The Second Chance

by Morgan Utley

  “Thank you for inviting me to dinner,” he said while still looking at Peyton. He turned his head to look at her mom, “It smells very good.”

  “You’re welcome. Should we eat? Walter, put the remote down.” she called over to her husband, who had been sitting in his chair flipping through channels again.

  “Yes, dear,” he said. Her mom whipped back her head and gave him a look that Peyton knew meant he would get in trouble for that later. She hated being called “dear.”

  Chris and Gloria were already sitting, and Peyton looked at her mom, questioning where she wanted them to sit.

  Her mom caught her eye and understood what she was asking. “Why don’t you and Noah sit on the opposite side of Chris and Gloria,” she suggested.

  Peyton did as she was told. She knew that was the safest bet. She and Noah sat down next to each other, and they briefly touched hands, which sent an electrical shock through her body. She shook it off and folded her arms.

  They blessed the food and started building their tacos. Chris finally was able to get a big spoonful of guacamole without his mom smacking his hand.

  “Honey!” Chris said around a mouthful of chips and guacamole, “I think this is the best guac you have ever made!”

  “Thanks, Chris,” she said and focused on her tacos. She seemed a little embarrassed, which Peyton didn’t blame her for. Her brother was pretty clueless sometimes.

  “So, Noah, Peyton told us you were in dental school. How’s that going?” Peyton’s dad asked.

  “It’s going good. I only have a few weeks left, so I’ve been studying a lot preparing for my board exams,” Noah explained.

  “I bet you're excited to graduate,” her dad said in between taco bites.

  “Yeah, I am. It’s been a long four years, and I’m ready to start practicing,” he admitted.

  “Well, good for you!” her dad raised his taco in the air and then took a huge bite of it.

  “Thank you, sir,” Noah nodded and started eating his own taco.

  They sat for a few minutes in silence finishing up their food, and then Chris decided to pipe up again.

  “So, Noah, where did you and my sister meet?” he asked boldly. At this point, Peyton began choking on her chip, and she felt a hand pat her back. She looked over and saw that it was Noah, and he smiled at her. “You okay?”

  Peyton put her hand on her chest and nodded, “Thanks.” Noah dropped his hand, which made her heart drop along with it.

  “I met her after her appointment at my uncle's office. And then I saw her again at the mall, and we went running together last week,” Noah told her annoying brother.

  “Wait, you guys haven’t been on a date yet?” Chris questioned, raising an eyebrow. Peyton was now ready to reach across the table and pummel him.

  “Nope, not yet. I was actually going to ask her out for this weekend.” Noah turned to face Peyton. “Would you like to go out with me this Saturday?” Peyton could feel her face burning up and knew all eyes were on her.

  “Yeah,” she nodded. “That would be great.” She smiled at him, and he smiled even bigger at her.

  “You’re welcome, Sis,” Chris said arrogantly, and Peyton whipped her head around to scowl at him. She took the opportunity to kick him in the shin. “Ow!” he cried and leaned down to rub his leg.

  “You deserved that,” her mom mumbled and took a sip of her water. Her mom cleared her throat, “That sounds fun, you guys! Noah, how do you like dinner?”

  “It’s very good. Thank you again for inviting me,” Noah repeated.

  “You are welcome anytime. Do you like peach cobbler?” she asked him.

  “I love it,” he informed her.

  “Perfect, that’s what I made for dessert. I should have asked you what you liked when I asked you for dinner! Speaking of, Gloria,” she turned to face Gloria, “what are we going to have at the wedding reception? Are we going to have some Mexican cuisine there?”

  Peyton turned to Noah to explain, “Chris and Gloria are engaged.”

  “Wow! Congratulations!” he told the engaged couple.

  “Thanks, man,” Chis said, wrapping his arm around his lady.

  “Thank you, Noah. We’re extremely excited,” Gloria giggled. “We’re thinking about June!”

