Second Chance with Love (11 page)

Running out into the lobby, she came to face a crowd of panicked people. They spoke in Spanish and pointed to the direction where Nathan had likely gone. His trail wasn't hard to follow, just follow the concerned looking people. At least no one was hurt. But the path led to the school. What Hilda discovered Nathan had discovered too, about Lucretia father. He had gone to an isolated house in the forest where it was believed Lucretia's father was hiding.

They were led there by Jośe and Abigail. Whereas the local police had decided to ignore the villager's claims that Lucretia's father was hiding in the area, they had gone back to the station to conduct an investigation.

Hilda ran ahead of the others, feeling the pull of panic in her chest. Then she saw it. A small hut, in a condition barely livable. There was no sight of Nathan or Aaron or Lucretia. Fear prickled through Hilda as she approached the hut.

"Aaron!" The silence was made her even more fearful. "Please God. Let them be safe." Hilda whispered as she found the entrance to the hut. As soon as she touched it, a sharp object was pointed at her back. Hilda stopped. A man growled in Spanish behind her. She thought he wanted her to get down on her knees. Doing so, she felt a sharp jab at her back. Hilda prayed for help to arrive, realizing her stupidity. But, she wanted to know if the children were safe. Without an inkling that he wanted her to face him, Hilda turned. A quick blow struck her across the face and she thought she had been slashed with the knife. Falling to the floor, she rested with her arms out in front of her at the man's boots. And he began shouting at her.

Suddenly, she heard another man's voice.

Nathan!

Hilda looked up to see Nathan disarm the man and throw him aside. The man seemed stunned by Nathan's strength and laid staring in shock.

"Don't move. Okay. Where's my son?"

"Mommie!" Aaron's voice came from the hut.

The pain and dizziness were shaken from Hilda. She got up and ran into the hut. Inside it was dark and damp. There in front of her sat Aaron and Lucretia, tied together. She quickly untied them, and hugged them. She turned to see Nathan at the entrance. He walked toward her slowly. His eyes filling with such a kaleidoscope of emotions that Hilda didn't know how to read him.

There was a call from behind him. It was from Jośe. "Guys!" He said.

Hilda was about to answer Jośe when she saw Lucretia's father behind Nathan.

"Nathan." Hilda clutched the children. Nathan turned, before he was struck by the man. As Nathan hit the floor, he scrambled to his feet only to be facing a gun. The man grinned and cocked the trigger. He said something in Spanish. The next thing he did was turn the gun and point it at Hilda and the children.

"God, no!" Hilda closed her eyes and covered herself over the children as she heard the weapon go off. There was the sound of a man's grunt and a body dropping in front of her.

Hilda opened her eyes and she saw Nathan, clutching his chest. Then the man turned and fled, after saying what must having been a curse at Nathan. At that moment, the hardest and most natural thing to do was to release the children she had just held. She turned Nathan over.

"Nathan!"

Chapter 12

Hilda gripped him so tightly that pain shot through his body and he grunted. She kept apologizing and Nathan didn't know why, he felt he was the one who should have been apologizing. He heard voices and then he blacked out. That his son and Hilda were safe, he thanked God.

When Nathan awoke Hilda was in front of him. She looked pleased to see him.

"Hey!" Nathan smiled as he looked at her.

"You've been unconscious for a day." Hilda was rubbing her elbows in the way she had always done when she was uncertain of something.

Nathan looked down at the bandages over his wounds. "It looks like a shoulder wound. I am a big softie." Nathan smiled.

"Nathan, we are leaving today." Hilda looked away as she said this.

Nathan felt the impulse to sit up but pain restrained him. "Okay. What about my son, Aaron?"

Hilda's presence still had a palpable effect on him. But now, Nathan could not be distracted by how he felt towards her.

"Please, Nathan. Just let us go." Hilda's voice sounded choked as if she were struggling to breathe.

"Hilda, what are you doing here? You could have just let before I awoke. You knew I was going to be okay, I'm sure of it. So why are you still here?" Nathan's body was so weak and he still felt a bit dizzy, but his adrenaline surged.

"I wanted to thank you personally. That was all. You saved us and it would have seemed rude to leave you here without a word of thanks.

"Don't Hilda." Nathan tried to wrap his head around the woman who stood in front of him. Just seeing her by his bed sent his senses into overdrive. He didn't want to admit it, but she looked breathtaking. He didn't want to admit it because he assumed she was still at a distance, spatially and emotionally.

"Look. Nathan, you are not a stranger, but we are no longer the people we once were."

"Hilda. You are treating me as if what we had was nothing. We had Aaron. He is my son too." Nathan noticed Hilda flinch.

"Yes. He is."

"You should have told me."

"How could I? We were living in sin from the start. You didn't want to even be a Christian, so I knew for sure that marriage was out of the picture.”

Nathan held his breath. Her words hurt. They were true. Nathan had not wanted a Christian life or marriage.

"You're right. Back then I had a lot of growing up to do. I was ambitious, and I put my goals before everything." Now it was Nathan's turn to look away from Hilda. “I made it very clear that if no one went my way, then I would have left them behind. It hurts to say this, but you are right. Back then if I had known you were pregnant I would have felt you were trying to trap me."

"Thank you for admitting that, Nathan. You have changed."

"I am a Christian now. I gave up the military." Nathan looked directly at Hilda. He could see tremors going through her body.

"He is not the sort of son you would have wanted. He is not the top of his class. He hasn't made any waves in the way of popularity."

"But you love him more than anything in the world, I see."

Hilda nodded. Her next works came with a lot of pain on her face.

