Chasing Second Chances

Chasing Second Chances

By Shelly Logan

Copyright © 2013 Blue Ribbon Books

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

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Chapter One

Stamford, Connecticut

9: 13 P.M.

Lena couldn’t sleep.

Wide-eyed, she stared up at the chandelier her Mommy had bought for her fifth birthday, the crystal stars hanging from it gleaming in the moonlight like the diamonds on her Mommy’s favorite necklace, the one she wore only with pretty gowns that made her look like a princess.

Lena had once loved looking at stars, believing that they granted wishes. Now, she knew that wasn’t true. She had wished on a star for her Daddy to stay, after all, and yet one day, he had simply left the house without saying goodbye and never come back.

She turned on her side and hugged her stuffed pink bunny, Miss Sophie, tighter, wishing that her Mommy was here so she could read her a story or stroke her hair until she fell asleep, but she knew her Mommy wouldn’t come. She was far away with the man with the brown hair and the shiny white teeth, the man who often brought home flowers and started sleeping in their house after New Years.

Lena didn’t like him.

The only other people in the house were her younger brother, Jack, who was no doubt sound asleep and dreaming of race cars—the only thing he ever talked about these days, and Charlene, the babysitter, who often complained that she was only working for the money, carried her phone everywhere and liked to try on Mommy’s perfume when she thought no one was looking.

Lena didn’t like her either.

Knowing that she had no choice but to put herself to sleep, she closed her eyes and started thinking about her favorite make-believe place—a cottage hidden somewhere in the mountains with a huge garden and a beautiful carousel in the backyard, and plenty of bunnies. Lena had always wanted a bunny, but her Mommy had never let her keep one because they were both allergic.

She thought about being in a bedroom surrounded by real bunnies, two of them on each side while the others huddled on her bed, on the nightstand, the shelf, the window sill and the floor. She would read to them softly and sing them to sleep, then…

Bang!

Lena got up with a jolt, eyes wide and heart pounding. What was that sound?

Curious, she got out of bed, Miss Sophie tucked in one arm, and opened the door just a bit. When she didn’t see anyone there, she walked down the dim corridor and started going down the stairs, stopping just a step above the landing when she saw a strange person wearing a mask standing over Charlene’s sleeping form on the floor—why was Charlene sleeping on the floor—and holding something shiny in his hand.

A gun.

Lena froze but her arm must have moved because Miss Sophie fell to the floor with a light thud, the sound enough to make the masked stranger look up at her.

She ran back up the stairs as fast as she could, back to her bedroom where she closed the door firmly behind her, leaning on it before frantically looking around for somewhere to hide because that was what the small voice inside her was telling her to do—hide.

Finally, she decided on the toy chest, which was nearly empty since her dolls were still lying around. She fit herself inside, tucking in her arms and legs, before pulling the lid down.

For the next several seconds, she could hear nothing but the sound of her own breathing. Then, she heard the door open.

“Where are you, little girl? If you come out like a good girl, I promise I won’t hurt you. I’ll even give you some cookies.”

For a moment, Lena was tempted to come out, the sweet voice making her think that perhaps whoever was in her room was not going to hurt her. She remembered, however, what had happened to Charlene, which was enough to make her shiver, and so she stayed inside the chest, trying her best to be very still even though her legs were starting to hurt.

“Where are you, little girl? Come out, come out wherever you are.”

She heard the closet open, heard her musical plush unicorn being stepped on and starting to play. As she heard the footsteps come closer, she held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the toy chest would transport her to her enchanted cottage now, promising that she would never again stick her tongue out at Charlene or call her Mommy mean if only it did.

Please…please…please…

The lid opened.

“I found you.”

Lena opened her eyes and did the only thing she could do then—scream.

Chapter Two

Labadee, Haiti

09: 52 P.M.

No!

Kate placed her trembling hands over her ears, the sound from outside the window deafening and shaking her to the core.

She had always been afraid of thunderstorms, of the loud sounds and the bright flashes of light which seemed like they could reach her anywhere. Other people, including her own parents, had tried to convince her there was nothing to fear from them, but she knew better. Her aunt Marceline, whose warm smile and perfectly cooked Southern-fried chicken she still remembered, had died in the shower during a thunderstorm.

She crouched lower beside the bed so that she was almost in a fetal position, her face close enough to the carpet that she could smell the lemony carpet deodorizer.

