The Second Chance

by Morgan Utley

  “What about that guy from the restaurant?” she snapped.

  “Oh, you mean the one who was with me when you yelled at me in front of the entire restaurant? Which, by the way, was not okay!” fumed Peyton.

  “Whatever,” Lucy rolled her eyes.

  “I met him at the therapist’s office. He’s the therapist’s nephew, and he helped out at the front desk for a couple of weeks and asked me out,” she replied to the previous question.

  “Don’t you think that’s a little fast?” she snipped.

  “Don’t you think that’s none of your business?” Peyton deflected. “Lucy, I loved your brother. I always have, and I always will,” she sniffed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. “Believe me, I debated back and forth about whether or not I should even entertain the thought of dating another guy only a year after Derek. But my mom told me that there’s a time to mourn, and then there’s a time to move on, and Derek wouldn’t have wanted me to be so unhappy,” Peyton shrugged her shoulders, trying to form words between her tears. “I knew she was right. Don’t you?” she stared intently at Lucy, who was struggling to talk herself.

  “No, he wouldn’t have,” she shook her head, “He would have wanted all of us to be happy and having fun.”

  “That’s what I think too,” Peyton smiled and nodded her head. “I really am sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’m sorry too. I should have never berated you the way I did during your date. That was awful of me. I saw you with that guy and just snapped. Especially after not hearing from you in over a year, it lit a fire in me. But still, I shouldn’t have done that, and I feel bad,” she apologized and hung her head.

  “It’s okay. I understand.” Peyton hugged her, and they both cried for a while. They blubbered and would try talking to each other, but then couldn’t understand each other. Peyton knew this was what she needed to do. The last piece of the puzzle to make herself truly feel complete again. She hated the thought of hurting someone, especially her in-laws. She knew she had to face them and apologize.

  After a few minutes of crying, they pulled away from each other and started laughing.

  “Well, I hope I didn’t completely ruin your date the other night,” she lamented.

  “You didn’t. We worked through it, and it’s all good now,” Peyton assured and smiled.

  “What’s his name?” asked Lucy. “He looked very handsome. And then when I saw him stand up,” she whistled. “The muscles on that man! I had already partially forgiven you when I saw him walk away,” she laughed.

  Peyton busted up laughing and nodded her head, “Yes, his name is Noah. He just graduated from dental school last week.”

  “Good looks and smarts? Wow, sounds like you got a catch. How did you get lucky with two amazing men? I can’t even find one!” she teased.

  “I don’t know,” Peyton shrugged. “I don’t feel like I deserve either of them. Someone up there must be looking out for me.”

  “Probably Derek now,” Lucy decided and became quiet.

  “I think so too. He was pretty amazing. My brother is getting married tomorrow, and I was at his fiancé’s bachelorette party last night, and all I could think about was my own wedding with Derek,” she admitted to Lucy, who started laughing. “He undeniably loved to give our moms a hard time.”

  Lucy laughed, “Yes. Remember when he hid all the men’s ties, and my mom was searching everywhere for them for like an hour, and he just started busting up laughing? She wanted to kill him. I think he did that just a few hours before the wedding, too, so she was super stressed trying to get all the details figured out while he was just looking for trouble.”

  Peyton busted up, “Oh my gosh, I completely forgot about that! That was so funny. Of course, I didn’t hear about it until after because I was getting my hair and makeup done. I do remember your mom coming into my room asking me if I knew where they were, and when I told her I didn’t know, her eyes went super wide, and she ran out of the room. Just her face alone cracked me up. Oh, Derek,” Peyton shook her head, smiling at the memory.

  “Oh, Derek, is right. He certainly knew how to put a smile on people’s faces. Remember at your bachelorette party when we were all getting spray tans, and my cousin had asked for the wrong color tan, and she turned completely orange?” Lucy giggled and went on, “She was so upset, she spent most of the night scrubbing her body, but it was no use. She did her best to stay out of as many pictures as possible, but being in the bridal party we were luckily able to capture that mistake.”

