A New Journey (Second Chance #3)

by Christina Escue

  “When..” She started and had to stop when her throat clogged with tears. As her body shook with sobs she finished what she was saying. “When I got out of the car I told him I never wanted to see him again.” She finally got out through her tear clogged throat.

  Andrew sat beside Karla on the bed and wrapped his arms around her. He gently rubbed her back as she sobbed uncontrollably into his shirt. After a few minutes, when the sobs started to subside, he spoke. “Karla, when you said that to Conner was it you talking or was it hurt and embarrassment?”

  “At the time that’s how I felt. I was hurt and rejected and embarrassed and I never wanted to see him again. Now I know he didn’t reject me, he protected me. Just like he always does. If he had done want I wanted he would have been breaking a promise to me because he saw what I didn’t. He saw that I was acting on the sadness and he stopped me because he knew we would have both hated ourselves and that doing it would have driven us apart.”

  “Honey, Conner loves you, but you’re going to have to be the one to mend this rift between the two of you. Call him, I know he’ll listen.”

  “Dad, I said some pretty harsh things to him on the way home. I’m not sure I can repair the damage done by my words. If he never wants to talk to me again I can’t blame anyone but myself.”

  “Sweetheart, look at the ring on your finger and the necklace you always wear. If those two things don’t tell you what you need to know then I don’t know what will. He loves you beyond reason, but you need to be the one to make that first step. You are going to have to be the one to fix this.”

  “I will fix this. I can’t do it over the phone though. I need to talk to him face to face, but my car is still trapped in the garage.”

  “Take Mom’s SUV and go talk to him. We have the Mustang if we need to go anywhere.” Andrew told her and hugged her again. “Just be careful and call us if you need anything.”

  “Thank you, Dad. I’m glad you came in and talked to me.”

  “Sweetheart, I will always come to you when you need me. Never forget that Mom and I love you endlessly.”

  “I love you too, Dad.” Karla answered and walked out of her room. Leslie and Elliot were sitting at the little table in the kitchenette when Karla walked up to Leslie. “Mom, can I borrow your car for a little while? I need to go talk to Conner. I need to try and fix what I screwed up.”

  “Sure. Call or text when you get there so we know you made it alright.”

  “I will, Mom.” Karla said and hugged her hard. “I am so glad you’re alright. I love you.”

  “I love you too, Karla.” Leslie replied. When Karla let her go and walked out the hotel room door Leslie looked at Andrew in confusion. “What was that all about?”

  “I’ll have her explain later, but basically she made a mistake and then said some pretty bad things to Conner. She’s going to try to fix that now.”

  “She can fix it. She’s strong and smart and Conner loves her.” Elliot said.

  “I agree, Elliot.” Leslie responded to his statement with a smile on her face. “Now why don’t we see what kind of movie we can find on TV to watch until Karla gets back?”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Andrew said as he pulled Leslie to her feet and kissed her softly. “Don’t worry about our girl, baby. She’s going to be just fine.”

  “I hope you’re right.” She responded, but Andrew could still see the worry in her eyes.

  “Let’s find a movie.” He said and pulled her to the couch. Elliot followed close behind.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Karla stopped Leslie’s SUV in the Newberry’s driveway and just sat there for a minute. She didn’t know where to begin to try mend things, but she knew she had to try. Life without Conner looked so dark and lonely. She had sent a quick text to Leslie to let her know she’s made it when she heard Cain and Abel start barking and she knew she had to get out. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself and opened the door.

  Before she reached the gate Conner appeared at the front door. He walked down the steps and into the yard. She was frozen in place when she saw the broken expression on his gorgeous face and the sadness in his sapphire eyes. Before she could open her mouth to say anything he spoke. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  Karla’s stomach clenched at the sadness in his voice, but she knew what she had to do. “Conner, we need to talk.”

  “Come on in.” He said as he turned and started walking back to the house. When he stopped at the front door he looked back at Karla and said. “We can talk in my room that way we won’t be disturbed.”

  Karla nodded and followed him into the house. Once they were in Conner’s room he pushed the door up, but didn’t completely close it. No one would bother them, but he didn’t want to listen to his Dad’s lecture if they were caught in his room with the door shut. “Conner, I was so stupid. When I said those things earlier I wasn’t thinking clearly.”

  “Karla, the things you said to me in the car cut deep. You sliced my heart out and the only reason I’m still standing is because I knew how sad and scared you were.”

  “Can you hear me out and then, if you want, I’ll go.” Karla said with a pleading look in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say, but she knew she had to say something.

