A New Journey (Second Chance #3) (8 page)

The next morning Karla, Leslie, Andrew and Elliot walked through the house with the Fire Marshall and insurance agent. “Dr. Peterson, since the fire has been deemed arson we cannot start your claim until the investigators release the scene. Upon that time we will have a contractor evaluate the foundation and see if the house can be repaired or if it needs to be torn down and rebuilt.”

“That’s understandable.” Andrew said and turned to the Fire Marshall. “How long do you think the investigation will take?”

“We will have it wrapped up by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest.”

“So if all goes well we should be back in the house by Christmas.” Andrew said to his family.

“What you can do is go up to the bedrooms and get whatever you need for the next couple of days. Once we wrap this up you can start moving things out.” The Fire Marshall told them.

Andrew nodded and led his family upstairs. When Karla stopped in front of her room, but didn’t try to go in Andrew became more worried than he had been. She hadn’t spoken much since he got to them last night and she’d barely eaten this morning. She wouldn’t even answer Conner’s phone calls. “Honey, are you okay?” He asked as he stopped beside her.

“It’s still locked.” She replied in a soft voice that reminded him of the first time they’d met.

“We’ll get it open for you.” Elliot said from beside her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her into his room as Andrew went to get a screwdriver. “Stop blaming yourself for this. It wasn’t your fault.” Elliot said after Karla was seated on his bed.

Karla didn’t respond. She just sat there and stared at the wall. When Elliot stepped into her line of sight she looked up at him and he could see the emptiness in her eyes. “Leslie could have died.”

“You could have too.” Leslie said from the open doorway. “But neither of us did.”

“The house.” Karla started to say, but was interrupted by Andrew when he walked into the room.

“Can be repaired or replaced. You and Leslie are okay and that’s all that matters to me.”

Karla dropped her head and looked at the floor again as tears pooled in her eyes. She wanted to believe them, but she couldn’t. Tony had done this, but it was because she was here.

“Let’s get you some clothes and everything else you need for school tomorrow and head back to the hotel. Conner can pick you up for school for the next few days until we can get your car out of the garage.” Leslie said and pulled Karla to her feet. “This is not your fault.”

Karla just nodded and followed Leslie from the room. Once in her room, Karla packed a suitcase with clothes, grabbed her laptop and slipped her tablet in the laptop case. The she walked into her bathroom and packed what toiletries she needed. Once she was done she grabbed all of her chargers and stuffed them into the front pocket of her suitcase. “Okay, I’m done.”

“Are you sure?” Leslie asked and when Karla nodded she didn’t say anything else.

Elliot and Andrew were standing in the hall when they walked out. Each one was holding a suitcase and a laptop case. When Karla noticed that Leslie’s laptop case was missing her eyes filled with tears again. “Your laptop was in the kitchen wasn’t it?” She asked with a defeated expression on her face.

“It was, but I don’t have anything pressing to do and everything was backed up on USB drives so all of my work is safe.”

Karla simply nodded and started walking downstairs. Andrew and Leslie exchanged worried glances before they motioned for Elliot to follow Karla and they followed him.

“Got everything?” The Fire Marshall asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs.

“We do.” Andrew answered and headed for the door. Once outside he loaded everything into the back of Leslie’s SUV and waited for his family to climb in. Once they were all in, he looked back at the house and sighed deeply. It was just a house and it, and everything in it, could be replaced. As long as his family was safe and together they could face anything life threw at them. As long as they had each other everything would be alright.

****

Once they made it back to the hotel and unloaded everything Andrew started looking for a house or apartment they could rent for a while. The hotel was a really nice one, but it wasn’t ideal as a temporary home.

While he was on the phone Karla walked out to the small balcony and sat at the table. When her cell phone rang she looked at the screen and sighed deeply. “Hey, Conner.” She answered.

“Karla, I am so glad you finally answered. I have been so worried.”

“I’m sorry I worried you.” She said and she truly was sorry, but she couldn’t face him right now. He only saw the good within her and after last night all she could see was the lost little girl she’d been the night Tony raped her.

“I need to see you, Karla. I need to see for myself that you’re alright. Can I please come over?”

“Yeah. You know where we’re at?”