It will be over soon. It will be over soon. It will be…

At the next crash of thunder, even louder than the previous one, she pressed her palms tighter against her ears and squeezed her eyes shut.

Why? Why did there have to be a thunderstorm on the last night of her vacation?

She tried not to think of the storm, instead focusing her thoughts on the amazing experiences she had had so far on this Caribbean cruise – the rainbow landscape of coral reefs and ethereal schools of fish she had seen while diving, the exhilarating views from the parasail, the romantic dinners, the horseback rides at sunset…

Crash!

She buried her face in the carpet, her chest heaving as she struggled to breathe. How she wished she had her favorite pillow—that large pillow with the fluffy yellow case that she always hugged at times like these—or that she was in the basement of her house where she did her arts and crafts instead of in a room in a cruise ship with large glass windows. Or even…

“Kate!”

The sound of her name in that familiar voice seemed like a lifesaver being tossed out to her in the middle of a chaotic ocean and she looked up, her expression hopeful and then relieved.

“Bryan!” She clung to him, feeling the dampness of his shirt but not minding it. At once, his arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe.

“Shh, it’s okay now.” He planted a kiss in her hair. “I’m sorry I took so long. The moment I realized there was a thunderstorm, I came rushing here but it was raining so hard that it took me a while.”

She shook her head. “It’s all right. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

She heard another clap of thunder but strangely, it was not as loud or as frightening as before. She buried her face against his chest, savoring the strength and the softness which she both found there.

After her marriage had failed, she had thought she would never again feel the love of a man. She had begun to tell herself she didn’t need it, in fact. Bryan, however, proved her wrong, and now that they had been dating for nearly two years, she was glad that she had given him the chance, glad that she had given herself a second chance. Some things, after all, were far too precious to be obtained the easy way or the first time around.

They stood still, hugging each other in comfortable silence and with each minute in Bryan’s arms, Kate found her fear fading, or perhaps she was simply becoming less aware of it as she became aware of something else—of his heart pounding against her cheek, of the warm, smooth skin and taut muscles of his back beneath his wet…

She stepped back abruptly. “Bryan, you’re soaking wet.”

“I guess I am,” Bryan said, looking at the mirror and running his hands through his drenched brown hair. “That was quite a downpour.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Shh.” He took her hand, squeezing it gently. “It’s not your fault that a storm cooked up while I was doing some last-minute shopping for souvenirs. Besides, like you said, it doesn’t matter. What matters is you’re all right.”

Kate squeezed his hand in turn, then looked outside just in time to catch a glint in the distant horizon, which was all the lightning had been reduced to now that the storm had faded. “I’m all right now. You should probably go take a shower and change into dry clothes before you catch a cold.”

“Are you sure?”

Kate nodded.

He planted a kiss on her forehead. “All right, then. I’ll just be quick and when I’m done, maybe we can go to the bar to get a drink. It’s our last night on this ship, after all, and we should enjoy it.”

She smiled. “That sounds great.”

She watched him head towards the bathroom, then went to the closet to pick a dress. After a few moments of indecision, she went with the sequined little black dress, convinced it was the perfect outfit to end her vacation in.

As she slipped into the dress, she could not help but feel a tinge of sadness at the fact that her Caribbean cruise with Bryan was almost over, which was strange, considering she hadn’t even wanted to come.

Well, it wasn’t that she hadn’t  wanted to come, exactly. It was just that she had been reluctant to leave her kids, Lena and Jack, especially since this was the first time she would be away from them for more than twenty-four hours and she wouldn’t be able to get in touch with them while on the cruise. Bryan, however, had told her they would be all right as long as they had a good babysitter, someone to check on them regularly, plenty of food, an emergency fund and the number of their pediatrician on the refrigerator door.

When that had failed, he had given her a bunch of flowers and an elegant geisha figurine to add to her collection—originally her half-Japanese grandmother’s collection which she had decided to continue since college, begging her to come.

She had not been able to refuse him.

That didn’t mean she didn’t feel bad about leaving her kids, though. In fact, she missed them so much that during the first night away from them, she had had trouble sleeping.

She could not wait to see them again.

At the thought of their faces lighting up while they rushed to welcome her back home, she, too, felt her face light up.

Tenderly, she ran her manicured fingers over the golden locket that hung from a chain around her neck which contained the pictures of a little girl in pigtails and a baby boy in diapers.

By this time tomorrow, she would have them in her arms and everything would once more be right with her world.