[Second Chances 02]California Dreams

by Morris Fenris

  “Deal! Let’s go,” Daniella turned on her heels, the plastic ones that were several sizes too big for her tiny feet, and shuffled her way to the front door and out to her booster seat.

  Grace couldn’t help the laugh that sprang forth, “She’s going to be the death of me!”

  “She definitely keeps things lively around here. Good luck.”

  “I think her teacher may be the one who needs the luck,” Grace told her, chuckling as she headed for the car.

  Chapter 13

  The next few days flew by and everyone got back into the normal routines, while Jane discovered the joys that were to be had in California. Her birthday had come and gone and she had been pleasantly surprised when Samuel and Grace had surprised her with a boat trip to Catalina Island for the day.

  Jane thought back to the phone call she had received bright and early the morning of the 29th –

  “Hello?” she had answered groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

  “Happy Birthday, Jane!” Samuel had told her.

  “Thanks. You do know how early it is, right?” she had asked.

  Samuel had chuckled, “Yes, but I wanted to be the first one to wish you a Happy Birthday. I also wanted to tell you that Grace and I have a special surprise for you. Get up and get dressed. I’ll be by in an hour to pick you all up.”

  “All?”

  “Yes. Grace and Daniella are joining us. See ya later.”

  She had been a little nervous at first, wondering about being out on the big ocean, but they never got so far away from land that she couldn’t still see a small portion of it on the horizon. They had departed from Newport Beach aboard a ferry, and while the ferry had been full, she had enjoyed herself immensely.

  They had taken a boat ride on a glass-bottomed boat and Jane had thoroughly enjoyed seeing the variety of sea life that existed in the ocean. The boat had been equipped with fish feeders and she and Daniella had taken turns feeding the fish that approached the boat curiously.

  “Samuel, thank you so much for arranging this day.” She and Samuel were sitting on the back porch of Grace’s home.

  “Did you have a nice birthday?” Samuel asked.

  “I did,” she nodded. “Everything was fantastic. The food was great. Seeing the ocean through the bottom of that boat was amazing. Everything was perfect.”

  “Good. I wanted you to have a birthday to remember.”

  “Mission accomplished,” she told him with a smile.

  “So, what are you doing for New Year’s Eve?” Samuel asked.

  “I haven’t really given it much thought. Why?”

  “Well, I was wondering if you might want to come to my place and watch the fireworks with me. They shoot them off over the ocean. It’s pretty cool to watch.”

  “That sounds like fun. Trent and I always watched the various programs on T.V. that showed them shooting off fireworks, but I’ve never seen live ones this time of the year.”

  “Good. It’s a plan then.” Standing up, he stretched and then looked at her before approaching her chair. Leaning down, he placed a hand on either side of her chair, resting his palms on the armrests, “I need to go. I have to be back in court first thing in the morning to help insure the Quintana brothers don’t convince the judge to do something stupid.”

  Jane sat back in her chair and gave him a small smile, “Okay. Thank you again.” Her eyes left his and landed on his mouth. She had felt her gaze being drawn to it throughout the day, and wondered what his kiss might feel like.

  It had been so many years since she had been romantically kissed, she almost felt like a shy virgin again. Once arriving in Montana, she had immersed herself in the community and Trent’s family and had never once been tempted to venture back out into the world of male-female relationships. Not until she had met Samuel the first time.

  He had stirred that part of her up and she had gone out of her way to avoid him at every opportunity, not liking the way he made her feel so out of control.

  Samuel watched her eyes as he slowly lowered his head towards hers. Brushing his lips gently across hers, he waited for her to protest or push him away. When she did neither, he kissed her again, a little more pressure behind his kiss this time, while letting his lips linger against hers for a brief moment.

  Knowing that he had to take things very slowly with Jane, he stopped there and pushed away from her, “Goodnight. Thank you for a lovely day.” When she made as if to get up and see him out, he gently pushed her back into the chair, “I can let myself out around the side gate.”

  Leaning in, he gave her another short kiss and then took himself off around the side of the house.

  Jane sat there for many minutes, her fingers touching her lips where he had kissed her, trying to sort out her feelings for him. The more time she spent with him, the more she liked what she discovered.

  She thought back to her courtship with Kenneth and realized that what she felt for Samuel was nothing like that. Her feelings for Kenneth had been those of a young woman, child really, fresh and innocent.

  Her feelings for Samuel were more intense and mature. She didn’t expect him to drop everything and dote on her every word. She knew he had a life and found that rather than wanting to pull him away from it, she simply wanted to become part of it. That was different from her previous relationship.

  Deciding that she didn’t have to figure it all tonight, she headed indoors and readied herself for bed. Tomorrow would come and she would deal with whatever came when it appeared. Before drifting off to sleep, she sent a brief email to Trent letting him know how much she appreciated the bouquet of flowers he and Sara had sent for her birthday. She briefly described her trip to Catalina Island and promised to call later in the week.

  She fell asleep with the images of the ocean fish replaying themselves in her mind and a smile upon her face.