  “June!” her mom blurted. “That’s in two months! That’s really soon, and I don’t think we will be able to get everything done in time!” It was as if Peyton saw her mom start to go into a downward spiral. Her mind was running a million miles a minute, and Peyton didn’t want to be around when she went ballistic on Chris because the look she was giving him was not a good one.

  “Yeah, Mom, isn’t that the month to get married? It’s barely summer, and there will be good weather for pictures, and there will be lots of flowers available for picking. Also, that’s when a lot of Gloria’s family will be available to come for the wedding,” Chris explained quickly, but her mom’s look didn’t improve. She stood up and started clearing the table.

  “Walter, will you help me clear the table?” she called, walking toward the kitchen.

  “Sure thing, honey,” he responded and looked at Peyton, “Save me!” he mouthed and picked up a couple of plates and followed his wife into the kitchen.

  “Do you think she’s mad?” Chris asked sarcastically.

  Peyton snorted, “I think you need to go talk to her.”

  “I don’t want to stress her out! It’s just when my family is going to be able to visit. I feel so bad!” Gloria covered her mouth and looked back toward the kitchen.

  “Look,” Peyton began, “You just need to communicate with her. Be open about what you guys want and be honest. Especially with a two-month timeline. I struggled with my mother-in-law and not being completely honest with her about what I wanted, and it made the wedding planning especially hard until I finally got the courage to tell her what I wanted. She wanted to have carnations for the center tables and wanted the guys to wear bowties! I almost let her have her way until she informed me that she had ordered the bowties and carnations, and that’s when I told her I didn’t want that. Luckily, there was enough time to cancel the orders, but all I’m saying is don’t let it get to that point. Be upfront. Everyone deserves that, and things go smoother.”

  “Wow, Peyton, that’s the most you’ve talked in months. Thanks, Sis,” Chris said, genuinely looking surprised and appreciative.

  “Yeah, thanks, Peyton. You’re right, we do need to make sure to communicate,” Gloria admitted and looked at Chris, who started pigging out on the last of the guacamole. “Let’s go talk to your parents.”

  “Are you sure you want to do that right now?” Chris asked. “We could wait for her to cool off a bit and…”

  “No,” Gloria cut him off, “now.”

  Chris sighed and put the chips and guacamole down. “Wish us luck,” he said sarcastically. Peyton was happy to see who truly wore the pants in the relationship.

  They stood up, cleared their plates and headed toward the kitchen to face their doom. Peyton looked sheepishly at Noah, who didn’t seem to be fazed at all. She hadn’t thought about what he would think about her talking about a previous relationship.

  She tried to break the ice with her next statement. “So, I’d love to tell you that dinners usually aren’t this dramatic, but I would be lying.”

  Noah laughed and turned his body so that he was facing her, “It’s all good. It didn’t bother me at all. I thought it was a completely normal dinner with its usual highs and lows.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Peyton agreed and leaned her head against the back of the chair. She was very worried about what he thought about her big ol’ speech to her brother. Especially about the part where she had already put on her big white dress and married the love of her life.

  “That was really nice of you to share that with your brother. Ya know, to help him. It was very sisterly of you, and I think you explained it perfectly. I even liked the story about the bowties,” he chuckled.
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  “Well,” Peyton put her hands in her lap, “it was all true. She was so set on having bowties, and I just didn’t like them at all, and for some reason, the woman loved carnations, which I don’t get. I always thought they were a funeral flower, and I didn’t want that to be a bad omen on my wedding day.” Of course, she didn’t need the carnations as a bad omen because Derek ended up passing away anyway, she thought to herself.

  Her mom walked into the dining room to gather more dishes, and Noah tried to stand up and grab his plate until her mom stopped him. “No, Noah,” she said while shaking her head and grabbed his plate, “you’re a guest. You don’t have to worry about it. You and Peyton just sit, relax, and talk.”

  “Thank you,” he smiled and sat back down as he was instructed.

  “Yeah, thanks, Mom,” Peyton offered.