"Please don't take him away from me." Her eyes were pleading.

Nathan always loved the inner glow that her hazel eyes contained. But never had he witnessed desperation in them like he did then. It stung worse than the bullet.

"What support do you have?"

"I work, Nathan. I have everything under control."

"Having a son that doesn't excel at everything would have troubled the man I used to be. But now I just want to see him."

"My mother has him now. She is getting him ready for our flight home." Hilda's brow creased.

"Your mother." Nathan felt his jaw tighten before he had to tell himself to relax.

Hilda turned to leave.

"So there is no one in your life?"

"Yes, that's the way I want to keep it right now."

"You lied about Charles. I felt like such an idiot."

"I never lied about Charles. I never led you to believe anything."

"What were you afraid of? That I would come into you life again?"

"I was frightened of the way you always looked at me. When you came to my room earlier today, I saw the same look in your eye you always had towards me." Hilda tightened her folded arms and Nathan s grew silent in anticipation. "You looked at me as if I were you possession. As if you owned me."

Hilda left and Nathan could do or say nothing to stop her. Hearing her voice, softened as she spoke to someone outside of his room, he was sure she was speaking to his son. Nathan would not let her leave him again. They had a child now.

Nathan exited the taxi and entered his duplex apartment. He had not called his parents. He had a lot of thinking to do in the hospital and on his journey home. A barrage of emotions coursed through his veins. He found himself frustrated to the point of anger, why couldn't Hilda see that he'd changed? Then he felt disappointed that things had ended the way they had, his relationship with her was the only one that he had never recovered from. Sadness has touched him as he realized how deciding to keep Aaron must have transformed her life. She changed her appearance, she had become an even more reserved, albeit more beautiful, woman, who seemed less conscientious about her appearance. He regretted neglecting her.

He spoke with God. "God, you give us all we need but we get blindsided by secondary interests. Hilda was the perfect woman for me. I'm glad I have left the superficial kid I was behind. I have so much regret. How did I miss Hilda? I looked at her and I didn't truly see her.”

Nathan turned on his computer and went to his website. There in the opening page was the letter. There were millions of letters that moved him. After so many years operating his business, he'd still loved the letters people sent to the site. They provided encouragement and support. There were no messages in his email account. There was a message on his cell. Scott had called to say they should catch up.

Nathan decided he'd call Scott later. But at that point he didn't need any interruptions. He took his bible and sat down to read. Perusing his mind was a thought that made his heart beat with excitement, fear, and disbelief. I have son.

In the five years Nathan had rekindled his relationship with the Lord, his son had been growing up without him. The thought was too engulfing to dwell on.

He read for comfort, for strength, and for guidance. Then he went to his bedroom to pray. Since returning to Christ, his faith had never been tested as it had been over the past few days

Chapter 13

Hilda woke early to get ready for the day. It was Aaron's first day back to school. She was glad that Nathan had not contacted her. But she knew that would not last. She'd left him in Guatemala days ago and he had no way of contacting her. She said her prayers and felt more hopeful towards the day.

She prepared Aaron's breakfast.

"Mommie, going to work today?"

"Yes, honey. Go and get your shoes on."

Hilda drove Aaron in the gorgeous day. Sunny and fresh. A typical day in Tuscaloosa still Hilda couldn't feel relaxed.

It wasn't a long drive to Aaron's school, just five minutes. It was a ten minute drive to work. She entered the hospital compound and was glad she found her parking spot. She walked to the office were her friend Charlotte sat doing her makeup.

Once she was at her desk, Hilda switched on her computer and began to get settled into the usual routine.

"How was Guatemala?"

"It was nice, for what we managed to do." The little time Hilda ahead to think about it she felt embarrassed about how she had been removed for the future missions.

"I bet it bites to be back, huh?"

"Not really." Hilda expelled a long breath.

"Wow. You're actually glad to be back at work." Charlotte, holding her mirror, shot her a look of surprise.

"It's sometimes good to get back to where things are normal."

The usual routine Hilda did to create a sense of serenity was to go onto a website and look through a collection of photos, ones of nature in particular.

As the work day began, Hilda lost herself in writing up dictation and letters as well as working on reports and taking calls for her doctor. And though she tried to regain a sense of order by setting a routing into her day, she still felt a storm lurking in the back of her mind.

It was true that she had left Nathan in Guatemala. True that he never had her address. And true that she was safe at the moment. But she knew Nathan – no matter how much he would have changed, he would not leave her alone, knowing what he knew.

Chapter 14

Nathan stood outside of Scott's house, mentally connecting the dots.

"Hey, you're back, bud!" Scott opened the door and stepped back. "Whoa, didn't I tell you, no action hero stunts."

"You did." Nathan, walked into the doorway. "I just had to save my son and his mother from a lunatic with a gun."

Scott's mouth fell open. Then he closed it and nodded. "Hey man, take a seat. Can I get you a drink? Coffee?”

"Boy do I need it." Nathan said, following Scott into the kitchen. "So, how's Mel?"

"She sleeps a lot these days. They say she could be due any day now."

Nathan's mind flashed to Hilda. "Scott, why didn't you tell me I was a father?"

Scott's back was to his friend. "I'm sorry, man." His large shoulders lowered. He looked at Nathan. "I couldn't. We decided it wasn't our place."

"How did you find out?"

"That the baby was yours?"

"That me and Hilda were seeing each other."

"As soon as Hilda told Melanie she was expecting, and you started acting strange. Every time you came to church, it was as if you were looking for someone. Plus you had never been so interested in attending church. It wasn't hard for us to figure it out."