Her Second Chance Forever Groom

by Lorana Hoopes

  Her mother tilted her chin up and sniffed. “You’re right. Go get our boy the best care he can get. Just be careful with your heart, Mia. I don’t want to see it get broken again.”

  “I will, Mom.” Though they didn’t hug often, Mia pulled her mother in for one now. She had no idea when she might see her again. No idea how long this job would take and no idea how much treatment Carter would need. She was taking a leap of faith, and while she had no problems trusting God, she still had reservations about trusting Emmitt.

  “Hey, bud, give Grandma and Grandpa a hug and a kiss, and then we better hit the road.” Emmitt had not only offered to forgo his plane tickets and drive with them back to San Antonio, but he had paid for a moving company to box up their things and ship them there. While Mia had no intention of staying forever, she knew Carter would appreciate having his things there—few as they were—and the doctor had said the treatments could take three or four months.

  “Bye Grandma,” he said as he hobbled over to where they stood. The doctor had placed a walking cast on his foot because crutches were too unwieldy for most children. Still, the sight of him limping tore at Mia’s heartstrings, but she knew there was much worse in his future. She prayed he wouldn’t lose his smile or his sweet personality on the arduous road ahead.

  With the goodbyes said, she helped Carter into her car and then drove to the hotel where Emmitt was staying. As he had flown in initially, they would be dropping his rental car off in town and then heading to San Antonio in her car. She hoped it would make it. Her car was over ten years old and had some quirks.

  The air conditioner only worked sixty percent of the time, not favorable when one lived in the hot, dry belt of Texas. Even in December, the temperature often sat in the mid-sixties and the last few days, it had even hit seventy-five a few days. The radio station seemed to only pick up country music even though there was a pop station in town that should have come in clear. And the gas gauge wasn’t always reliable. More than once, she had run out of gas on the road and had to walk to the lone gas station and borrow a can to fill up.

  “Did you get everything taken care of?” Emmitt asked as he approached the car.

  “I think so. Carter’s all set back there with some coloring books, his tablet, and a pillow. The moving company is coming this evening to pack everything up and my mother will supervise. Nothing bad will happen on her watch. I grabbed a few snacks for the trip, but I don’t have money for gas.”

  Emmitt waved his hand. “I’ll cover the cost of gas. Consider it part of your moving expense, and we’ll talk about the rest of the budget when we get there.”

  Mia took a deep breath and blew it out. “Okay, then I guess we’re ready.”

  Emmitt planned out the drive back in his head as they drove to the rental car company. He still had so much he wanted to tell Mia, but he doubted she would want to talk about the past with Carter in the back seat. Hopefully, he would find some time alone with her after the boy went to sleep. Getting her to take this job had been a miracle, but he kept praying God would give him more opportunities to show her how he’d changed.

  After dropping off the keys and transferring his bags to Mia’s car, they were on the road again. “Do you remember when we drove back here one Christmas break and I fell asleep at the wheel?” he asked when the silence pressed in on him and he could take it no longer.

  It had been a scary trip to say the least. He’d had a late practice, so he’d asked her to take the first shift of driving so he could sleep, but somehow their wires had gotten crossed as she’d had to stay up late for a final. Emmitt had thought he was in better shape than she was, but two hours outside of Lubbock, he’d been woken by the shaking of the car as it swerved over the rumble strips. His eyes had snapped open and his foot had slammed on the brakes as the car fishtailed off the road and into the ditch. Thankfully, the car hadn’t been damaged and they’d gotten back on the road ten minutes later. It had taken a lot longer for his heart to slow down.

  “Let’s not talk about the past,” Mia said. “Tell me about football. What’s it like?”

  Emmitt swallowed his disappointment at her subject change, but he humored her. “It’s a lot of work. Four-hour long practices nearly every day except for the days we play or the days we travel. Then there’s a lot of soaking sore muscles after and being stretched by the trainer. And don’t get me started on ice baths.”

  “What’s an ice bath?” Carter spoke up from the back seat.

  Emmitt turned in the seat to look at Carter. The kid was sprawled across the back seat with his foot propped up on a pillow behind Emmitt and his head and back propped against the door behind Mia. His tablet was in his lap, but he was also surrounded by a dozen stuffed animals ranging from dinosaurs to bears, and a stack of books. Did kids always travel with this much stuff?

  “An ice bath is just what it sounds like. They fill up a tub with water and ice cubes and then you soak in it. Supposedly it helps fight tears in muscle fibers and lessens muscle soreness. Some even say it leads to a faster recovery, which I guess I can agree with because I always feel fully recovered after about ten minutes in one of those baths.”

  Carter grinned at him. “That sounds fun. Do you think it would work for my foot?”

  “Ah, I wish, but breaks are a different ball game altogether. Those just take time, my man.”

  Carter’s grin faltered, and his eyes fell to his foot. “Have you ever broken anything, Mr. Brown?”

