Second Chance

Chapter 8 Steve

I can’t believe I will spend time with Reese to help her move. I should have said no, but I couldn’t. I keep telling myself I am only being a friend, but the truth is, I don’t want to be her friend. I want her to see me again. Now that she has chosen to stay here for something other than me, maybe she will see she can have everything she wants and still be here. She would never have felt trapped or resented me if she had stayed.

It is not the place that matters to her, but the people, and the people she loves are here. I am not sure that includes me anymore, but I want it to. She could travel to see other places.

It feels like Reese has always seen her choices as being to be like her mom and stay put, or be like her dad and get out. The reality is that there are also options in between.

I knew this week was not the right time to show her how much I still love and need her. As much as I love this town, I would also choose to leave if it meant I got to be with her.

Maybe I can show her that when I go with her to LA. First, I needed to remind myself that I never stopped loving her and hoped she would return. I was lying to myself when I said I was over her. Now that I have stopped lying to myself, I must figure out how to show her that.

Since the funeral dinner, we have discussed arranging things for this move a few times. I offered to pick up the rental truck. She is going to ride with me to LA. We will stay the night and pack her stuff in the morning.

She has a rental unit here in town, and when we get back, Logan will meet us to help unload the truck. Simple enough.

So, I have almost two days to show her I still love her. That is a tall order. All I need to do is convince her to give us a second chance, which will buy me more time.

So now here I am outside her house. I got her coffee and donuts from her favorite donut shop in town. I am not sure why we are starting so early. Reese keeps telling me we have another stop today to load up stuff before we deal with her apartment tomorrow. She also wants to help her roommate Tiffany load up her stuff. So here I am, bright and early, ready to go.

Reese walks out of the house. She is wearing shorts and a T-shirt, but is still the prettiest girl I have ever seen. Her brown hair is pulled back into a ponytail. The red shirt looks great with her tan complexion. Reese has always been tan. I am sure that is one thing she loved about LA. Here in the high desert, sometimes it gets too cold to wear shorts and T-shirts in the winter. Yet she could wear them year-round in LA, even though she kept her tan strong. Not that she never got that pale in the winter here, but I am sure it was harder to keep her tan up here.

That was one thing I loved. The contrast of her tan skin versus my pale skin. She once called me her vampire. She loved how my pale skin never seemed to match my black hair. She would ask if I ever bothered to go outside. This was when we were in middle school. I don’t tan, even though I would always be outside with her. She would tan, and I might burn, but mostly I only got a few more freckles.

Reese smiles as she walks up, taking the donuts from my hand. “The Donut Shack donuts.” Man, I haven’t had these since high school. Please tell me you got me an unfilled long john.” She smiled at me, or was it at the box of donuts?. I have to admit I am not sure which.

“Of course I did. I knew they were your favorite.” I wink at her.

“MMMM,” she says clearly to the donut. I have decided I also love cinnamon twists, but nothing can ever replace long johns in my heart, " she tells me.

“It is nice some things don’t change,” I tell her. She frowns. I shouldn’t have said that. “I also got your coffee with lots of cream and sugar.” Now she is smiling again.

“You always did spoil me.” She tells me. “Shall we get going?”

“Yep, the truck is gassed up and ready to go. Give me the first address and I will plug it into the GPS.” I opened the door for her and gave her a hand to help her into the truck. I feel tingling when she touches my hand. It amazes me how even a tiny touch from her still gets to me and how I already want more.

I close her door and round to my side. I climb in and start the truck. I see her entering the address into her phone. I hand her the power cord to plug into her phone so it doesn’t die immediately, since it will be our navigator. She smiles at me. I have to admit I miss that smile. The one that is just for me. The one that warms my heart. The one where her whole face lights up.

I try to make some conversation as we head out. “So, have you thought about what you will do now that you are staying in town?” I ask her.

She sighs. This is stressing her out. No, that is on my agenda for next week. I want to find a job and move out of my mom’s immediately. I love my mom, but after living independently for 4 years, it feels like a step backward to be back in my old room.”

“I can’t say I understand. I haven’t bothered to leave my parents' house yet.” I have been working for a year, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of finding my own house. So, since they don’t mind, I figured I would stay there and save to buy my own house.

“You are still at your parents ' alone place.” I can tell she is shocked by that.

“Yep. Everyone knows I came home after 2 years away at school and transferred to an online university. What people don’t know is that my mom had a heart attack, and that is what brought me home. At first, I moved back in with them to help Dad with Mom, but since then, she has been doing better, and I haven’t dealt with finding my own house. I am ready to move out. I have saved enough for a down payment for a house, but I don’t think I would like to be alone with no one to talk to.” I confess.

“You could find a roommate. I enjoyed sharing a place with Tiffany. I am not looking forward to finding a place alone, so I figured I would check out for people looking for roommates.”

“That is a thought, but most men are slobs, and I am sure with my luck, I would end up with a roommate I am always cleaning up after.” I laugh.

“True, you have always liked things just so. I am unsure how you tolerated dating me since I am not obsessed with order.”

“Hey, I am not that bad,” I protest. “You always think everyone who doesn’t have a cluttered desk is obsessed with order. I like to be able to find things. There is no way I could find stuff on your desk. You always knew exactly where everything was. However, I have to admit that I have no idea how you could find anything. It is almost like you have some psychic ability to find things.”

She laughs. “I had my system.”

"MMM hmmm, So you say." I tease. This is nice. This is what I missed—teasing each other, talking about nothing at all. We drive most of the way talking about what she did in college, memories of high school, what her friends are up to, and what my friends are up to. It is nice to catch up. Nothing too serious.

There are so many things I want to talk to her about, but I worry it is too early. I want to ask how long she thinks she will stay around. Is she open to us dating again? If she gives me a second chance, I am not letting her go this time.

I should never have let her push me away the first time. I have to admit my pride was hurt. I knew as much as she wanted to leave, she would stay for those she loved, and I thought she loved me that much. I still do. I think she was only scared.

I was right, she has returned home for those she loved. She feared she would resent me if she stayed for me. I am confident she wouldn’t. I offered to leave town with her, and for her, she believed I would grow to resent her. I don’t think Reese gets that she is my home. I have nothing without her.