A New Hope (The Second Chance Series Book 2) (7 page)

Karla was taken aback by James’ words. “You want to apologize? So you’re finally admitting you did something wrong?”

“Listen, I came here to say I’m sorry. I have gone through an anger management course and know what I did was wrong. I couldn’t apologize before now because of the restraining order, but now that I can I knew I needed to come over. I know I don’t deserve it, but I would really like your forgiveness.”

“Are you serious?” Rylee asked, “You punched her in the face, ripped her shirt and pushed her against a brick wall so hard that she had bruises and scrapes on her back for days.”

“Rylee, calm down. We all remember what happened.” Leslie said.

“Rylee,” Karla said from beside her. “Please calm down. I want to hear what he has to say.”

“Thank you, Karla.” James said.

“Don’t thank me yet. I haven’t said I will forgive you, but I will hear you out.”

“Okay. Fair enough.” James said and he took a deep breath. “When I was little my dad took off, I didn’t know until two years ago that he was arrested for attacking and raping a woman in a grocery store parking lot.”

Rylee snorted at this and said, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Rylee,” Karla admonished, “I said I would hear him out.”

Rylee just looked at her for a minute before she nodded and said “sorry” to James.

“It`s okay.” James said to her with a small smile, “You’re right. I was acting just like him. Anyway, to continue. After Albert and I found this out we both kind of snapped. We started lashing out and causing trouble. Last summer I was arrested for attacking another girl. I got off with anger management because I had never been in trouble with the law and it was her word against mine. Since December I have been away at a special school for troubled boys. I didn’t know what Albert had done until a few weeks ago. I wasn’t allowed contact with anyone outside of the school for the five months I was there. When I got home three weeks ago mom told me what had happened with Albert.”

“Why do you want forgiveness now?” Karla asked.

“We’re moving. Mom got a job offer in Memphis and we’re leaving in three days. I would love to be able to start over, but I understand if you can’t.”

“James, I have suffered a lot in my life, and what you did wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to me. I want to know something before I can give you my forgiveness.”

“Fair enough. What do you want to know?”

“Why?” Was all Karla said.

“At the time I thought it was because I wanted you and I couldn’t have you, but now I know it was because I wanted the control. It was never about you Karla, it would have happened to any girl I set my sights on. You just happened to be the one my eyes landed on. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t been stopped.”

“James, I am glad you`re getting the help you need. I have already forgiven you for what you did, but I will never forget it and I never want to see you again. I wish you well in Memphis.” Karla said and she got up from the table and walked out of the room. Conner, Rylee and Callie all followed her.

Elliot sat there for a second and when James stood up to leave he vaulted from his chair and punched James in the nose. “My dad always told me only wimps hit women.”

Andrew pulled Elliot away before he could hit James again. “Elliot, calm down. I agree with your dad, but you need to apologize to James.” 

“Who are you, kid?” James asked.

“I’m Karla’s brother, Elliot.”

“Elliot, you pack quite a punch. Now, I’m going to walk out of here and not look back. Dr. Peterson, let Karla know that I will never bother her again.” James walked out of the kitchen and out of the house.

Karla watched from the upstairs window as James got in his mom’s car. “Oh my gosh. James has blood on his face.” Callie said from beside her.

“Who hit him?” Rylee asked.

“Elliot’s the only one not here.” Conner pointed out.

“Crap!” Karla said loudly and ran back downstairs. When she walked into the kitchen Andrew and Elliot were at the bar, Andrew was looking at Elliot’s hand.

“We’re going to ice this and see how it looks in a couple hours. If the swelling hasn’t gone down I’ll take you to have an x-ray.” Andrew told Elliot as Leslie handed him an ice pack.

Karla walked over to where they sat and looked at her brother, “Why on earth would you hit him?”

“I don’t know. It just happened. The thought of you being hurt just made something snap inside me and I reacted without thinking. Now I think my knuckle is broke.”

“From the amount of blood, I think James’ nose is broke.” Conner said as he walked closer to Elliot and high fived his good hand. “I liked you already, but now, you’re the younger brother I never had. Thanks for doing what we have all wanted to do to that jerk.”

Elliot grinned at them all and said, “It was my pleasure.”

The next few days passed quickly. Elliot’s things arrived and they got his room set up, Andrew went back to work and Leslie landed a huge contract with an out-of-state marketing firm. On the night Leslie was supposed to meet with her mother she was a bundle of nerves.

“Leslie, honey, are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Andrew asked as he helped her fasten her diamond infinity necklace.