  *****

  Samuel entered the courthouse at 9 o’clock the next morning, his partner Stan by his side. The purpose of the hearing was to determine if Hector Quintana and his brother Julian were indeed flight risks.

  Their lawyer had argued fiercely two days prior that Hector’s medical condition was threatening his very existence and since he was first on the transplant list, there was no logical reason to think he was going to run.

  The lawyer had gone on to ask for compassionate relief for his brother so that Julian could be at the hospital the day of his surgery, and granted visitation rights while he was recovering. Everyone familiar with the two men knew that once out of prison, it would be nearly impossible to contain them, or capture them a second time.

  The judge had listened to the evidence, and was supposed to render her decision on the matter this morning.

  Samuel walked into the courtroom, seeing Hector already seated at the defendants table with Mr. Sewell. When he and Stan seated themselves right behind the federal prosecutor, Hector turned his head and gave them both a confident smile. He thinks he’s going to win!

  The federal prosecutor, Dwayne Ashcroft, was a seasoned professional and had kept more than one federal prisoner locked up and away from the general public. “Samuel. Stan. I have to tell you, I don’t have a good feeling about this one.”

  “So what happens if she grants the compassion deal and allows Julian to be at the hospital when he has his transplant?”

  Dwayne shrugged his shoulders, “You’ve got me. I’ve already shown that he’s a significant flight risk and a threat to civilians. If she allows the deal, the outcome will be on her head, not mine.”

  Samuel and Stan shared a look as the judge entered the courtroom. She was smiling which with this particular judge was never a good sign for the prosecution.

  Thirty minutes later, it was all Samuel could do to exit the courtroom before giving vent to his anger. “I can’t believe this is happening!”

  Stan stopped beside him, fuming himself. “Can we ask for another judge to weigh in on her decision?”

  “Not before he has his surgery
. That can take weeks if not months!” Blowing his breath out in frustration, he clapped Stan on the back, “Let me think about our options and I’ll get back to you.”

  “Sure. You taking the lovely Miss Jane to dinner again tonight?”

  “Yeah. Then I’m going to drive her over to the observatory. A buddy of mine from way back is going to let us look through the telescope. She commented the other night that seeing the stars was the one thing she had found to miss from Montana. Too many lights here to see much.”

  “You’re pulling out all the stops.”

  Samuel nodded, “I don’t want her to go home when her thirty days are up. I’ll do just about anything to try and make her see she belongs here with me.”

  Stan nodded his head, “Good luck. She seems pretty special, and she must be a saint if she’s willing to put up with you.”

  “Gee, thanks for the support!”

  “Don’t mention it. That’s what partners are for.” Stan laughed at him and then waved him off, “Get out of here. I’ll talk to you in a day or so.”

  “Sounds good. Have a good New Year’s.”

  “You too man. I can’t think of anything I’d like better than to start the New Year off by putting the Quintana brothers away for fifty or sixty years.”

  Samuel grinned, “Wouldn’t that be a great way to start out the New Year? It’d be like an early Christmas present; twelve months early, but worth it.”

  Stan and Samuel bumped knuckles and then Samuel jogged down the courthouse steps, “Tell Joanna ‘Hi’ from me.”

  “I will. Have good time tonight.”

  “You know it.” There was no doubt in Samuel’s mind that he and Jane were destined to have a good time together. So far, every time together had left him waiting for the next one to occur. He loved spending time with her, even if they were only sitting around and not doing much of anything. He loved being with her!

  Chapter 14

  Samuel picked Jane up and they stopped at a small diner on the way out of town. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, Samuel hustled her out to the car, “We need to get going, and we still have a bit of a drive ahead of us.” “Where exactly are we going?” Jane asked.

  “To see the stars,” Samuel replied.

  “What are you talking about? It’s not even close to getting dark.” Jane looked out at the sky and wondered what he could be talking about.

  “Well, we have about two hours until we get there. Ever heard of the Hale telescope?”

  Jane looked at him with her mouth open, “You’re taking me to Palomar? But I thought it was up in the mountains.”

  “It is, about a two hour drive from here.”

  Jane looked out the window, but all she could see were buildings. “I didn’t realize it was within easy driving distance.”

  Samuel nodded, “A buddy of mine works there and is going to give us a private tour. They actually close around 4 p.m., but when I spoke to him yesterday, he said there was no one else scheduled this evening and we were more than welcome to join him.”

  Jane smiled, rubbing her hands together, “This is going to be so much fun. Trent is going to be so jealous. He’s the reason I first got interested in stars to begin with.

  “Right after my husband died, and I moved in with Trent and his family, he came home from school one day upset and angry. He had decided to take an astronomy class because he thought it would be easy.

  “The teacher actually expected these high school boys to study the stars at night. Anyway, I pulled Kenneth’s telescope out of storage and set it up in the backyard. Every evening around midnight, Trent would join me and we would watch the stars, count the shooting stars, and identify the constellations.”

  Samuel grinned at her. That was the most she had spoken to him voluntarily in…ever. “So, what’s your favorite constellation?”