  The kid didn’t even know what a loaded question he had asked. Emmitt supposed he had broken Mia’s heart and his own for that matter, but as for broken bones… “Just my knuckle when I was young. Before I started playing football, I thought I might like baseball. My first day at tryouts they put me at second base. The ball took a wicked bounce as it reached me and instead of bouncing into my glove, it hit my ring finger on the other hand. Chipped my knuckle. I kept playing but by the end of the practice, I knew something was wrong because my knuckle had swelled up and was purple.”

  “I never heard that story,” Mia said as she shot him a sideways glance.

  Emmitt shrugged. “You never asked about broken bones.” In fact, Mia had never asked about his past much at all. He wasn’t sure if it was because she genuinely didn’t care or because she had worried about him getting injured and hadn’t wanted to know.

  “Anyway, that’s most of my time during the season anyway. Of course, game days are a little different. All the lights and TV crews make it feel surreal, and a lot of times, I’ll get done with a game and not even remember what happened. It’s like adrenaline kicks in and takes over. I’ll watch the game on TV later and it will feel like a whole new game.”

  “Do you have any off time?” Mia asked.

  “Not much during the season. We’re on a short break right now so we can celebrate Christmas with our families early. We play on Christmas Eve this year.”

  She took her eyes off the road long enough to shoot him a wide-eyed gape. “You play on Christmas Eve?”

  “Not every year, but this one, yeah, and the rest of this season will be a little tougher because our owner died last week.”

  Mia shot him another expression that bordered between sympathy and a warning. He realized too late she probably didn’t want him talking about death in front of Carter.

  “How did he die?” Carter asked from the backseat.

  “Old age,” Emmitt lied. Though he prided himself on not lying, he thought God would forgive him this one.

  “Oh, my dad is in Heaven too. Maybe he’ll see your owner.”

  “Maybe so, kid. Maybe so.” Emmitt sat back against the seat. He’d thought the silence was bad, but having to think about what he said so as not to affect Carter was a lot harder. How did Mia seem to do it so effortlessly?

  He sneaked a glance at her from the corner of his eye. Her jaw was tight and her hands clenched the steering wheel, but he’d seen her softer side, and he marveled at how easily she could shift between them. Was that s
omething she’d always been able to do or was that a trait she’d gained with motherhood? He realized he didn’t know, and the weight settled on him again. He had been so selfish. How much else had he not noticed about Mia back then?

  Chapter 9

  “This is where you live?” Carter asked in an awed voice as they pulled into the driveway of Emmitt’s expansive home.

  “It is.” He said it matter-of-factly and Mia sensed no bragging or pride in his voice even though the house was clearly worth bragging about. At two stories, it appeared to span half a city block and had to have over three thousand square feet.

  “Whoa, and we get to stay here?”

  “Well, you can hang out with me during the day while your mom works, but I have a guest house out back that you’ll sleep in.”

  “Why do we have to sleep out back? This place must have like one hundred rooms.”

  Mia exchanged a quick glance with Emmitt before answering. He was clearly leaving this up to her to explain. “It just wouldn’t be proper for me to stay in a house with Emmitt since we aren’t married. It might give people the wrong idea.”

  “That’s stupid,” Carter said crossing his arms. “People should mind their own business. Isn’t that what you always say, Mom?”

  Mia shook her head. Of all the things she said, that he decided to listen to. “They should, Carter, but Emmitt is a pro football player and unfortunately that means he is in the public eye more than most people. It’s just better this way, and I’m sure the guest house is lovely.”

  “I think you’ll find it suitable,” Emmitt said with a laugh. “Shall we head inside and I’ll give you the tour?”

  Mia agreed, and after helping Carter out of the car, she followed Emmitt up the walkway. Colorful cobbled stones and not concrete made up the path, creating a piece of art work that accented the beautiful shrubbery and flowers along the sides. He must have a gardener and spend a fortune on water because Texas wasn’t known for its life-giving rains. Not even in San Antonio.

  The expansive front door opened into a large atrium, and her eyes widened as Carter’s mouth dropped and “holy cow” slipped out.

  “Are you wanting the whole house redesigned?” Mia asked softly. From what she could see, it didn’t need it. The house appeared elegantly designed as it was.

  “Oh no, not the whole house. Just my bedroom and the family room. The rest of the house was done before I bought it, but I finished the family room after, and I never liked the way the master bedroom was done. The carpet is green, for goodness sake. Who has green carpet?”

  Mia had seen several houses with green carpet when she was studying design, but it wasn’t her favorite either, and it had to be done with just the right touches or it did look odd.

  “Shall I give you the tour and then show you to the guest house?”

  Mia and Carter nodded, but neither of them could manage much more than that. His atrium was nearly larger than their whole apartment back in Kempton.

  “Okay, well over here is the kitchen.”

  Kitchen was an understatement. A large island sat in the middle of the room, the gold threading the marble gleaming under the bright lights. The double fridge took up half of one wall and the four ovens took up the rest. There was a large closet-sized pantry and another counter than ran around the rest of the room and under an impressive window. Mia wasn’t much of a cook, mainly because she didn’t have time, but she thought she might enjoy cooking in a place like this.

