange juice,” Paige said. “Let’s just eat.”

  Mickey nodded in agreement. Brian smiled and loaded their plates with bacon and eggs, then fixed his plate and sat down. Mickey reached out and grabbed Brian and Paige’s hands.

  “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food. By His hands we all are fed. Thank you Lord for our daily bread,” the little boy re
cited.

  Brian squeezed his son’s hand as they said “amen.” They ate in silence.

  “That was really good,” Paige said when she finished eating, glancing at Brian and smiling. He returned her smile and mouthed to her that they needed to talk.

  After breakfast, Paige offered to help Brian wash the dishes and Mickey went to clean his room. Paige grabbed a dishtowel, “So, what do we need to talk about?”

  “Us,” he said. “Paige, last night, I don’t know what I was thinking. But today, I know that marrying you would be the best thing I could ever do. I love you with all my heart. Even if this custody case weren’t hanging over my head, I would still want to make you my wife.”

  Tears sprang into Paige’s eyes and he wiped her tears away with the edge of the dishtowel she was holding. He pulled her into his arms, cupping the back of her neck and leaned in to kiss her, but Paige put her hand on his chest.

  “Yes, Brian.”

  “What?”

  “I’ll marry you,” she said though her tears. Brian picked her up and spun her around, sending her dishtowel flying across the room. Slowly, he lowered her down the length of his body until their lips met in a dizzying kiss. Mickey’s giggle from the doorway was the only thing that stopped Brian from ripping Paige’s clothes off and making love to her in the middle of the kitchen. They turned their attention to the little boy.

  “What are you laughing about?” Brian released Paige, and then crossed over to his son. Scooping him up in his arms, Brian tickled the little boy’s tummy. Mickey laughed with glee; a sound Brian had been longing to hear.

  “Why don’t we go to the park and burn off some of this breakfast,” Paige suggested. “Then I’ll cook lunch for us. And, Mickey, if you’re a good boy, I’ll break out some chocolate chip ice cream.”

  The little boy lit up like a roman candle on the Fourth of July, “Can we, Daddy, please?”

  “Sure, but there’s something I need to take care of before we go." He deposited Mickey in a chair at the table. He turned to Paige and winked at her. “I’ll be right back.”

  He grabbed his keys and dashed out of the house, heading for his sister’s house. When he got there, he pressed the doorbell about ten times in succession.

  Gabrielle opened the door with an angry scowl on her face. “Brian, this had better be important!” she snapped.

  He opened the screen door and pushed past her. “Do you remember when I asked Olivia to marry me?”

  Gabrielle folded her arms across her chest. “What? I know you didn’t wake me up at nine-thirty in the morning when you know I worked late last night to ask me anything about that—that woman!”

  Brian grabbed his sister’s shoulder. “Gabrielle, listen. I asked Olivia to marry me and I wanted to give her Momma’s ring, remember?”

  She raised her eyebrow. “And I told you that the only way she would get that ring was if I was dead and my ashes had been spread across California. So what?”

  Brian flashed her a ten thousand megawatt smile. “I need the ring,” he said.

  Gabrielle rubbed her forehead and looked at him as if he were an alien.

  “What for? Brian, I told you...Oh my God! You asked Paige to marry you!” She jumped up and down like a five-year-old who had got- ten a pony for her birthday.

  Grasping her shoulders and gently shaking her, Brian said, “Breathe.”

  She grabbed Brian’s arm and virtually pushed him on the sofa. “When did you propose? Don’t you think this is a little soon? Oh, forget it, Mickey loves her, I like her and anything is an improvement over your last wife.”

  “Gabrielle!” Brian said, grabbing her hands. “Focus. I want to give her the ring tonight, all right? Go get it. And I asked her to marry me last night and this morning.”

  Gabrielle let his hands go. “Why did you have to ask her twice?”

  Brian told his sister how Paige was apprehensive at first because she thought he was trying to bolster his custody case, but this morning, she had said yes when she saw the truth.

  “You really love her, huh?”

  Brian nodded. “I do and this isn’t some high school infatuation. She’s good for me and my son.”

  Gabrielle stood up and disappeared down the hall. Seconds later, she returned with a small green velvet box and placed it in Brian’s hand.

  “She can have it, but if she breaks your heart, I’m taking it back,” Gabrielle said. “Along with her finger.”