  “No, it’s your turn. Tell me something about Samuel Drackett that I don’t already know.”

  “What do you want to know?” Samuel asked.

  “What were you like in school?” Jane requested, trying to envision the strong man sitting next to her as a young boy. The adult Samuel was 6’6” tall, had shoulders that looked strong enough to carry whatever needed carrying, his blue eyes were dark – almost black, and his tanned body was a testimony to the amount of time he spent in the sun.

  “Well, regardless of what my teachers might say, I was a model student. No, really, I was a good kid. I can only remember one time when I got sent to the principal’s office.”

  “Oh, yeah! What for?”

  “Smoking in the boy’s bathroom. I was fourteen and had just learned my mom was probably going to die sooner than later. I was trying to skip class by hiding out in the bathroom, when a couple of seniors caught me. They convinced me that smoking would help take the edge off the pain I was feeling. It sounded good, but the reality was horrible.

  “I coughed and felt like throwing up. My mother was less than pleased with her favorite son, and I can still see the disappointment in her eyes. Knowing I had disappointed her was worse than anything else that could have happened to me.”

  “So, the principal caught you?” Jane queried.

  “Yeah. I wasn’t quick enough to ditch the evidence, and was still holding it in my fingers when he caught up to me. To make matters worse, he made me call my parents and tell them what I had done and that they needed to come pick me up from school so I could serve my suspension.”

  “You got suspended for smoking?” Jane asked, thinking back to her own high schools days and how even the teachers had openly smoked around the students. Now, every school was a smoke-free, drug-free zone.

  “Yeah, and my punishment didn’t end there. I still had the packet of cigarettes in my pocket, which my mother found when we got home. She showed them to my dad who then proceeded to make me smoke every last one of them.

  “I don’t remember much about the cigarettes, but I remember puking my guts up time and again. To this day, the smell of cigarettes turns my stomach.”

  “I agree with you. I’ve never smoked before, and I never want to!” Jane told him, pleased that they had yet another thing in common.

  It was quiet for a moment, and then Jane asked, “Why the FBI? Why not the Army or the Air Force?”

  “Why not?” Samuel asked. “At the time I applied, they were giving aptitude and shooting tests. I aced both and the rest as they say is history.”

  Jane thought about how different their lives had been. She had married Kenneth and become a Marine widow before she had even acclimated to being a Marine wife. She wondered what dream she would have followed right after high school if she hadn’t gotten married. Where would she be now?

  “Penny for your thoughts,” Samuel offered, having watched her grow silent and pensive.

  Jane shrugged her shoulders with a grin, “Just wondering what I would have done with my life if I hadn’t married so young.”

  “Can I give you a piece of advice?” Samuel asked, reaching over and taking her hand to soften his next words. “Don’t go there. Nothing good actually comes from playing the ‘what if’ game. Stay in the present and play the ‘what now’ game and you’ll be a much happier person.”

  Jane felt tears threaten to spill from her eyes. His words to her held so much truth; truth she needed to hear. But more importantly, they came from someone who cared deeply for her and for whom she was developing strong feelings for as well.

  Nodding her head, she composed herself just as the observatory came into view. “It looks just like the pictures online.”

  Samuel grinned, “That’s a good thing, right?”

  “Definitely. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”

  Samuel hoped so.

  Several hours later as they drove back to San Diego, he knew so. Jane’s knowledge of the solar system had even astounded his friend, and that was hard to do. She had asked all the right technical questions about the Hale telescope, had been up-to-date on the latest discoveries, and had intell
igently debated the planet status of Pluto.

  “Thank you,” Jane said, leaning over and kissing Samuel on the cheek.

  “Come here,” Samuel said, pulling her over to sit beside him.

  Jane willingly went, buckling the center seatbelt and leaning her head upon his shoulder, “I can’t believe how tired I am.” She yawned, trying to hide it behind her hand.

  Samuel tried not to laugh, but his shoulders shook a few times before he gained control. “Why don’t you close your eyes and take a small nap. I’ll wake you when we get closer to the city.”

  Jane yawned again; going to sleep uppermost on her mind. “That seems so unfair to you. Are you sure you don’t want me to stay awake and talk to you?”

  “I’m sure. Besides, tomorrow night’s a long night as well. Close your eyes and get some sleep.” When she didn’t respond, Samuel glanced and then smiled. Jane had closed her eyes, and was fast asleep upon his shoulder.

  Chapter 15

  New Year’s Eve arrived and Samuel invited Grace and Daniella to join him and Jane to watch the fireworks. Grace hesitantly accepted, not wanting to be a third wheel, but Jane had insisted.

  Grace and Jane spent the morning cooking up a storm, making sure to include another batch of sugar cookies per Daniella’s request. The little girl was still feeling the effects of their trip and rather than deleting her afternoon nap, had taken to lengthening it significantly.

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do with her once school starts. She’s in the afternoon class and at this rate will be sleeping through the entire thing,” Grace told Jane as they finished decorating the cookies.

  “She’s young and the last several weeks have been hectic and full of upheaval. She’ll adjust once school starts.”