A New Journey (Second Chance #3)

by Christina Escue

  “I’ve been trying to call her since yesterday, but she’s ignoring my calls and texts. That’s why I decided to come by here. Did Callie and Rylee know she was leaving?”

  “As far as I know they did.” Leslie answered. “They all went out night before last so I’m sure Karla told them.”

  “I’m going to kill my sister.”

  “Conner, I’m sure Callie was just keeping a promise to Karla. Knowing my daughter she didn’t want you to know.”

  “Do you know what she gave me for Christmas?” He asked them both.

  “No.” Leslie answered honestly.

  “I do.” Elliot responded and Conner looked up at him.

  “Then you already know why I’m here.”

  “I figured as much.” Elliot said as he pulled his house key from his pocket and walked past Conner. “It’s cold out here so why don’t we go inside and talk.”

  Conner stood up and followed Elliot into the house and straight into the kitchen before he handed Leslie the small box that he’d been holding. “Here.”

  When Leslie opened the box the first thing she saw was a note. “Mind if I read this?”

  “Go ahead.” Conner said as he sat at the table.

  Leslie unfolded the letter and read it out loud.

  Conner,

  This is my memory box. I had one when I was a little girl in Texas and started this one when my life started over.

  I am giving it to you because my happiest memories have you in them. I hope when you look inside you are taken back to a happy time and that you remember that I have always loved you.

  Always, Karla

  When Leslie finished reading the note tears were running down her face. When she looked up at Conner he had his face in his hands. “Look inside.” He said softly.

  Leslie looked into the box and the first thing she pulled out was a picture of Conner, Karla, Rylee and Callie. She had taken this picture the first night they met to work on a group history project together. They had all grown so much since that night. She laid the picture on the bar and pulled out a ticket stub from a movie they had all gone to a few weeks after the picture was taken. By the time she reached the last thing in the box she was crying so hard she could barely see that it was a picture that was taken just before Karla’s accident. Karla and Conner were sitting together in a classroom at school and one of the other girls had snapped this picture with their phone.

  “That last picture was taken at practice. That was the Thursday before Karla’s wreck. Practice hadn’t started yet and we were all sitting around talking about what we were going to do that weekend. I think Callie took the picture and when Karla asked her why she took it she said, ‘Because you two are what love looks like and I wanted to capture that.’”

  Leslie walked over to Conner and wrapped her arms around him. “I am so stupid.” Conner said softly. “Friday night, when I saw her leaving with Cameron I was so jealous that I sent Alissa a text and asked her if she wanted to go see a movie. I flaunted her in Karla’s face and the entire time I felt sick to my stomach. I intentionally hurt Karla, but she still feels this way about me. She still loves me enough to want me to be happy.”

  “She does love you, but you knew that without her sending this. What I’m wondering is if you still love her.”

  “More than life itself.” Conner answered honestly.

  “Then my advice is that you pull your head out of your butt and start acting like the young man she met that first day of school instead of a jealous little boy. She and Cam are friends, Conner, that’s it. They went on that one date because Karla promised him she’d go on one date with him, but even before the date they had already established that they would only ever be friends.”

  “She’ll be back on Monday?” Conner asked and when Leslie nodded he asked, “What time?”

  “Her plane is supposed to be in at four, but Jake is picking them up from the airport.”

  “Thank you.” Conner said softly and stood up to leave. “I am going to fix this. I don’t know how yet, but I am going to win her back.”

  “I have faith in you, Conner.” Leslie said as he walked out of the kitchen.

  Chapter Fifty

  “Karla, I’d like for you to meet my good friend Michael. Michael, this is my little sister, Karla.”

  “Hello, Karla. It is nice to meet you.”

  “It’s nice to meet you too, Michael.” Karla responded as she adjusted her bathing suit. He was looking a little too hard at her chest for her liking.

  “You have such beautiful eyes.” Michael said when he finally looked at her face.

  “Thank you.” Karla responded. “If you’ll excuse me I have to check in with my mom.”

  When Karla walked away Kiara turned to Michael. “What the hell are you thinking?”

  “She is a very beautiful girl.” Michael responded with a grin.

  “She’s also my little sister.” Kiara said in a huff. “You made her uncomfortable.”

  “I am sorry. I will apologize to her when I see her tonight.” Michael promised.

  “You won’t see her tonight. She won’t be coming with me.” Kiara said. She didn’t want Karla around most of her friends because they weren’t all good influences.

  “So she will be all alone in the hotel room?” Michael asked.

  “Yes and if she gets hurt I will personally hunt down whomever hurts her and kill them myself.” Kiara said and Michael saw the fire in her eyes.

  “No worries. Your little sister will stay safe from harm.” Michael promised. “You have changed since moving to America.”

  “I have. I’ve grown up a lot, mostly because of her, and I am very happy with the person I am now. I was never happy with the person I was when I was here and I would have never allowed myself the happiness I have found with Jake. The only reason I came back to visit was because Marcella wanted to see me. I should have never came though.” Kiara said and as soon as she said the words she knew what she needed to do.