  “That’s right! She begged me to have the photographer edit the pictures because she was so embarrassed by the tan, but Derek said no way. It was too funny,” Peyton chuckled.

  “I missed this,” Lucy said quietly.

  “Me too. It’s been nice to have a girl talk. I haven’t had that in a long time,” Peyton recalled.

  “Yeah, me either.”

  “How about this? Once a month, we get together and have a girl’s night and make sure to catch up on our life’s events. That way we never lose touch, and we’ll get to see each other,” planned Peyton.

  “I would love that! Let’s do it,” Lucy clapped her hands in excitement and smiled wide. “Thank you for coming by, Peyton. It means a lot.”

  “I should have done it a long time ago, but I’m glad I finally did,” Peyton grinned, and Lucy smiled back. It was as if they had never missed a beat. They picked up right where they left off, and Peyton couldn’t be happier.

  Peyton stayed there for another hour talking to Lucy and catching up on her life. She had regretted not coming by sooner to see her because she had missed Lucy. Even though the last time she saw her, Lucy was yelling at her, she realized how much she missed their friendship. Peyton ended up inviting Lucy to the wedding, which she was excited to attend since she and Chris had graduated high school together. She left Lucy’s house with a smile on her face and a sense of accomplishment. Some relationships were worth fighting for, and she was so glad she had found her way back to Lucy.

  When Peyton pulled up the driveway, she noticed Noah’s car parked. “Dang, he beat me,” she mumbled under her breath and parked next to Noah’s car. She walked through the door and found her mom in the kitchen, making lunch.

  “You were gone a while,” she pointed out, “It must have gone well.”

  “Yeah, it did. All is well again. We’re going to try and have a girl’s night once a month to keep in touch with each other,” Peyton informed her

  “I think that’s a great idea, Peyton! You need some girl time. I don’t know when was the last time you had a girl’s night beside Gloria’s bachelorette party. I’m so glad you two worked things out. You girls used to have a lot of fun,” her mother approved of her idea.

  “Thanks Mom. Um, where are the boys?” Peyton looked around, searching for Chris and Noah.

  “They’re out back with Gloria and her family setting tables for the reception. I need to call Felipe’s and make sure they’re coming on time with all the food. Oh! I also need to call the bakery and make sure they’re delivering the cake today, so we can put it in the fridge,” she rambled off.

  “Mom, why don’t I do that? You go make sure the boys are making those tables pretty,” Peyton offered and pulled out her phone to start looking up numbers. “Do you have the receipts, so I know what exactly you ordered?”

  “Yes! They’re over on the dining room table. Thank you so much, honey. I needed to take these sandwiches out to everyone anyway, and I keep getting distracted,” she said, sounding relieved.

  “No problem, that’s why I’m here. Do you mind telling Noah where I am?” Peyton asked.

  Her mom grinned, “Sure thing. He’s been so good about helping. I just love that boy.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Peyton smiled.

  Her mom walked over to her and gave her a big bear hug. “It makes me so happy to see you happy! Especially after this past year, you deserve some happiness and someone to take care of you. And now, I think you may have it
! It’s just so great, Peyton. Alright, I’m going out back. Hopefully, I’ll be back soon. Let me know if Felipe’s or the bakery give you a hard time,” she said and then rushed out the back door to deliver the sandwiches.

  Peyton went right to work and started calling the restaurant to make sure they were on schedule with the food catering. Luckily for them, they were on schedule and were planning to show up right on time a couple of hours before the wedding. Chris and Gloria wanted to feed everyone dinner, so they would walk down the aisle at five and then have the reception right afterward since Gloria’s parents were paying hundreds of dollars for food. Peyton felt bad that her mom ended up planning the entire wedding, but since Gloria’s parents lived in Mexico, it made it hard for them to help Gloria. Even though Peyton’s mom planned and put together the wedding, she was grateful that Gloria’s parents were willing to hand over a big check to cover all costs.