  “No problem. I’m pretty sure your brother will be on dish duty every time he comes home,” she remarked and pursed her lips.

  Peyton laughed as her mom walked away and shook her head. Once her mom was out of eyesight, she looked at Noah, “My mom can get a little worked up. Sorry.”

  Noah shrugged his shoulders, “It’s all good. She’s just a mom.”

  “Thanks for understanding.”

  “Of course,” he assured her and put his hand on her knee. “Is your mom wanting to do dessert right now? Because I was hoping we could go for a walk.”

  Peyton, feeling flabbergasted, blushed and stuttered, “Uh, let me ask her! Hang on.” She pushed herself away from the table and walked into the kitchen where Gloria and Chris were doing dishes, and her parents were putting food away. “Hey, Mom?”

  Her mom spun around, looking surprised to see her, “Peyton! What are you doing here? Get back out there! Did he leave already?” Her dad put his hand on her back the way he usually did to signal for her to relax. She took a deep breath, realized she was getting worked up, and waited for Peyton to speak.

  “I was just going to ask when you wanted to have dessert because Noah was wanting to go on a walk with me,” Peyton explained, her voice becoming quieter with every word.

  “Oh, honey, that’s fine! When you guys come back, we can have dessert. No worries. I’d like to talk to Gloria and Chris anyway.” She rubbed Peyton’s arm and smiled, “Go for it.”

  “Thanks, Mom. Good luck, you two,” Peyton implied to the love birds.

  “Thanks a lot, Sis,” Chris called.

  “Anytime, bro.” She walked back out to Noah, who was sitting at the table like a male model. “She said it's all good. Let me grab my shoes and a sweatshirt.”

  “Great,” he stood up from the table to put his own shoes on and get his jacket.

  Peyton rushed upstairs to her room and found her Converse to wear and her old sweatshirt she had gotten during high school. She checked herself in the mirror and pulled her hair into a ponytail. She quickly touched up her makeup and lastly checked her teeth to make sure there wasn’t any food stuck between them. After she went through her personal checklist and decided she was suitable, she ran downstairs to meet Noah by the door.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Yup! Let’s do it!” she said enthusiastically and opened the front door. She motioned him to walk forward, and he laughed walking through the door. She chuckled and followed him out the door and closed it behind them. “Well, I’ll follow you. I’ll go where you go.”

  “Can we go check out the barn?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I should probably check on one of the cows anyways. She’s about to go into labor,” she told him.

  “Cool, then instead I’ll follow you because I didn’t realize how dark it was out here, and don’t really know which way the barn is,” he admitted.

  Peyton laughed and pointed, “It’s this way.”

  Noah followed alongside her through the wet grass and looked up at the sky, “Wow, there are so many stars out.”

  “Yeah, the stars are beautiful out here. I would prefer country living any day compared to city living. There’s a kind of innocent beauty you can’t beat with the stars, the sound of the river in the background, and the crickets chirping. It’s my favorite,” she explained.

  “You know, I think you're beautiful,” Noah admitted and stopped walking.

  “Really?” she asked and stopped.

  “Yeah, I do. There’s an innocence to your own beauty that is so attractive. Like, the way you stutter when you get nervous. Or when you look down and tuck your hair behind your ear to hide your face when you blush. It’s so cute, and it makes my heart race.” He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her into his chest, so she could hear his heart beating. It sounded a lot like how hers felt. They stood in the grass, halfway from the barn, for a while embraced in each other's arms underneath the stars, and Peyton couldn’t imagine a more perfect moment.

  “I like you, Peyton,” Noah spoke. Peyton pulled away a little, so she could look at his face while his arms were still wrapped around her. “I like you a lot. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but every time I’m with you, I feel like I can be myself, and I’m comfortable. And now, whenever I’m not around you, I miss you like crazy. And I gotta apologize. I know after that run you didn’t hear from me for a while, and that wasn’t fair, but it was nothing against you. I could tell you were acting a little funny when you came in for your session. I honestly was just studying for a test I had later that week, and now, I’m trying to study for boards, so I promise if it seems like I’m ignoring you, I’m really not. I’m just trying to finish out these last few weeks. Because, honestly, I would much rather be with you than study.”