“Yes I want you to come with me, but I need to do this on my own. I need to face her after all these years.”

“I understand that baby. I’m just worried about you.”

“I know, love. I promise I’ll be alright. I’m picking Bob up in twenty minutes so I really need to go. Can you handle all five of them on your own?” She asked him with a smile.

“Yep. I’m just going to order pizza and let them hang out in the media room. They’re all staying so I’ll get the sleeping bags out later and they can crash in there like they usually do.”

“Sounds like a plan. I shouldn’t be late. We intentionally got early reservations so Bob could be home for tuck-in time.”

Andrew kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly before he let he leave. She called out a “goodbye” to the kids, who were all in Karla’s room playing a board game, and walked downstairs and out the front door. She was driving Andrew’s mustang tonight and was thankful she opted for dress pants because getting in and out of his car in a skirt was tricky.

When she pulled into her brother’s driveway a few minutes later he was standing on his porch waiting for her. He grinned when he opened the car door and slid in. “You’re going to let me drive this baby on the way back right?”

She laughed as she backed out of the driveway and shook her head, “‘Baby’ is the correct name for her. She`s definitely Andrew’s baby. We’re lucky he loves me more than her or I wouldn’t even get to drive her.”

“Too right. Maybe I can talk him into letting me drive her.”

“Yeah, good luck with that.” She responded with a small chuckle before her mood sobered and she glanced at him. “Are you nervous about seeing her after all this time?”

“I am, but I think we need to, even if it’s just to let her go.”

“I hope this is the right decision.”

“Me too sis, me too.”

They were quiet for the rest of the drive, but when Leslie pulled into a parking space at the hotel she turned to him. “I give it twenty minutes before one of us is ready to go. If you see me do this,” She scratched her arm softly, “that means it’s time to go.”

“Got it, and if you see me do this,” he scratched his head a little, “then I’m ready.”

“Sounds like a plan. Let’s get this over with.” She said and stepped out of the car. She locked the doors and set the alarm before they entered the hotel restaurant together.

They were fifteen minutes early for their reservation so they sat at the bar and waited for their table. Five minutes after they sat down a petite woman with short blonde hair walked in. As soon as her eyes landed on the woman Leslie instantly knew it was there mother. She nudged Bob with her elbow. “She’s here,” she said and when he looked up she nodded toward the woman who was walking toward the bar. She either didn’t see them or didn’t recognize them because she was headed to the opposite end from where they were.

“Think she even recognizes us?” Bob asked quietly.

“I doubt it. I was still in diapers when she left and you weren’t much older.”

“Guess we’ll find out in a minute. Our table is ready.”

As they followed the hostess to their table they watched another hostess approach their mother and lead her to the table. They all arrived at the same time and just stared at each other for a second.

“Mother.” Bob greeted the woman who gave birth to him and Leslie before he pulled out Leslie’s chair and then took his own.

“Bob, Leslie, you’re all grown up.”

“That happens over the course of 30 plus years.” Leslie said in a calm voice. She was already ready to get out of here.

“Yes, I suppose it does.” She responded wistfully. “I think we should get straight to the point of why I wanted to see you both.”

“I agree.” Leslie said in a clipped tone. She really didn’t want to be here any longer than necessary.

“Over the course of the years I have been married and divorced several times, I just could not find the right fit, until last year. I married a man who has everything I’ve always longed for. He’s a record producer in California and is here in Nashville this week signing a new client. When he found out I had two children in the area he insisted I see you while we were here.”

“Wait a minute. You aren’t here because you wanted to see us, but because your new husband is making you see us?” Bob asked in an irritated tone.

“Of course. Why would I want to see my two grown children? I haven’t in the past have I?”

“Wow. If you don’t want to be here then by all means leave. We both have families at home that we’d rather be with anyway.” Leslie told her in a clipped tone.

“Don’t you sass me young lady. I am still your mother.”

“You were never my mother. You’re just the woman who gave birth to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have a wonderful husband, daughter and soon to be son at home waiting for me.” Leslie said as she stood up and started walking toward the door.

“I told Herold this was a mistake. I can see that you’re just like your father, both of you.”

Bob looked at her with sadness in his eyes and said, “I would much rather be like him than you. He stayed and made sure Leslie and I had everything we needed. You left and never looked back. Leslie’s right, you were never our mother. Goodbye, Karen.” Bob said and he tossed two twenty dollar bills on the table to cover their drinks before he followed Leslie out to the car.

“That went exactly how I expected.” Leslie said as he slid into the passenger seat.