  After calling the restaurant and double-checking the order, she called the bakery to make sure they were finishing up the cake. While she was talking to the bakery, Noah walked in and smiled her favorite smile. Peyton thought he looked like a supermodel strutting in with his fitted jeans and his dental school logo t-shirt. He looked casual but pulled it off effortlessly. Peyton couldn’t help but be attracted to him and could feel her face flushing when he walked in. The first thing he did was walk over to her and wrap his arms around her while she was still talking on the phone, which did not help her focus on the conversation. When Peyton was asking what time they were planning on delivering the cake, Noah started kissing her head, and Peyton was having a hard time keeping her train of thought.

  Once she received confirmation that they were going to be dropping off the cake in a couple of hours, she was able to hang up the phone and focus on Noah.

  “You did not make that easy for me,” Peyton stated and slipped her phone in her pocket.

  Noah chuckled, “Was I distracting you?”

  “Yes,” she confirmed, “Yes, you were.”

  Noah kissed her affectionately on the lips and kept his arms wrapped around her waist. Peyton only pulled away ever so slightly so that she could speak, “Now you're definitely distracting me,” she whispered and kissed him again.

  This time Noah pulled away, “I’m sorry, did you need to make another phone call?”

  “Nope, I’m all done,” she smiled and kissed him again. While they were kissing, someone came through the back door, which caused Peyton to jump away from Noah.

  “Am I interrupting something?” Chris teased and started laughing.

  “Is that a rhetorical question?” Peyton said sarcastically and walked into the kitchen for a drink of water.

  “That’s up to you, Sis. I just came back to grab some water for everybody. Mom and Gloria are redoing all the table decorations. She says us men have no taste,” Chris chuckled and put his hands up, “Fine with me. I don’t want to have any taste. I just want to marry my woman tomorrow!”

  “Should I tell Gloria that you referred to her as ‘woman’”? Peyton threatened and started laughing.

  “You like seeing me get in trouble with her, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I do actually,” Peyton admitted. “Does Mom need me out there?”

  Chris shrugged his shoulders, “Probably. I’m afraid to go back out there myself.”

  “Sissy,” Peyton mumbled, and Chris threw a wad of paper at her.

  Peyton walked back over to Noah, who was undoubtedly amused by the conversation between the two siblings. “There’s never a dull moment when I come here,” he admitted, and all three of them laughed.

  Chris walked back out to see what he could do to help, which left Peyton and Noah alone in the house again. “Did I ever tell you how amazing I think you are? You’ve helped so much with the wedding even though you never needed to pitch in the way you did,” she took his hand and smiled up at him. “You could be spending your days relaxing and doing whatever you want, but instead, you’ve been letting my mom put you to work. It’s so nice of you to do all that for Chris and Gloria.”

  “You know, I didn’t just do it for them,” Noah hinted in his deep voice.

  “Oh yeah?” flirted Peyton.

  “Yes. Helping your family out has been no big deal, and I’ve been able to be with you all week too. To me, that’s worth it,” hummed Noah, giving her a quick kiss. “Is that okay with you?”

  Peyton nodded, “I’ve loved having you here. It’s been nice to see you every day and get to know you better and be with you.”

  “I feel the same way,” he grinned.

  “Good. Should we get back out there? I need to tell my mom that the cake is going to be delivered in a couple of hours.” Peyton and Noah walked hand in hand out the door and toward the big white tent.

  “Isn’t there a rehearsal dinner tonight?” Noah asked.

  “Yeah, there is. I think it’s at six tonight, and it’s actually at Maxwells, so I’ll finally be able to eat there,” Peyton answered. She looked at Noah, who was smirking at her, and the light bulb finally went off in her head. She stopped walking and turned to face him, grabbing his arms, so he stopped walking too. “Oh my gosh, Noah, will you come with me and be my date tonight? Be my date all weekend?” pleaded Peyton.

  “Yes. Yes, I will,” he smiled crookedly and continued, “I wasn’t trying to guilt you into asking me.”

