Another Chance to Love

by Cheris Hodges

  Another Chance to Love

  By Cheris Hodges

  Copyright © Cheris Hodges 2018

  All rights reserved

  CHAPTER ONE

  Of all the words that described Paige Grayson, patience wasn’t one of them. If this mover didn’t do as she asked, he was going to find out the word firecracker was her middle name. She wanted to strangle the six- foot-six-inch man standing in front of her, though his greasy skin and beige teeth made her stomach lurch at the thought of touching him. But if she had to hurl her five-foot-six-inch self at him to knock some sense into that dense skull of his, then so be it.

  Paige snatched her sunglasses off her golden eyes and looked up at the man. “It’s a simple request,” she said as she ran her hand over her short curly Afro. “Just open the back door and let me get the directions so that we can leave.”

  The man’s face with its scraggly beard and bushy uni-brow reminded her of a grizzly bear. His sunburnt complexion indicated he spent a lot of time in the Nashville sun. Clearly, Paige said to herself, all that time in the sun had damaged his brain.

  “Lady,” the man growled, “we’re already two hours late and I don’t have all day to pack and repack this truck.”

  Paige’s face grew hot. He talked to her as if she were a child needing to be scolded.

  “Look, you jackass, I’m paying you—not the other way around. Now open this damn door or we won’t get anywhere.”

  The man threw the truck keys at Paige, nearly hitting her in the face. “I don’t have to take this. Drive yourself!” He started off down the street. Paige was furious. “Get back here! How am I supposed to drive this truck and my car, you idiot?”

  The man flipped his middle finger up and unleashed a string of profanities over his shoulder. Paige dropped her head in defeat once the man disappeared down the street. Why did things like this always happen to her? She walked up the steps of the condo that she was going to leave and knocked on the door. Her soon-to-be former roommate, Patrick, opened the door.

  “You decided not to leave, huh?” he said with a smile.

  Paige walked in and plopped down on the sofa. “You know that son of a—”

  She stopped abruptly when she saw the directions she had printed to her new house in Elmore were sitting on the edge of the coffee table. “Patrick! Why didn’t you tell me I left these in here?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “How was I supposed to know they were important?”

  Paige leapt to her feet. “Sometimes you can be so thick in the head,” she said, and then slapped him on the shoulder.

  Patrick rolled his eyes at her. “Why aren’t you and the mover on the road?”

  “Grizzly Adams left and now I’m stuck with a truck that I can’t drive, all because you didn’t tell me I left the directions in the house,” she snapped.

  Patrick held up his meaty arm as if he were about to testify in church. “Am I the person moving? Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you,” he said.

  Patrick and Paige had been best friends since graduate school at the Tennessee State University. They had run into each other, literally, in the library. Patrick had spilled a cup of coffee over her notes as he tripped over her backpack, which was in the middle of the floor. It seemed as if it were only yesterday.

  “You big oaf! Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” Paige snapped.

  Patrick looked at her, shaking his head.

  “Excuse me?” he replied. “This big bag was in the middle of the floor.” Patrick picked up the bag and threw it into the chair beside her.

  “Oh,” Paige said, slightly embarrassed. He reached into his bag and handed her a napkin.

  “I swear, you women are more trouble than you’re worth,” he mum- bled.

  Paige looked up from trying to dry her notes. “What was that?” she asked.

  Patrick sat down and looked at her, then began to tell her about his sister and how she had kept him up all night talking about how badly her boyfriend was treating her. “Then she turns around and moves in with him. Family members have been calling me all night. They don’t care that I have exams to study for and papers to write.”

  Paige smiled at him and covered his big hand with her smaller one. “That really sounds like a lot of drama. I’m sorry I yelled at you, but I have to get this paper written and your coffee really messed up my notes.”

  They’d shared a laugh and become fast friends, despite Paige’s quick temper. Patrick was the ying to her yang. He tried to make her see that her angry outbursts only got her in trouble. Like the trouble that had got- ten her fired from her job as an elementary school counselor.