“Yes it did.” He agreed and then looked out the window, signaling her that he didn’t want to talk about it. She took the hint and drove him home in silence. After she dropped him off with the promise of seeing him at Karla’s party next week, she drove home.

As soon as she walked in the door she was assaulted by the smell of pizza and the sound of her family laughing from the kitchen. This was home, this was where she was meant to be.

The following week was uneventful. On the day Manuel and Kiara were supposed to arrive, with their aunt, Karla was a nervous wreck. She loved her brother and sister, but she did not want to meet their aunt. She couldn’t even think about this woman as her aunt, she was just another person who didn’t care what she wanted. Manuel and Kiara had tried talking her out of coming, had told her how upset Karla was and how much she didn’t want to meet her, but she still insisted on coming. She wouldn’t give in at all and that proved to Karla that she only cared about herself.

On the way to the airport Karla was unusually quiet. She sat in the very back of the SUV and just stared out the window. Over the past couple of days she had withdrawn more and more into herself and she wasn’t eating right. Andrew was certain that it was all due to her aunt insisting on this meeting. He hated the woman for putting Karla through this.

Pulled away from her thoughts when the SUV pulled into a parking place at the airport, Karla took a deep breath before climbing out and standing beside Leslie. They walked into the airport, stood close to luggage pick-up and waited. After just a couple of minutes Karla spotted Manuel’s head above the crowd and saw Andrew waving to him. She took another deep breath, hoping to calm herself a little, and looked to Manuel’s side.

The woman looked older than Karla thought she should, her face was lined with deep crevices and her hair was mostly grey. She was shorter than Kiara and almost as round as she was tall. Karla knew she was only in her early fifties, but she looked older than Mrs. Jones, who was in her eighties. As they got closer Karla noticed the expression on her face and wondered if she’d eaten sour lemons on the plane. Shaking off all thoughts of the woman with them, she plastered a smile on her face and greeted her brother and sister when they stopped beside her.

“Kiara, Manuel, it’s so good to see you. How was the flight?”

Manuel set his bag down and wrapped Karla in a warm, loving embrace and whispered in her ear, “We tried again to get her to not come, but she insisted. I’m so sorry, sis.”

“It isn’t your fault and I don’t blame you at all.” She whispered back and broke the embrace.

As soon as she was free from Manuel, Kiara wrapped her in a hug as well, “She’s leaving tomorrow so she won’t be here for your birthday party.”

Karla smiled a genuine smile for the first time that day at her sister’s words. At least her birthday wouldn’t be ruined. When she pulled away from Kiara she looked at the woman beside her, the sour lemon look was still on her face and her deep brown eyes looked cold and dead. Karla took a deep breath and held out her hand. “Hello. I’m Karla, welcome to Tennessee.”

“I am Marianna Cruz, Alexander was my brother, so you are my niece.”

“Yes ma’am.” Karla responded to her straight to the point statement.

“I am here for only two reasons. I came to give you something and to see the conditions in which you are living. Then I will go back home to my family.”

“Mrs. Cruz, I can assure you that Karla is well taken care of and very loved in our home.” Leslie said as she stepped forward.

“That may be, but I must see for myself. Now I am ready to go. Manuel get my suitcase.”

Manuel rolled his eyes behind her back and grabbed her small suitcase and his larger one. On the way to the SUV Karla introduced them to Elliot and by the time they got there Karla felt like her brothers and sister had always been a part of her life. Once they were loaded, Mrs. Cruz insisted on riding in the front seat with Andrew, they traveled the few short miles to their home.

When Andrew stopped in the circular style driveway Kiara gasped at the sight of the house before them. She had seen houses like this before, but had never been inside of one before. It was enormous. When they walked in Karla turned to Manuel and Kiara, “There are only five bedrooms so Kiara, you’re going to have to stay in my room tonight. When Mrs. Cruz leaves you will have your own room for the rest of your stay.”

“Karla, I don’t mind staying with you. We can sit up all night and talk about boys.” Kiara grinned and Karla laughed a little. There were only two boys she cared about, but she knew that Kiara had several admirers to gossip about.

“That sounds fun. Now if you will all follow me I will show you to your rooms.”

They all walked up the stairs, Mrs. Cruz complaining the entire time, and Karla showed them to their rooms. Once she showed Manuel and Mrs. Cruz to their rooms she doubled back and opened her bedroom door. Kiara, who was right behind her, gasped as she walked through the door. “Oh wow. Your bedroom his huge.”

Karla laughed a little and showed Kiara the bathroom and walk-in closet before they headed back downstairs for some lunch.