  “Kiara, you will always be the wild one you were when you were here. She is hiding inside you, but it will not take much to bring her to the surface.”

  “You’re wrong, Michael. She’s long gone. I am no longer that person and I never will be again.” Kiara said and turned away from Michael. “I made a mistake in coming here, but it’s a mistake that is easy to correct.”

  She walked down the beach and into the lobby of the hotel she and Karla were staying at. When she got into the elevator she took out her cell phone and called Jake.

  “Hey, baby.” Jake answered after the first ring.

  “Hey, Jake. How would you like it if Karla and I came home a couple of days early?”

  “I would love that, Kiara, but I thought you had plans with your friends.”

  “I did, but I realized that there is nothing for me here anymore. My home is in Tennessee with you and Puerto Rico is just a memory from the past.”

  “I love you, Kiara,”

  “I love you too, Jake. I’ll call the airline and see if we can get a flight out today. I haven’t talked to Karla about it yet, but I’m sure she’ll be okay with leaving early.”

  “Just let me know, babe, and I’ll pick you up.”

  “I can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too. I have to go, baby. My shift starts in five minutes.”

  “Okay, baby. I’ll see you as soon as I can.”

  “See you when you get home. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Kiara ended the call then unlocked the door to the room she and Karla were sharing. Karla was sitting on the bed with her knees pulled to her chest and her head laid on them. “What’s wrong?” Kiara asked when she saw how her sister was sitting.

  “Did you see the way he was looking at me?” Karla asked quietly.

  “I did.” Kiara answered as she sat beside Karla. “After you left I called him on it.”

  “You didn’t need to do that. He’s your frien
d and I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it.”

  “Karla, I need to tell you something about my so called friends, and myself. No one knows this except for Manuel, Abuela and Jake.”

  “You can tell me anything, Kiara.”

  “Remember me telling you about the boy I dated with the drinking problem?”

  “Yes.” Karla answered.

  “It went a bit farther than I told you that day. After he died I found out I was pregnant. Manuel and Abuela were devastated and I was scared to death. I was fifteen and had no idea what I was going to do. The decision was taken out of my hands when I miscarried a few days after I found out. The miscarriage pushed me over the edge I had been balancing on and I started hanging out with the wrong crowd. I avoided the alcohol and drugs, but I got into a lot of trouble. I ended up getting expelled from school and was home schooled for a while. That’s when I turned everything around and straightened up.”

  “Can you tell me why you were expelled?”

  “I got into a fight. The sister of one of the boys in the car with my ex confronted me in the cafeteria one day and was saying things like it was all my fault. I already blamed myself and her words set me on edge. When she turned around and started walking away I grabbed her by the hair and slammed her head into one of the tables.”

  “Oh, wow.” Karla said quietly. “I can almost justify what you did because she provoked you.”

  “That’s what I told everyone, but no one in the room saw her get in my face.”

  “Okay, so what does that have to do with your friends?”

  “The friends who wanted me to come back are the same friends I was hanging out with when I was getting into trouble. I don’t know why I agreed to come back and I really regret it. I just want to go home.”

  “I want to go home too.” Karla said and Kiara grinned.

  “Think we can get the tickets changed?”

  “I know we can. When Dad upgraded the tickets he left the return date open until Monday. We can leave today if there is a flight out to anywhere in the US and we can get a connecting flight back into Nashville.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “He wanted me to be able to come home anytime I wanted.”

  “Then why are we still here?”

  “I’m already packed.” Karla answered and pointed at her suitcase. “Just need to call the airport and see if there is a flight out.”

  “You do that and I’ll pack really fast. I miss Tennessee.”

  “I miss home.” Karla said and called the airport.

  An hour later they were at the airport boarding a plane home.

  Chapter Fifty-One

  “Conner, what are you doing here?” Karla asked when she walked out of security. “Jake is picking Kiara and me up.”

  “Jake is picking up Kiara. I came to pick you up. We need to talk.”

  “Do we? What prompted this need to talk? Don’t you have plans with Alissa?”

  “Okay, I should have seen that coming.” Conner said with a grim expression.

  “I’m sorry, Conner. I’m just a little tired and seeing you here knocked me off balance.”

  “Will you let me drive you home so we can talk?”

  “Yes.” Karla said. When she walked toward the baggage claim Conner walked with her and grabbed her pink suitcase as it came around.

  “Is this all you have?” He asked.

  “Yes. I have my backpack already.” She said and held up her backpack for him to see.

  “Okay. Ready?”

  “Just let me tell Kiara that I’m riding with you.”

  “She already knows.” Conner said and pointed to where Jake and Kiara were talking. Kiara looked furious and Jake was trying to calm her down. “I don’t think she’s happy about it though.”

  “Give me a minute.” Karla said and she walked toward Kiara and Jake.

  “Karla, I promise I had no idea idiot here was letting jerk-off pick you up.” Kiara said when Karla stopped beside them.

  “Sis, it’s okay. I do need to talk to Conner. Are you two going to the house?”

  “We are.” Jake answered. “Leslie and Andrew already know Conner is picking you up. Leslie was okay with it, but Andrew was furious.”