  The dining room came next, a formal affair with wainscoting and a table that could easily seat twelve. Mia wondered if there was a less formal room to eat in because she could see Carter making a mess of this one.

  Emmitt led them to the living room next and Mia nearly echoed the “wow” that came out of Carter’s mouth. The far wall not only held a giant big screen television but at least four different gaming devices and a shelving unit full of books, movies, and games.

  “Do you know how to play all those?” Carter asked.

  Emmitt smiled. “I do, and if it’s okay with your mom, we’ll play some while she works.”

  “Please Mom, can we?” Carter turned his puppy dog eyes on Mia, and she sighed. How could she deny him? With his broken foot, it wasn’t like he was super mobile anyway, and the time spent here would be something he could remember forever.

  “Yes, in moderation. I will not have you playing video games all day.”

  “Scouts honor,” Emmitt said as he held up three fingers. “We’ll read and play outside as well.”

  “Hard to play outside with a cast,” Carter grumbled.

  “Don’t worry, I have ideas.”

  As Emmitt shot Carter a wink, Mia felt a chink enter her carefully constructed wall. She’d always thought Emmitt would make a wonderful father, and she was getting to see that side of him now. Even more importantly, she was seeing a genuine smile on Carter’s face for the first time in a long time. She hoped this hadn’t been a terrible idea. She didn’t need Carter getting attached to Emmitt. He had made it clear that football meant more to him than anything else.

  Finally, they reached the family room. Though built well, Mia could see the tiny clues that it had been added after, and Emmitt hadn’t done much with it. The walls were a blank slate, as was the bland furniture.

  “What do you want done in here?”

  Emmitt shrugged. “I don’t really know. I want it to be inviting, a place where people could gather to talk or play games. No TV in here though.”

  “That sounds lovely,” Mia said, but she wondered who the people were. Teammates? A girlfriend? He hadn’t mentioned one, but he was too handsome not to have one.

  “Yeah, I’ve always loved the thought of a place where you could unplug from technology and hang out with the people you care most about.” His eyes fixed on hers and Mia felt her breath catch. Yes, this had definitely been a terrible idea. Too many more days of him talking like that and looking at her like that and she just might find herself falling for him again. And that would be bad. Very, very bad. Because she was only here for her son. Here to do a job to pay for his bills and here to get him the best care she could. Right?

  Emmitt enjoyed watching the pink tint color Mia’s face and her eyes flick away from his. It meant he still affected her, and if he still affected her then maybe he could have a second chance with her. He hadn’t even known he wanted one when he’d made the trip initially to Kempton, but he felt different when he was around her—happier, freer, more content. Emotions he hadn’t realized he’d been missing the last few years. Until now.

  Plus there was Carter. Though he’d always hoped to have his own children, Carter appeared to be a cool kid. He reminded Emmitt a lot of himself when he was young, and he wondered what it would be like to have a family sitting up in the box watching him play instead of having no one. His parents had come to a few games, but most of Emmitt’s tickets were given out to random fans, and while that was nice, it wasn’t the same as having family there.

  “I’ll show you the bedroom later because it’s upstairs, but how about I take you to the guest house now and you two can get settled?”

  “That sounds great,” Mia said.

  Emmitt led the way back to the kitchen and opened the sliding glass door. A large patio with a pool, a grill, and several deck chairs separated the main house from the guest house.

  “You have a pool?” Carter asked.

  “I do, but I’m afraid swimming is out of the question until you get out of that cast, buddy.”

  “Aw man.”

  “That’s your guest house?” Mia asked, her view going to the large house beyond the pool.

  “Yep. It’s a three bedroom, two bath house complete with its own kitchen and laundry room.”

  “Why do you need two houses?” Carter asked as they made their way around the pool.

  “I don’t usually, but the guest house came with the main house, and I guess it works out for times like these.”

  “Why do you need suc
h a big house for just you?”

  At that Emmitt had to pause. Why had he bought the large estate? Because he’d hoped to fill it with family one day? He’d like to say that was the reason and it was certainly the one he had used to convince himself to plunk down the money required, but if he were honest, it had probably been more for the image. All the players had nice houses and fancy cars and Emmitt had succumbed to the trap of vanity as well.

  He shook his head. Here he thought he’d become so virtuous, reading his Bible every night and going to church and letting the guys call him Rev, but he had just traded one sin for another. “You know what, bud? I really don’t, but the house is paid for, so I guess I’ll stay here for a while.”

  Carter shrugged but said nothing more, and Emmitt opened the door to the guest house. “Luckily, this place is a single story,” he said as he ushered them in, “so it should be a little easier for you to get around.”

  The inside of the guest house was much more modest but still decorated tastefully. The front door opened to a large open concept living room, dining room, and kitchen. To the left, a hallway led to the bedrooms and the hall bathroom.

  “This is where we get to stay?” Carter asked.

  “Is it okay?” Emmitt had seen the one-bedroom apartment they had been living in back in Kempton, and he’d thought the guest house would still feel like a vacation home compared to it.

  “It’s awesome. Can I pick my room, Mom?”

  “Sure, go ahead,” Mia said.