  Paige loved kids; it was their parents and the administration she had a problem with.

  When a fifth grader had asked Paige a question about sex, she’d answered it by giving her an educational book on reproductive health. The girl’s parents, who were devoutly religious, had been livid when they saw what their child was reading. The next morning, they had gone to the school demanding that Paige be fired for giving their child such filth.

  She’d tried to explain to the parents that when children that age ask about sex it’s important to answer those questions honestly. That had started another argument and the couple had called Paige a heathen.

  That was the last straw. Paige blew up, calling those parents every name in the book. Her principal had been so shocked by her language that he fired her on the spot.

  Since Paige’s name was mud in the local school system, she needed a fresh start. When she’d seen a job listing for a high school counselor in South Carolina, she’d jumped at the chance. Now here she was, still in Nashville because of the argument with that stupid driver.

  “You know, I could drive the truck for you,” Patrick said.

  Paige’s face softened. “Will you? Oh, Patrick, thank you.” She hugged him tightly. “Now get your butt in gear so we can go.”

  “That’s some way to show your appreciation,” Patrick said as he stood and headed upstairs.

  “You know I love you,” she called out after him.

  A few moments later, Patrick and Paige were heading for the highway. The drive to Elmore was only about five hours. Paige had been happy that most of the trip took them down the interstate where the speed limit was over 65 miles per hour. They stopped for a meal and she was happy for the break. “That was a long drive,” he said through a yawn. “Are you sure you want to move this far away from Nashville?”

  Paige shrugged her shoulders. “I have to do something,” she said. “The doors are shut and locked in Nashville. Lights out, good night.”

  Patrick put his hand on her shoulder. “I say again, Paige, your attitude is holding you back. How smart was it to call the school superintendent a ‘class A idiot’ and expect to keep your job? How did you become a counselor anyway?”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “I love children, you know that. It isn’t their fault that they have idiots for parents. Children don’t know any better, but adults do, at least they should, and I just tell them what they should know.”

  “And,” Patrick said, “if you take that attitude to South Carolina you’ll be unemployed again. Paige, promise me that you’ll try to think before you speak.”

  She smiled faintly. Paige, like her mother Vivian, had a quick temper.

  Vivian Grayson was not one to hold her tongue and she’d passed that trait on to her daughter. A former Kentucky police officer, Vivian had had to stand up for herself as a member of the Louisville Police Department. Paige had watched her mother make hardened criminals cry with her silver tongue. She’d also been on the receiving end of her mother’s tirades. As a child, Paige had welcomed a spanking rather than a talking to from Vivian. She wishe
d her mother were alive so that she could advise her on what to do. Paige had lost her mother to breast cancer two years after she graduated from Tennessee State University.

  But courtesy of her mother, Paige had learned that sometimes you had to tell people off in order to make them take you seriously. And when she was really passionate about something, there was no way she could keep her emotions under control.

  Paige vowed to change that about herself. This new job and a new town were the elixir that she needed. This was her chance to reinvent herself. But without Patrick in her ear telling her to calm down, Paige knew she was in for a struggle.

  “Patrick, I’m going to make a serious effort not to repeat past mistakes,” Paige said sincerely.

  He smirked at her as if he didn’t believe what she’d said. Paige smiled and said, “Really,” as they walked into the restaurant.

  Paige fingered her hair absentmindedly as Patrick talked to the host about the wait for a table. What was waiting for her in South Carolina? She’d never heard of this place, so it must be a small town, she surmised. She was going to be the freshman counselor at Elmore High School. Paige laughed silently. I wonder if it’s a place full of cigarette smoking cowboys?

  “Earth to Paige,” Patrick said as he snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Our table is ready. Are you thinking about going back to Nashville and begging for your job back?”

  “I don’t beg for shit.”