  “No, I don’t feel guilty. I wanted to ask you! I completely spaced, and this morning I went to go see Lucy...” Peyton trailed off as she noticed that Noah had a confused look on his face.

  “Wait. Lucy from the restaurant?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I went to her house this morning,” Peyton clarified.

  “Oh, really? How did that go? Is that why you weren’t here when I arrived?” Noah questioned, and they started walking again to the tent.

  “Yes,” Peyton confirmed and started telling him about her morning with Lucy. He didn’t say anything until she finished telling her story.

  “Do you feel better now?” he asked thoughtfully.

  Peyton nodded her head slowly, “Yeah, I do. It was good that I went and finally mended that bridge. Ever since that night at Maxwell’s, the thought of her being so upset with me has been eating at me. So, I went in hopes she could forgive me, and luckily, it all worked out.”

  “Good. I’m glad you guys figured it out,” Noah put his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

  “Yeah, me too,” Peyton smiled, and they walked inside the tent.

  Chapter 23

  Everyone kept decorating and adding last-minute touches until about five, and then Mom had everyone get ready for the rehearsal dinner. Peyton dressed in a black dress with red heels and pinned her hair up. She felt sort of ridiculous with how much she dressed up for a Mexican restaurant, but she knew if she came down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt, her mom would have made her change anyway.

  She started down the stairs only to see Noah waiting for her. His jaw dropped. She came further into view and felt her face flush. With Noah’s eyes watching her, she had to focus extra hard on walking in her heels down the stairs. Once she got to the bottom, Noah wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her.

  “You look beautiful,” he whispered in her ear and kissed her cheek.

  “Thank you,” Peyton looked up shyly, smiling at him.

  “Get a room,” Chris called.

  “Or, don’t,” her dad piped up.

  “We won’t,” Peyton clarified and shot a look at her annoying brother.

  “Can we go now, please?” her mother begged, opening the door and gesturing for people to walk out. Everyone did as they were told and headed to the rehearsal dinner.

  The dinner lasted about two hours, and it went by fast because everyone was having a blast. Gloria and her parents seemed right at home with the restaurant, and Peyton’s family loved watching Gloria’s family open up and getting to know them better. Her mom had rented out a large party room, where they all ate endless amoun
ts of chips and salsa, continuously talking and laughing.

  Peyton’s family was able to meet more of Gloria’s family who had flown in to celebrate the beautiful couple. Gloria had a few aunts and uncles come, which meant lots of cousins. Peyton forgot their names within the first five seconds of meeting them. Peyton’s parents were loving all the excitement and laughter and talked a lot with Gloria’s family.

  Chris looked so happy—and so did Gloria. Peyton could tell she was more in her comfort zone with her family around, and she seemed genuinely full of bliss and joy. Peyton believed that Chris was happy because Gloria was. He stayed by her side the entire time and made conversation with all of her family. There was a brief moment when Peyton felt some pride toward her brother and was proud of him. He had grown up so much over the last year, and she could tell he undeniably loved Gloria.

  Peyton observed the same thing from Noah. He was so good about going with the flow and being friendly toward everyone, and it made him easy to love. She was falling so hard for the man, and she was glad he was with her at the dinner. Noah and Peyton sat next to each other the entire time, making sure some part of their body was always touching, whether it was a hand on the thigh, Noah’s arm wrapped around Peyton’s body, or holding hands. It kept Peyton’s heart rate up, but she didn’t mind. She had an amazing guy who loved to be around her, and she had never felt so special.

  After everyone decided they had had enough chips and salsa, people started heading home to prepare for the next day, including Noah. As much as Peyton didn’t want him to go, she knew it made sense for him to go home, so he didn’t drive as far. Gloria’s parents made her say goodnight to Chris, so she could get enough sleep for the next day, and Chris came home with Peyton and her parents. Once Gloria’s parents and Peyton’s parents all went to bed, Chris and Peyton sat on the couch in a daze.

  “I can’t believe I’m getting married tomorrow,” Chris stared blankly.