Gifted a Second Chance at Life

Chapter 1

“Are you positive that you two don’t mind watching Maya while I start putting in applications?” Callie asked, fussing with her daughter’s hair as she sat at the kitchen island eating cereal for breakfast.

“Of course, we don’t mind,” Callie’s father, John, insisted. “As long as Maya doesn’t want to run any races, we will be fine. Besides, Mark said he would be here a little later. He is helping me put up some lights outside while your brother goes with your mom to the store to get the rest of the things she needs for Christmas dinner. When the time comes, we will let Maya decide which one she wants to do.”

Callie frowned as she thought about Mark Palmer at her parents’ home again. She was doing her best to avoid him, yet it seemed like every time she turned around, he was at the house doing something. She was beyond grateful that Mark would help her parents while her father’s ankle healed, but it still annoyed her to be around him so much.

“Is something wrong, Callie?” Rosemary asked.

“No,” Callie shook her head. “I’m just running through a list of places to drop off resumes and ask for job applications. Maya and I can make it for a while, but it isn’t fair to expect you to let us live in the cottage and eat meals with you all the time. That means I need a job, and the sooner, the better.”

John sighed, “You could always talk to Mark about working at the resort until a teaching position opens up here in town. I’m sure he could find a job for you that would be better than waiting tables or stocking shelves.”

“I won’t ask Mark to bail me out of trouble. He and Jimmy always did that when I was a kid, even when I didn’t need it. The last thing I want is for him to think I am still the same naive, incompetent nitwit that I was when I was a kid,” Callie explained.

“While you might have been naive, as most kids are, you have never been incompetent or a nitwit,” John told his daughter. “If Mark offers you a position at the ski resort, it is because he knows you would be the best fit for the job, not out of pity or some sense that he has to give it to you.”

“Honey, all we are saying is, don’t discount checking out what might be available at the lodge if you are determined to find a job by the first of the year,” Rosemary said.

“I won’t, but I want that to be my last resort. I already feel like a failure. Asking Mark for a job would just make me feel like more of one,” Callie sighed.

“You are not a failure. Mitch is the one who failed you and Maya,” John scowled as he looked at his granddaughter eating oatmeal.

“Dad,” Callie hissed. “I don’t want Maya to hear anything bad about her father.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything with Maya in the room. But remember that you are not to blame for any of this—none of it. You did exactly what you set out to do. You went to college, got your teaching degree, and while you weren’t planning on Maya when you had her, you started a beautiful family,” John told Callie with a loving smile. “Try to remember that today. If you have any problems with it, call me, and I will remind you.”

“I will,” Callie nodded as she picked up her bag and keys from the counter. She kissed Maya on the head and said, “Promise that you will be good for Grandma and Grandpa.”

“I will be. I promise,” Maya grinned between bites of her favorite cereal.

“OK,” Callie said, forcing a smile. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and saw her brother Jimmy and Mark coming down the walk to the backdoor. She muttered under her breath, “I hope they didn’t block me in.”

“If they did, I’m sure they will move so you can get out,” Rosemary said as the men walked in laughing.

“Hey, Callie! What’s up with you? You look tense,” Jimmy said as he wrapped his arm around her neck and rubbed his knuckle on her head. “Anything we can do to help you lighten up?”

“You can help Mom and Dad watch Maya. Please, I am begging you, do not try to be the fun uncle and do something crazy with her. I have enough to worry about right now without you added to it,” Callie frowned.

“I promise I won’t let Jimmy do anything he shouldn’t do,” Mark grinned. “If he starts to cause trouble, I will make sure to knock him back into line like I did when we were in high school. If it makes you feel better, I will go with your mom when she takes Maya to do the shopping, and Jimmy can put up the lights under your father’s iron fist.”

Callie chewed on her lower lip as she looked at the smiling faces in the kitchen. She was hesitant to leave Maya with anyone right now, even the girl’s grandparents. The thought of her mother and Mark watching her at the stores made her stomach twist into knots.

“Callie? Are you feeling well? You are looking a little pale. Why don’t you rest today?” Rosemary suggested to her daughter.

“No. I’m fine, Mom. I need to get things done before Christmas. That way, Maya and I can be settled and maybe in our own place in the next month or two,” Callie replied with a sigh. She turned to her brother and Mark and asked, “Did you guys block in my car?”

“Nope! I remembered that you had important things to do, so we parked in front so you could get out of your special private drive,” Jimmy said.

He was intending to tease his little sister with his joking comment. Instead, it wounded her to the core. Callie hated crawling back to her little hometown and living with her parents. Jimmy had seen her expression change and tried to fix what he had said.

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that,” Jimmy tried to defend himself.

“No. It’s fine. I will be back as soon as I can and will check in as often as I can,” Callie said as she headed toward the backdoor and grabbed her coat from the hook beside the door. “I love you guys and will see you later. Maya, be good while I’m gone, and we will watch a movie when I get back,” Callie said, trying to smile at her daughter.

“I’ll be good!” Maya grinned at her mother before she went back to eating.

Callie nodded as she went out the backdoor, closing the door behind her. She put her coat on as she walked to her car. Callie knew her brother would never say or do anything to hurt her intentionally, but he had. Callie was fighting tears of anger and embarrassment by the time she reached her SUV and climbed in. This was not the way she wanted to start her day.

-

Rosemary glared at her son, and John was frowning deeply. Jimmy’s shoulders fell as he began to understand the full scope of what he had said to his sister and how much it had bothered her.

“I messed up,” Jimmy sighed.

Rosemary nodded, “Yes, you did, and you need to try to fix it.”

“I do. Which means I need to do an extra special job on the decorations today. Right, Maya?” Jimmy said, trying to break the tension.

“Right!” Maya cheered. “And use lots of pink and purple!”

“Pink and Purple for Christmas?” Jimmy asked as he tapped his finger on his chin. “I love it! We might need you, Grandma, and Mark to see if you can find pink and purple Christmas decorations while you’re shopping. Does that sound fun?”

“Yup!” Maya nodded. “Can we go now?”

Rosemary laughed, “That’s fine with me as long as Mark doesn’t mind.”

“I think that is the perfect idea,” Mark grinned.

“That is perfect,” John laughed. “That will give Jimmy and I a chance to discuss what decorations we still need to add to the house and make plans for all the new ones you will get today. Send up pictures as you buy them so we can make plans.”

“Come on, Maya,” Rosemary said, holding out her hand to her granddaughter. “Let’s get our coats on.”

Mark announced, “We can take my SUV. That way, we have plenty of room for everything.” He reached for Maya’s booster seat, sitting near the back door. “I will put Maya’s seat in and turn the heater on high. Come on out when you ladies are ready.”

“Thanks, Mark,” Rosemary called back to him as she and Maya left the kitchen.

Mark looked between John and Jimmy before he hurried out the backdoor. The tension between the father and son was palpable. Mark had seen that a few times when they were younger. He didn’t know what was happening, but he knew it had something to do with Callie’s return to Green Forest. He had been told about her divorce, but there was something Callie was trying to hide, and he was determined to find out what it was.