  “You know you’re going to have to keep that attitude in check when you meet your new boss and coworkers. Paige, take this new start seriously.”

  She stroked Patrick’s cheek. “I have no choice. And I plan to do exactly that, a new start and a new attitude.”

  He shook his head. “Why am I having a hard time believing you?”

  They followed the host to a table in silence. After eating, Paige and Patrick decided that they didn’t want to finish the last leg of their drive because it had gotten dark and they were both tired. The duo checked into a motel adjacent to the restaurant. As Paige curled up in bed, she prayed that Elmore, South Carolina would be a wonderful place to live.

  Paige woke up to the sound of banging on her door. It took her a second to remember where she was. A motel on the way to South Carolina. Blinking, she got out of bed and looked through the peephole. Of course Patrick was standing there with coffee. She opened the door and smiled.

  “Guess I slept through my wake up call.”

  He nodded as he handed her a cup of steaming coffee. “So, did I. What time is your landlady expecting you?”

  Paige shrugged as she took a sip. “Yesterday.”

  Patrick shook his head. “You’re the worst.”

  “I didn’t want Bigfoot to get us. Besides, she has my deposit, she can wait.”

  “Thought you were working on your attitude?”

  “When I get to South Carolina and last time I checked, we’re not there yet.” She downed her coffee and then winked at her friend. “I’m going to take a shower and then we can hit the road.”

  “I’ll check us out.”

  Paige took a quick shower and dressed. Grabbing her overnight bag, she headed outside and waited for Patrick. When he climbed in the truck, she hopped into her Mustang and pulled out her cell phone to call Mrs. Anderson, her new landlady, to let her know when she would arrive.

  “Good mornin’, sugar,” the older woman said. “I was wondering what happened to you. I thought you were going to be here yesterday.”

  “Had a slight problem with the mover, but I should be there in an hour or so.”

  The woman sighed into the phone. “Well, I’ll probably be in church when you get here, but today is a short service. Pastor has an engagement at Cedar Falls. You are a Christian, aren’t you?”

  “What?” Paige mumbled. This old bat is annoying me already.

  “Hello, are you there?” Mrs. Anderson asked.

  “We must have a bad connection,” Paige said, quickly lowering the window so that the wind could blow into the phone. “I’ll see you shortly.” Paige ended the call and threw the phone on the passenger seat. She wondered if everyone in Elmore was nosy like Mrs. Anderson. Paige wasn’t used to being around people who wanted to know your every move, belief, and innermost thoughts. This was going to be interesting, to say the least.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Brian held his breath as he walked in the front door of his house. Home was the last place he wanted to be and for the last five years, he’d been able to tell it was also the last place his wife Olivia wanted to be. But instead of leaving, he was going to stick it out, even if it meant being trapped in a loveless marriage.

  It hadn’t always been that way between him and Olivia. Once upon a time they’d had a passion that burned so brightly that all they wanted to do was make love. But that fire had died long ago. It had dimmed the day their son was born and year after year it had gotten progressively worse.

  Maybe that’s why Brian had the same dream every night. It would always start with smoke and screams. He prayed he wouldn’t have that nightmare tonight.

  “Dinner is in the oven,” Olivia said, by way of greeting.

  Brian dropped his jacket at the door. “Thanks,” he replied, knowing not to expect a kiss hello. It had been years since he’d been treated to a greeting like that. Truth be told, he didn’t miss it anymore.

  “Daddy!” Mickey exclaimed as he ran down the hall and into his father’s arms.

  Brian hugged his son tightly, kissing him on the forehead. This was why he stayed and put up with Olivia.

  “What’s up, champ?”

  “Did you put any bad guys away today?”

  “I sure did. Did you do your homework?” He let his son go.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Olivia walked into the living room. “Mickey, please go put your crayons away and get ready to take a bath and go to bed.”

  “Mommy, I want to eat with Daddy.”