“I do. Elliot called me last night after you checked in and told me where you were. He also told me that you aren’t doing well.”

“I’m fine, Conner.” She responded. Elliot needed to keep his big mouth shut.

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. I need to see for myself that you’re okay. I love you, Karla.” Conner said and ended the call. He knew she wasn’t very happy with Elliot, but he also knew Elliot had done the right thing.

When Conner knocked on the door fifteen minutes later Karla was still sitting on the balcony. “We are so glad you’re here.” Leslie said with a smile as she opened the door so he could come in. “We’re really worried about her. She’s blaming herself for all of this. She barely talking and eating and she had nightmares last night. We heard her screaming and went to check on her, but she was sound asleep. I asked about them this morning, but she wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“I’ll see if I can get her to talk.” Conner said and walked out to where Karla was sitting. “Hey, Karla.”

She didn’t look at him when she responded, she just kept staring at something in the distance. “Hey, Conner.”

“Care if I join you?” He asked tentatively. This was not his Karla and he was going to do everything he could to get his Karla back. He needed her too much to let her slip away.

“Sure.” She answered, still not looking at him.

He sat beside her and just looked at her for a few minutes. He could feel the sadness radiating off of her and it broke his heart to know she was in that much pain. “Karla, baby, can you look at me please?”

When she looked at him he reached out and stroked her cheek with one finger. She flinched a little, but he didn’t stop touching her. He spread his hand open and cupped her cheek in his hand. When she tilted her head slightly and closed her eyes he knew he had gotten in a little. He reached out with his other hand and cupped her face. “Look at me, baby.” He whispered and when she opened her eyes they were filled with tears.

“I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to Leslie.” She said as the tears started to flow freely from her eyes.

“Leslie is okay, baby, and so are you.” Conner told her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. “This isn’t your fault. You had nothing to do with the choices of a psycho.”

“When I looked over and saw his face through the car window I was thrown back to that night. Conner, I was that scared little girl again.”

“You are not that person anymore, Karla. You are strong and confident and smart enough to know that you are not to blame for any of this.”

“I want to believe that, Conner, I really do, but Leslie could have died last night.”

“You could have too, Karla.” Conner’s voice hitched at the words he spoke and he leaned his head down until his forehead was resting on hers. “I could have lost you last night.”

Karla wrapped her arms around Conner and pulled him close. “I’m glad Elliot called you. I was mad at him at first, but now that you’re here I’m glad. Can you take me somewhere? Anywhere that I can think.”

“Of course I can, baby. Let’s go in and let Andrew and Leslie know we’re going out and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

“Thank you, Conner. I love you.”

“I love you too, Karla.”

****

Two hours later Conner stopped his car in front of his house. He had taken Karla to the lake and she had talked to him about everything she had been feeling since the fire. He held her while she cried and they shared several passionate kisses, but when she started to take it a step further he’d stopped her. He wanted her more than he wanted air, but not like that. Not when she was that emotional. He knew he’d hurt her when he told her no, but he hoped that when she calmed down she’d realize that neither of them would have been happy if he hadn’t stopped.

When his cell phone rang he looked and saw that it was Andrew calling. He took a deep breath and answered. “Hello, sir.”

“Conner, can you please tell me what the hell happened? When you left Karla looked like she was close to being her normal self again. Now she’s locked herself in her room and I can hear her crying all the way out here.”

Andrew’s words shattered Conner’s heart and his eyes filled with tears. “When we left there we went to the lake. We sat there looking out at the water and just talked for about an hour. When she was finished talking we started kissing.” Conner paused and Andrew heard him gulp through the phone. “Umm.. we kissed for a while before Karla started trying to take it a step further. She was upset and seeking comfort, but I couldn’t do it like that so I stopped it. She was furious at me, but I couldn’t do something I knew we would both regret. When she got out of the car in front of the hotel she told me she never wanted to see me again.” Conner broke down when he said the last sentence.

“You did the right thing, son.” Andrew told him. He could hear the boy’s heart breaking through the phone and he prayed Karla came around. “She would have hated you if you had done anything.”

“I would have hated myself too. I hurt her by rejecting her, but I would have hurt her even more by not.”