  “I’ll calm Dad down when I get home.” Karla said. “I’ll see you at the house later.”

  “Be careful, sis, and call me if you need me to come pick you up.” Kiara said then hugged Karla. “I love you, sis.”

  “I love you too, sis.” Karla said before she released Kiara and walked back to where Conner stood. “Okay, let’s go.”

  They walked through the airport together and when they reached Conner’s car he put her suitcase in the trunk as she slid into the passenger seat. He closed the trunk and took a deep breath before he opened the driver’s side door and slid in.

  “Karla, do you mind if we go somewhere and talk? I can’t talk about this while I drive and I would rather not have this conversation in front of your entire family or mine.”

  “You’re the driver. We can go wherever you want.”

  “You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?” He asked as he pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway.

  “Did you expect me to?” She asked.

  “Not really, but I had hoped.” Conner said quietly.

  When he took the turn off to the lake Karla sighed. “It’s too cold to sit by the lake and talk.”

  “I know, but we can sit in the car. I just needed somewhere quiet.” Conner said as he parked in the empty lot.

  “Okay.”

  They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Conner took a deep breath and turned to look at Karla. She was looking out the window, but he could see her reflection. She looked so lost and alone and he knew it was all because of him. “Karla, can you look at me please?” When she looked at him he sighed again at the tears in her eyes.

  “Please don’t cry. I will never get this said if you do.” He begged. When the tears didn’t fall from her eyes he took a deep breath and continued. “The day of your accident was one of the scariest days of my life. I thought I had lost you. When I found out you were okay I was relieved, but I was terrified too. You had been hurt again and there was nothing I could do to protect you. I felt helpless and that helplessness made me behave stupidly. I thought if I wrapped you up I could keep you safe, but all I did was smother you and push you away.”

  He paused for a second and took Karla’s uninjured hand in his. When she didn’t pull it away he started talking again. “On the day of the competition I was on edge. I was worried that you were overdoing it and I hated to see you looking so tired. I let my worry take over and I lashed out at you. I knew I had hurt you, but if it helped you realize how worried I was then I was okay with it. That was my first mistake of the day. Instead of letting you run away from me I should have pulled you into my arms and told you how sorry I was. My second mistake happened when I didn’t immediately come to you when we had our break. I was stubborn and was sure you would come to me. I was stupid and when you didn’t come to me I was angry. When I walked outside and saw you sitting with Daniel I was slapped in the face with jealously. You were supposed to be with me, not him. I let that jealously and anger take control and I hurt you again. That was my third mistake. When you told me that you thought we needed a break I was floored. I never thought you would say that. I never thought you would break up with me.”

  “I was hurt beyond words, Conner. You basically accused me of cheating on you when all I was doing was talking to a friend. Someone who was your friend too.”

  “I know.” Conner said quietly. “Then I made the biggest mistake of the day when I let you walk away. I just sat there and let the only girl I’ve ever loved walk away from me. When Callie came out I was still sitting there like an idiot instead of coming after you and apologizing. By the time I came looking for you it was too late.”

  “Conner, can I say something?” Karla asked and when he nodded she continued.
“When I walked away that day I waited for you to come after me and when you didn’t I was devastated. I was sure you wouldn’t let me walk away.”

  “I was so stupid.” Conner said quietly. “That entire week was pure hell for me. When you sent me that text on Thanksgiving night was I so happy. I thought you had changed your mind and was wanting to get back together. When you told me that you thought we still needed the break I was furious and I let my temper take control again. I hurt you that day then I walked away. That still wasn’t my worst mistake.”

  Conner paused, placed a finger under her chin and made her look at him. “My biggest mistake happened a few weeks later. I used Alissa to hurt you. I never wanted to go out with her and I only gave in so I could get her off my back. I was sitting with her on the day of the competition because I knew you knew about our date and I wanted you to think that I had moved on. The day I came to help you move I had planned to talk to you. I was miserable and just wanted things to be the way they used to be. When I saw you leaving with Cameron I was crushed. When Callie told me you were going to the movies I immediately sent Alissa a text and asked her if she wanted to go see a movie and I told Leslie I had to go help a friend take care of something. I used her to hurt you again. I took the hurt I was feeling and the jealously over seeing you with him and used them to intentionally cause you pain.”

  “Cameron and I are just friends. We were never more than friends and never will be more than friends. I wasn’t trying to hurt you by going out with him. I was trying to get over you. I was trying to be whole again.”

  “I’ve apologized to Alissa for using her and she’s forgiven me. She even admitted that she was kind of using me to get to Trevor. She isn’t my biggest concern though. Karla, you are the one I hurt the worst. You are the one I need to be begging for forgiveness from. I don’t know if we can ever get back to where we were, but I would really like if we can at least try to be friends again.”

  “Conner, you crushed me when you flaunted her in front of me like you did. I was heartbroken.”

  Conner’s eyes filled with tears at the pain he could see on her face and hear in her words. “Your love for me is still there, Karla. If it wasn’t you would have never given me that box for Christmas.”