  Brian opened the box and looked at the three-karat oval-shaped diamond engagement ring that had belonged to his mother. It was set in white gold, with two heart-shaped stones on the side. He was glad he had never given the ring to Olivia.

  Brian’s father had had the ring custom made for his wife on their tenth wedding anniversary. When they first married, Marvin Jackson had told his wife that he couldn’t give her the best of everything right then, but he would one day. He proposed without a ring, but Alice was so in love with him that material things didn’t matter to her.

  She told her future husband that all she needed was his love and devotion. On their wedding day, Marvin gave her a gold wedding band that he had purchased from the pawnshop.

  As the years went by, Marvin’s career as a construction worker took off and he started his own company two years before Brian was born. Marvin was a shrewd businessman and investor. When other people struggled during the 1980s under Reganonics, Marvin and his company had a nice nest egg that allowed him to expand his business to include landscaping and renting many of the homes he built.

  On his tenth wedding anniversary, Marvin gave Alice the engagement ring that he thought she deserved. Alice never took the ring off, not until Marvin died of a massive heart attack. About a month later, Alice passed quietly in her sleep. Brian always said his mother had died of a broken heart.

  In her will, Alice left the ring to Brian to give to the woman who would make him as happy as his father made her. At first Brian didn’t want the ring and gave it to his sister. She told him she would be happy to hold it until he met the right woman. Gabrielle had warned him at the time that he’d better follow his mother’s directions. “You know you better do what Momma said or she will come back and get you.”

  “Paige deserves this. She’s the one." Gabrielle hugged her brother tightly.

  “I have a better feeling about this one. And if you need me to baby- sit tonight, I’ll do it,” she said as he let her go and headed out the door.

  “I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied, tucking the box into the pocket of his shorts.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  After spending three hours at the park, eating ice cream, hot dogs, and potato chips, Paige and Brian were just as worn out as Mickey was, who slept in between them in Brian’s truck. Paige rested her arm around Mickey’s shoulders.

  “Are you still awake over there?” Brian asked, glancing at her.

  “I’m barely awake. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”

  “Why was that?” he asked as he turned on to their street.

  “I had a man on my mind,” she replied with a smile.

  Brian raised his eyebrow in mock jealousy. “Should I be worried?”

  “Yes,” Paige said as she unsnapped her seat belt when he pulled into the driveway. She scooped Mickey into her arms. His legs dangled near her waist. “You should worry about what I’m going to do to that man tonight.”

  A wicked smile spread across Brian’s face. “Well, you know, I did have a little something special planned for us tonight,” he said as he walked up the steps ahead of her to unlock the door and open it for her.

  Paige took Mickey to his bedroom and gently laid him on the bed, kissing his forehead before heading to the living room. Brian was sitting on the sofa flipping though the TV channels.

  Paige circled her arms around his neck. “And just what do you have planned for tonight?”

  Brian reached up and grabbed her arms, pulling her across the sofa and into his lap.

  “You�
�ll have to wait and see, Miss Paige. But do me a favor and wear something sexy,” he said. “Not that you’re not looking good in those daisy dukes.”

  Paige had changed into a pair of cut-off shorts and a tank top before they went to the park. Laughing, she twirled around in the middle of the floor. “Then I guess I’d better go home and change.”

  “Not yet,” Brian said, planting a deep kiss on her. She lost herself in his lips. This was blissful, heavenly, and soon she was going to have him every day for the rest of her life. She pulled him closer to her, running her hand up and down his neck and felt his hardness pressing against her hip.

  They fell back on the sofa. Paige wanted to rip her clothes off and make love to him on the sofa, but Mickey was in the other room and she would be mortified if he walked in and saw them. Reluctantly, she pulled back from Brian, leaping off his lap.

  “Let me leave before we start a fire we can’t put out,” she said.

  “Oh, I can put the fire out,” Brian said as he stood up and wrapped his arms around her waist. “But in due time.” He kissed her on the back of her neck.

  Paige wiggled out of his arms and turned around to face him. “I’ll see you later.” Blowing him a kiss, she headed out the door.

  The first thing Paige did when she walked inside her house was grab the phone and call Patrick. She hadn’t spoken to her friend since she leaving Nashville earlier in the summer.

  “Well, if it isn’t Paige Grayson,” Patrick said when he answered the phone. “Either you’re just getting out of rehab or all is right in your world.”