A New Hope (The Second Chance Series Book 2) (6 page)

Elliot was awakened by the smell of bacon and waffles. When he walked downstairs and into the kitchen he saw Karla sitting at the bar with a glass of orange juice and reading and Leslie at the stove taking bacon out of a skillet and letting it drain. When the timer dinged she opened the waffle maker on the counter and pulled out a golden brown waffle. He walked further into the room and saw Andrew sitting at the table, watching Leslie as she cooked.

The first time he saw Andrew he was a little scared of him. His size was very intimidating, but when he smiled all the fear went away. Andrew was one of the nicest people you would want to meet. Now, as he looked at Andrew, he knew that he would always be taken care of.

He stood there for another minute before Karla looked up from the book she was reading and smiled at him. He walked over to where she was sitting and sat beside her. “Whatcha reading?”

“
Sense and Sensibility
by Jane Austen. It’s one of the books on my summer reading list for school. I’ve read it before and know I could pass the test, but I wanted to refresh my memory so I’m reading it again.”

“I wish I could read like that. I can barely get through a fourth grade book.”

“Umm… Don’t get mad at me Elliot, but I researched dyslexia last night and I found a few ways that may help you learn to process information better.” She told him with an unsure tone in her voice.

“Why would I get mad at you for that? You’re trying to help me and I appreciate that.”

“I was just worried because I didn’t ask you before I did it. I’m glad you’re not mad. Want me to tell you what I found?”

When Elliot nodded his head, Karla started to explain everything she found to him. As they sat at the bar Leslie and Andrew watched their interaction.

“She still questions herself. After almost a year I had hoped she wouldn’t, but I guess she probably always will.” Leslie said with concern.

“Baby, she doesn’t with us anymore and that’s an improvement. She is still getting use to Elliot, but once she’s completely comfortable you know she won’t hesitate to do what she feels is best. Now, I think we need to call them to the table for breakfast.”

Leslie smiled and kissed the top of his shaved head before she walked to the bar. “You two ready for waffles?”

Karla looked back at her and grinned. “I’m always ready for waffles.” She answered and grabbed her juice glass from the bar.

As they were eating Andrew went over everything they had to do today. When they finished breakfast Karla and Elliot loaded the dishwasher while Andrew went into his office to make some phone calls and Leslie sat at the bar with her laptop.

As soon as the last dish was loaded there was a knock on the front door. “That is most likely my friends.” Karla said as she walked to the door with Elliot right behind her. When she opened the door she was surprised to see Bob Jennings standing there.

“Hey Mr. Jennings, what brings you here this early.”

“Karla, how many times do I have to ask you to please call me Bob?” He asked her with a smile. “We’re family now and family should be on a first name basis.”

“Sorry, Bob.” Karla said with a chastised expression on her face.

“You’re forgiven. Now, to answer your question, I’m here to talk to Andrew and Leslie.”

“Bob,” Leslie said as she walked in from the kitchen, “I thought that was your voice I heard. What brings you here?”

“I need to talk to you and Andrew about something. It’s pretty important.”

“Okay. He’s in his office making some phone calls, but I’m sure he’s almost finished. Let’s talk in there.” She turned to Karla and Elliot and said, “If you two could run up and get the rest of the stuff out of Elliot’s room I’d appreciate it.”

As Leslie and Bob walked off there was another knock on the door. Karla opened it and was relieved to see the smiling faces of her friends. Conner walked in and hugged her tightly before he said, “We saw Mr. Jennings’ car. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know. He came in and said he needed to talk to Leslie and Andrew and now they’re in Andrew’s office. We’ll know soon enough.”

“Karla, who is Mr. Jennings?” Elliot asked tentatively from behind her.

She turned to face him and answered, “He’s my DCS caseworker and Leslie’s brother.”  

“Oh,” Elliot replied. He was at a loss as to what to say about this new information.

“I’m not going to worry about why he’s here. We will know soon enough and it may be a family issue and not related to me at all.”

“It could be. You’re right, let’s worry about that later.” Callie offered, hoping to lower her brother’s stress level. “What needs to be done this morning?”

Karla led them upstairs to Elliot’s room and they started moving everything out.

While the kids were working on the room, Andrew, Leslie and Bob were talking. “What brings you here this early Bob?”

“Two things. First, Karla’s aunt has requested to meet her. She said she’s still wanting to sign her rights away, but she wants to meet her before the adoption can be finalized.”

“Okay. We can fly her here next month with Kiara and Manuel. That shouldn’t be a big deal. Why does she want to meet her though?” Andrew wondered.

“She said something about having something of her mother’s to give to Karla. Apparently it was something Alexander wanted her to hold for Kiara, but she wants Karla to have it instead.”