  Placing her hands on her hips, Olivia looked directly into Brian’s eyes. “Well, Daddy should try to get home earlier and have family dinner.”

  “Olivia, please don’t start.”

  “Mickey, do what I said.” Olivia then turned to Brian. “Start what? Expecting my husband to come home once a week for dinner? You can’t even do that.”

  Brian looked around the corner to make sure Mickey was out of earshot. “You act as if I work for a bank and have regular hours. I’m a detective. I work undercover. I can’t schedule a drug bust around your cooking.”

  When she threw her hands up and stomped away from him, Brian headed for the kitchen to have yet another dinner alone. This was par for the course lately. Even though Olivia was right there in the house with him, he was alone. At night in their marital bed, he was still alone.

  Brian had loved Olivia for a long time and he didn’t want to let her go. He also didn’t want to be a divorce statistic. He wanted his marriage to last, but he didn’t know how much more of this he could take.

  Olivia walked into the kitchen. “Mickey’s in the tub and I’m going out.”

  “Where?” he asked.

  “Out.”

  “Olivia, what’s going on with us?” He dropped his fork and walked over to her, attempting to pull her into his arms. “Why do we fight all the time and never make love anymore?”

  “I’m not doing this with you,” she said, refusing to look into his eyes.

  He studied her chocolate brown oval face. There had been a time when he rained kisses on her face and she squealed in delight. Her pouty lips used to curl up in a smile and make his heart sing. She hadn’t smiled in a while, at least not at him.

  “This is not how I expected our lives to turn out,” she revealed. “When we were in high school, we had so many dreams. And none of them have come true, not for me, I’m home all day and—I have to go.” Olivia tore out of the house, leaving Brian standing there flabbergasted.

  Hours later, Brian lay on the sofa, waiting for Olivia to come home. The clock on h
is iPhone read 1:35 A.M. The light from the television illuminated his stressed features as the sports the commentator talked about another NFL wide receiver and his off-season drama.

  Where is Olivia? he thought before drifting off to sleep.

  It happened again. The dream returned. Brian ran through thick black smoke, barely able to breathe. Fiery planks of wood crashed around him and orange flames dancing near him licked his heels.

  “Brian!” Olivia screamed. His hand sizzled as he grabbed the knob, only to find the door was locked.

  “Olivia! Hold on, I’m coming,” he yelled as he rammed into the door with his shoulder. More thick clouds of smoke rose into the air, making it nearly impossible to see. He didn’t remember the wooden porch, which was now a mass of flames. And where was the stained glass door that he’d spent weeks installing because Olivia had seen one on HGTV?

  “Please, hurry,” Olivia shouted.

  Brian pushed the question of the stained glass door out of his head as he rammed his way into the house. Where was the fire department? He was sure someone must have called 9-1-1. His family was in danger of being burned to death.

  “Daddy,” Mickey cried out. “Daddy.”

  Orange flames blinded Brian and moments later; an explosion sent him flying backwards into the front yard.

  “Daddy!”

  “Mickey!” Brian tried to stand up and run back into the burning house, but his legs wouldn’t move.

  “Brian,” Olivia called. Her voice seemed closer. “Brian, wake up.”

  Covered in sweat, his heart pumping overtime, Brian sat up and struggled to focus on his surroundings. It took a few moments for him to realize he was not at a fire scene but in his own living room. He looked up at Olivia. Her eyes looked as if she had been crying and her silky black hair was matted to her head.

  “Where’s Mickey?” He wiped the sweat off his sculpted chest with the edge of his hand.

  Sighing, Olivia rolled her eyes. “In bed. Go back to sleep, Brian.”

  He stood up, a little shaky on his feet. “Where have you been? We need to talk because what’s going on in this house isn’t working. Every time I try to touch you, you pull away from me. I feel like I’m losing you.” Hearing the words he had been thinking for years frightened him. She was his high school sweetheart, the only woman he’d ever made love to.