“I know, son. She’ll come around when she calms down. She loves you too much not to.”

“I hope you’re right, sir. Can you please call me if she needs anything?”

“I promise I will. Conner, she loves you, of that I have no doubt. Don’t give up on her.”

“Andrew, even if she never forgives me I will never give up on her.”

“Karla?” Andrew said after he knocked on her door. “Can I talk to you for a minute?

“Come in, Dad.” Karla responded in a weak voice.

“Honey, what’s going on? I just got off the phone with Conner. Care to tell me your side of it?”

“What’s the point? I’m sure he told you everything.”

“I want you to tell me what happened, sweetheart.”

Karla sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before she started talking. “We went to the lake when we left here and just sat there watching the water while I told him everything that happened last night. I was so sad and felt very alone so I started kissing him. Dad, I really messed up. We were kissing and I started doing other things, but it was for all the wrong reasons. I was seeking comfort and tried to take things further than we have ever been before, but Conner stopped me. He tried telling me that what I was doing wasn’t what I really wanted and that both of us would regret it later, but I yelled at him and told him that if he loved me he’d do it. He still wouldn’t give in so I told him to bring be back here.” Karla paused as tears rolled down her face. Her heart was shattered and it was all her own fault.

“When..” She started and had to stop when her throat clogged with tears. As her body shook with sobs she finished what she was saying. “When I got out of the car I told him I never wanted to see him again.” She finally got out through her tear clogged throat.

Andrew sat beside Karla on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. He gently rubbed her back as she sobbed uncontrollably into his shirt. After a few minutes, when the sobs started to subside, he spoke. “Karla, when you said that to Conner was it you talking or was it hurt and embarrassment?”

“At the time that’s how I felt. I was hurt and rejected and embarrassed and I never wanted to see him again. Now I know he didn’t reject me, he protected me. Just like he always does. If he had done want I wanted he would have been breaking a promise to me because he saw what I didn’t. He saw that I was acting on the sadness and he stopped me because he knew we would have both hated ourselves and that doing it would have driven us apart.”

“Honey, Conner loves you, but you’re going to have to be the one to mend this rift between the two of you. Call him, I know he’ll listen.”

“Dad, I said some pretty harsh things to him on the way home. I’m not sure I can repair the damage done by my words. If he never wants to talk to me again I can’t blame anyone but myself.”

“Sweetheart, look at the ring on your finger and the necklace you always wear. If those two things don’t tell you what you need to know then I don’t know what will. He loves you beyond reason, but you need to be the one to make that first step. You are going to have to be the one to fix this.”

“I will fix this. I can’t do it over the phone though. I need to talk to him face to face, but my car is still trapped in the garage.”

“Take Mom’s SUV and go talk to him. We have the Mustang if we need to go anywhere.” Andrew told her and hugged her again. “Just be careful and call us if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Dad. I’m glad you came in and talked to me.”

“Sweetheart, I will always come to you when you need me. Never forget that Mom and I love you endlessly.”

“I love you too, Dad.” Karla answered and walked out of her room. Leslie and Elliot were sitting at the little table in the kitchenette when Karla walked up to Leslie. “Mom, can I borrow your car for a little while? I need to go talk to Conner. I need to try and fix what I screwed up.”

“Sure. Call or text when you get there so we know you made it alright.”

“I will, Mom.” Karla said and hugged her hard. “I am so glad you’re alright. I love you.”

“I love you too, Karla.” Leslie replied. When Karla let her go and walked out the hotel room door Leslie looked at Andrew in confusion. “What was that all about?”

“I’ll have her explain later, but basically she made a mistake and then said some pretty bad things to Conner. She’s going to try to fix that now.”

“She can fix it. She’s strong and smart and Conner loves her.” Elliot said.

“I agree, Elliot.” Leslie responded to his statement with a smile on her face. “Now why don’t we see what kind of movie we can find on TV to watch until Karla gets back?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Andrew said as he pulled Leslie to her feet and kissed her softly. “Don’t worry about our girl, baby. She’s going to be just fine.”

“I hope you’re right.” She responded, but Andrew could still see the worry in her eyes.

“Let’s find a movie.” He said and pulled her to the couch. Elliot followed close behind.