Second Chance

Chapter 2 Steve

My mom asked me to run to Linda’s house. She made a casserole for the family. I never understand why everyone seems to think food will fix a broken heart. I am sure by now the entire town knows about what happened to Joanie.

One of the hard things about living in a small town is that everyone knows all the gossip. Like when Reese broke my heart and left for college, everyone knew. I have a twinge of that heartache when I think of Reese. I am sure she will be coming home for the funeral. I hope I can avoid her while she is in town.

It has been hard enough to heal the last four years, so now I am not ready to see her again. I loved her so much, and I have to be honest, I thought she would be the one I ended up with. That was a teen fantasy. Reese was my world, but she was right. We didn’t know enough about the world to understand what we wanted. She had to go out to find her place.

Reese is very talented, so it made sense that she would need to be out of this small town. I am not sure that I would, or could have, gone with her, but she never even gave me the option. After she broke my heart, I opted to go away from college as well.

I left for Prescott, but after two years, I came home and finished my degree via distance learning. This is where I belong. Yet I am more confident, knowing that I left for a bit. A small town in Northern Arizona. This is where I was born, where I was raised, and where, if I am blessed enough to have kids, I want to raise them. First, I need to find a woman I love who also loves this town and me enough to stay. I thought that was Reese, but it wasn’t.

I turn onto the street towards Linda’s house, and the memories flood back. I remember driving Reese home from our dates, from Homecoming and Prom. I have to be honest, I have avoided this area of town since I returned home, because as much as I try to say I am over the heartbreak, I am not sure if I will ever fully be over Reese. The third house on the street, the white house with blue trim.

Just like it was four years ago. Like most houses in northern Arizona, Linda’s house has rocks instead of grass in the front yard, but she has small flower planters under the windows with Marigolds. They are Linda’s favorite flowers, and she always insisted on having them to brighten her day. It appears the flower planters could use a fresh coat of paint. I should offer to help her out with that.

Linda has been a single mom as long as I have known her. Her husband left when Reese was little. Linda raised her three kids on her own. Her oldest son, Logan, is the one who stayed in town. Linda would say he was like her and wanted to have roots.

Reese and her older brother Nathan, she would say, were like their father and needed to see what the world had to offer, but she believed they would eventually settle down and realize everything they need and want is in this town. I am not sure if they ever will.

I realized after the fact that she was trying to warn me, Reese would be like her brother Nathan and not want to stay here. Yet I was somehow convinced I would be enough for Reese to want to stay for. Like I said, a teenage fantasy.

I walked up to the door like I had many times before and rang the doorbell. I wonder when Reese will be back in town. I glance around, and I don’t see the old Camaro she used to drive in the driveway when I hear the door open. I turn and there she is.

She looks amazing. Her body is still slim but a little more curvy than in high school. Her hair is still a beautiful brown, but now she has fire-engine red streaks mixed in. She always said once she moved out, she was going to dye her hair. She did what she said she would. “Steve, what are you doing here?” she asks me in surprise.

“My mom made a casserole for your mom. She figured the last thing your mom or Logan would want to deal with would be cooking. I was assigned to be the deliveryman,” I tell her. This is awkward. Acting like she wasn't as beautiful as the last time I saw her, and that she didn’t break my heart completely. Like, we are only acquaintances.

“That is so sweet of your mom. Thank her for us.” She tells me as she takes the dish from me.

“I will, and Reese, if there is anything we can do to help, please let my mom or me know. "I still have the same phone number". I tell her. I am not sure why I am compelled to tell her this, but I want her to understand fully that my family would be willing to help out.

“I will let my mom know. "Thank you again, and please thank your mom for us.” She tells me. I take this as my cue to turn and leave.

I knew it would be hard to see Reese again, but this was harder than I fathomed it would be. I can see she is hurting, and I want to take away all her pain, even though it is not my place anymore. I can't hold her while she cries about this. I can’t take her pain away even if I were still her boyfriend, really, but I want to.

Once I am back in my car, I realize I don’t recognize the black SUV I am parked next to. It makes me think that if that is the car Reese came in, it doesn’t fit her personality. I find myself wondering if she came here with a boyfriend, and that is his car. That thought stings more than it should.

That was four years ago. Of course, she would have moved on, but that he would be the one to come home and support her through her sister-in-law's funeral is almost too much for me to bear. If I needed a sign, I needed to move on. This black SUV is the sign I needed. No wonder she was in a hurry to have me off her front step.

She probably didn’t want to explain to her new boyfriend why her ex was bringing her family a meal. I hadn’t wanted to run this errand for my mom, and now I am wishing I had told her no when she asked.