“Karla would like that. She treasures the things from her father. Now, what’s the second thing you came here for?” Leslie enquired.

Bob took a deep breath and looked at the floor for a second before he looked Leslie in the eyes and said, “I got an email from mom this morning and she’s coming to Nashville at the end of the month. Sis, she wants to see us.”

Leslie looked at her brother in shock. Of all the things he could have said, this was the furthest from her mind. “Why on earth would she come here?”

“She didn’t say. Let me pull up the email and you can read it for yourself.”

After tapping on his phone for a minute he handed it to her.

Bob,

I will be in Nashville on June 28
th
through July 7
th
and would like to see you and Les. I hope you can find the time for me.

Until then, Karen (mom)

Leslie read it twice and handed the phone back to her brother. “Well, from the straight to the point-ness of that email, I can tell she hasn’t changed any.”

“Leslie, honey, are you okay?” Andrew asked as he stood from his chair and wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m not sure Andrew. I haven’t seen her in over thirty years and haven’t heard from her since our wedding day. I don’t even remember what she looks like anymore.” She turned toward Bob and said, “I’m not sure I want to see her. She couldn’t bother to come to either of our high school or college graduations, either of our weddings, be there for the birth of your son or Dad’s funeral. Why does she think we should take time for her when she has never taken time for either of us?”

“I have no idea, sis. All I know is that if we don’t see her, on our terms, she will probably track us down at home and I really don’t want her to know where Meghan and I live.”

“She can’t come here. I don’t want her around Karla and Elliot. Those two have been through enough without adding her into the mix.”

“I agree.” Andrew told them. “Bob, why don’t you email her back and plan a dinner meeting for you, her and Leslie. I’ll stay here with the kids.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Where should we meet her Leslie?” Bob turned to his sister and asked.

“How about the Radisson? Their restaurant is great and there is easy access to the exits if the crap gets too deep.”

Bob smiled a little at her comment and proceeded to email their mother asking what day she would like to meet. When he was finished he turned to Leslie. “I have to get back to work now, but I will call Karla’s aunt and let her know that she’s welcome to come with Kiara and Manuel.”

“Let her know that we will gladly pay her airfare here and back if she needs us to. I just want to get the adoption finished so we can become Karla’s parents, legally
.
” Leslie told him as he opened the office door and stepped out.

“I will. I will call you when mother emails me back. See you soon, sis.” Bob hugged Leslie and walked out the front door.

Once he was gone Leslie turned to Andrew. “We need to tell Karla so she isn’t surprised by this.”

“Tell me what?” Karla asked from the door way to the kitchen. “Sorry, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, I promise. I just came down to get some sodas and happened to hear my name.”

“It’s okay, honey. Can you go get everyone and we will talk in the kitchen. May as well tell them now, because we know you will as soon as we tell you.” Leslie said with a smile and Karla headed upstairs to get her friends.

Five minutes later all the kids were seated around the table and Leslie and Andrew were at the bar facing them. “Okay. As you all know Bob was here a little while ago. He came by to tell us that Karla’s aunt in Puerto Rico wants to meet her.” Leslie said, getting straight to the point.

“Wait, what? I thought she signed the papers saying she didn’t want custody of me?” Karla responded to Leslie’s statement.

“She did, but now she wants to meet you. According to Bob she still doesn’t want custody. All she wants to do is meet you and give you something that was your grandmother’s.”

“Why can’t she just send it with Kiara and Manuel when they come in a couple of weeks?” Conner asked as he scooted closer to Karla and put his arm around her shoulders. He hated to see the fear and worry that had come into her eyes.

“I don’t know, but we told Bob to tell her that she’s welcome to join them if she want
s
.” Andrew told them.

“What if I don’t want to meet her?” Karla asked, her fear and uncertainty starting to take over.

“Then I’m afraid she will try to stop the adoption process. She still has about six months to change her mind and file for custody of you. I’m not sure we could fight against a blood relative and win.” Andrew answered her question. He had to work to keep his temper in check. Karla’s fear and hurt were growing with each passing second and he was really beginning to loath her aunt.

“So she’s just another person who is leaving me with no choice. What I want doesn’t matter, as long as she gets what she wants.” Karla had tears running down her face when she looked at Leslie and Andrew. “I’ll meet her, and I’ll be nice while she’s here, but then I never want to see her again. She doesn’t care about me or my feelings and I don’t need people in my life like that anymore. Now if you will all excuse me, I’m going to my room.”

Without looking at anyone, she pulled away from Conner and went upstairs to her room. The first thing she did was email Manuel and inform him of this latest development. Then she called Mrs. Jones. It had been a while since they had talked and she needed her right now. In the past year she had met a lot of people, but other than Leslie, Andrew and her friends, Mrs. Jones was the one she turned to when she needed an understanding, and non-judgmental, ear.