  Peyton couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The deep-down part of her knew that she sincerely liked Noah and loved being around him. But still, there was something that held her back, and she knew it was the thought of Derek in the back of her mind. Then her mother’s words entered her mind, “Peyton, he would have wanted you to be happy. He would have wanted you to move on.” Her mom was always going to be in the back of her mind telling her things, and she knew that if she were here right now, she would be telling her to open her mouth and say something.

  “I like you, too, Noah. I really do. My life is a bit complicated though. I wouldn’t want to make your life more complicated, especially with you about to graduate and whatnot. You have enough going on,” Peyton looked down in shame. She genuinely did like Noah and having his arms wrapped around her made her feel safe and secure. A feeling she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Sure, she had been hugged by her mom and dad plenty of times, but this was different.

  “Peyton,” Noah whispered and put his hand underneath her chin and lifted her head, so he could look into her eyes. “Please don’t think of yourself as being complicated. That is the furthest from the truth. I know some things have happened in your life, and when you're ready to talk about them, I’ll be here to listen, okay?”

  Peyton took a deep breath and smiled, “Okay.” She put her head down and pulled away from Noah, “Do you want to go to the barn?”

  Noah smiled and nodded, “Sure, let's go to the barn.” Noah unwrapped his arms but grabbed her hand and let her guide him to the barn. Peyton’s stomach did a flip. She loved the feeling of his warm hand in hers.

  She felt guilty for not saying anything else, but if she was being honest, she had no idea what to say. She was shocked and caught off guard and didn’t know how to portray her feelings to him. Her feelings were so mixed up with thoughts of her late husband and wondering if she was crazy for entertaining the thought of another man. Then again, she couldn’t help thinking about Noah every now and again, wondering what he was doing, when would be the next time they saw each other, and if he was thinking about her like she was thinking about him.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked as they walked toward the barn. They were only about a hundred yards away by now.

  “I don’t know. I’m trying to process everything. I’m not trying to be rude, I promise,” she offered. “I guess I neve
r thought of myself ever being liked by another guy again. Do you believe that a person can only fall in love once? Like truly fall in love, or do you think it can happen more than once?”

  Noah looked straight ahead, clearly thinking about the question and deciding how to answer. Granted, Peyton knew it was a loaded question, especially with him knowing now that she had already been married.

  “I think that people are put in our lives when they’re supposed to be, and that everything happens for a reason. And I think you can fall in love with anyone if you let yourself. So no, I don’t think there’s only one specific person for everyone. I mean, I sure hope not. I was determined in the seventh grade that I was going to marry Holly Stewart, and, thank heavens, I didn’t. After high school, she went a little crazy and has already been through two divorces.” Noah laughed and Peyton joined in. Thank heaven he had a sense of humor.

  “Alright, you make a good point,” Peyton admitted. They walked into the barn, and Peyton turned on the lights.

  “Wow, this is bigger than I thought it would be,” Noah said.

  “Well, my dad does house a lot of cows for people, so he needs the space. We have a couple of horses, too, and a chicken coop in the back. In the last stall, though, is a cow named Betsy, and we're waiting for her to go into labor. Wanna see her?” Peyton asked, curious at Noah’s expression. Of course, he had a calm demeanor and didn’t seem phased in the least.

  “Yeah, let's check on Betsy.”

  He and Peyton walked to the back of the barn, and she let go of Noah’s hand to open the stall. She noticed that Betsy hadn’t eaten any hay, but that her water bucket was a little low, so she grabbed it to fill it up with fresh water.

  “Hey, mama,” Peyton said to the heifer and scratched her head. She was standing up now, which made it a little easier for Peyton to examine her.