After Karla left the room Conner looked at Andrew, “Sir, you know I respect you so when I say what I’m about to say, remember that I mean no disrespect. Why would you agree to let that woman come here without consulting Karla first?”

“Conner, you need to understand something, if we hadn’t agreed to it she could have interfered with the adoption process. We want to be Karla’s parents, legally, and in order for that to happen we have to do what her aunt wants. I don’t like this anymore than you do, I hate to see her cry, but I don’t see as any of us have a choice. I’m going to call Manuel later and see if he can talk to her. He knows how much Karla means to me and Leslie and he’s seen for himself how we are already a family. Maybe he can convince her that she doesn’t need to come here.”

“Dr. Peterson?” Elliot asked from beside an unusually quiet Rylee. “Is Karla going to be alright?”

“Yes, Elliot. Karla is going to be fine. She just needs a little time to herself.” Andrew answered.

“Okay, good. Now can someone please tell me who Manuel and Kiara are?”

“Manuel and Kiara are Karla’s brother and sister. Her father was married and had two children when her mother got pregnant with her. Before you say anything, there is a story behind that, but that is one Karla will have to share with you.” Leslie answered him.

“Hey Elliot,” Rylee said from beside him, “how would you like to watch a movie while we wait for Karla?”

“Don’t you want to go check on Karla?” He asked, slightly irritated that he seemed to be the only one worried about her.

“More than you know, but I know her well enough to know that she will come to us when she wants to talk. If we pressure her she will just close herself off and we may never know how she’s feeling. Karla is a very complex person, but once you understand her it’s easy to know what she wants.” Callie answered for Rylee.

“Elliot, we all love Karla and want to help her, and we will help her, but not until she comes to us. We’ve learned the hard way not to push her.” Conner added.

“I guess y’all know her better than me, but I’m still worried about her.” Elliot told them.

“We all are Elliot. Believe me, we all are.” Leslie told him.

He sat there and thought for a minute before he looked at Rylee, “What movie did you have in mind?” He asked.

“You’re the newbie to the group so I think we’ll let you choose.” Karla said from behind them, making them all jump. When they all looked at her she gave them a small smile. “I’m okay everyone. I emailed Manuel, but he hasn’t responded yet and I called Mrs. Jones. Now I want to watch a movie with my family while we wait for Elliot’s things to arrive.”

“That sounds like an awesome plan. You kids go watch a movie and Leslie and I will take the bed down in the guest room to make room for Elliot’s things.” Andrew told them with a smile.

Two hours later the kids emerged from the media room chattering about
Transformers
, Elliot had never seen it so that’s what he picked. As they headed downstairs the doorbell rang and Karla answered it. When she opened the door she took an instinctive step back and bumped into Conner. His arms went around her to steady her and he looked up.

When Conner saw who was at the door he immediately released Karla and stepped in front of her. “What are you doing here, James?”

James held his hands up and took a small step back, “I just came to talk to Karla.”

“That is so not happening.” Rylee said and wrapped her arms protectively around Karla.

“Karla,” Leslie called from the kitchen doorway. “Who’s at the door?”

“Mrs. Peterson I think you should get Dr. Peterson in here please.” Callie called back to her.

“I’m right here. What’s going on?” Andrew said from behind them. When he looked up he saw the reason the kids were all on edge. “Mr. Greene, what are you doing here? You’re not supposed to come within 100 feet of Karla.”

“Actually, sir, the restraining orders on me and Albert expired last week. I just want to talk to Karla.”

“I already said that isn’t happening.” Rylee told him from behind Andrew.

“Karla, do you want to talk to Mr. Greene?” Andrew asked without taking his eyes off of James.

“Not particularly, but I think I may need to.” She answered.

Conner turned his back to James and locked his sapphire eyes on her emerald ones. “You don’t have to do this. You do not owe him anything.”

Karla smiled warmly at Conner and laid her hand on his cheek, “I know I don’t, but if I don’t talk to him now I will wonder for the rest of my life what he wanted to say.”

Conner nodded, kissed her forehead and turned around. “James, I swear to you that if you do anything, and I mean anything, to upset her you will have me to deal with.” He said to James and stepped aside so Karla could step forward.

“What do you want, James?” She asked.

“I just want to talk, alone if we can.” James replied.

“That definitely isn’t happening.” Rylee said again.

“Rylee’s right. There is no way you’re talking to her alone.” Conner said as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Fine,” James said. “Can I at least come inside then?”

“Sure.” Andrew answered and stepped aside for James to pass. Leslie led the way to the kitchen.

Once they were all seated, James at one end of the table and Karla at the other, Karla asked again, “What do you want James?”

“I want to apologize for everything.”