  Conner sat on the edge of his bed and nodded to let her know he was listening. As the words formed in her head she started pacing the room. “I’m sorry for everything I did at the lake and for everything I said in the car. I let my emotions get the best of me and I hurt you deeply. I know you were right to stop me from doing what I was trying to do. You were protecting me from myself and I lashed out at you.”

  She had to stop for a moment as tears formed in her eyes and clogged her throat. Conner had to fight himself to stay seated and not go to her because he knew she needed to finish this before she could forgive herself. He had forgiven her the moment she appeared at his house, but self-forgiveness was always the hardest. He knew that from experience.

  “While we were sitting by the lake and I was telling you everything a deep sadness formed within me and I felt so utterly alone. It was like I was dying inside or being consumed by a darkness that was just below the surface. Then we started kissing and the darkness faded into the light. I felt alive and whole. I wanted more, but it was because of the emotions. You were right to stop me because I would have regretted it and I would have hated us both afterwards. Thank you, Conner, for always trying to protect me and thank you for looking out for me.” She stopped in front of him and looked him in the eyes. “I love you, Conner Fredrick Newberry, and I always will, but I will understand if you never want to see me again.”

  She leaned down and brushed a soft kiss over his lips then she raised up and turned to leave the room. She had just made it to the door when she felt his hand gently touch her back. “Don’t go.” He whispered softly and she turned around. Before she could say anything he captured her face between his hands and pressed his lips to hers. She could feel the love and forgiveness pouring out of this kiss and she knew just how lucky she was to have him in her life.

  She brought her hands up and tangled her fingers in his messy hair and he groaned. His hands left her face and dropped to her shoulders where they started making their way down her sides to her hips. He stopped his exploration there and held on as he delved deeper into the kiss. Time stood still as their kiss said things their words could not.

  When a soft knock sounded on Conner’s door they were thrust back into reality. Callie poked her head in and grinned. “I looked out my window and saw Leslie’s SUV sitting in the drive way and when I walked out of my room I saw what was going on in here. I figured I better stop it before Dad walked up here and poked his head in.”

  “We were just kissing, Cal.” Conner said with an irritated expression. “My door was open so that’s as far as it was going to go.”

  “I know that, but you know how Dad is. Especially after what happened with Kevin a few years back.”


  “I’m not Kevin and I would never do anything like that to Karla.”

  “I’m a little lost here.” Karla said in confusion.

  Conner grabbed Karla’s hand and pulled her over to the bed so he could wrap his arms around her while he told her what happened. Callie closed the door and sat in Conner’s desk chair while Conner started telling Karla what happened.

  “At the beginning of Kevin’s junior year of high school he was dating a girl named Natalie, and by dating I mean sleeping with. About two months into the relationship Natalie comes over and announces that she’s pregnant with Kevin’s baby. Kevin, of course, denies that the baby is his. He swore to Dad that he always used protection and never took any risks so Dad, being the doctor that he is, talked Natalie’s parents into getting an amnio DNA test done. Before the test results came back Natalie got bumped from behind on the stairs at school and fell down half a flight, subsequently miscarrying. Turns out the baby was Kevin’s. Natalie accused him of paying someone to bump into her and make her lose the baby because he didn’t want the responsibility, but she could never prove it. Before the school year was out her parents sold everything they had here and moved to Chicago. We haven’t heard from her since.”

  “Did any of you believe that Kevin had paid someone to hurt her?”

  “No, but for a long time after that we thought she might actually try to file charges against him.” Callie said and looked at Conner.

  “Dad has strict rules about who we can and cannot have in our rooms with the door shut though, which is why I left it open a little when we came up here.” Conner explained and Karla nodded.

  “Can you stay for dinner?” Callie asked hopefully. She had been worried about Karla since last night.

  “I’m sure I can. Just let me call Mom and make sure though.”

  “You do that and we’ll go downstairs and let Mom know to set another place at the table.” Callie said with a grin before she got up and walked out of the room.

  “I’ll be down in a minute.” Karla told Conner when he kissed her forehead and walked to the door.

  “See you in a minute. I love you, Karla.”

  “I love you too, Conner.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The following morning when Conner picked Karla and Elliot up for school everything seemed to be back to normal. Karla was smiling again and Elliot seemed to be dealing with everything as well as could be expected, but he had a feeling this wasn’t over yet. Tony had somehow found Karla and he wanted to know how.

  When they pulled into the parking lot at school Conner’s eyes immediately fell on Trevor’s truck parked just a few spaces from him and dread filled him. Nothing had happened from that end yet, but he knew Trevor hadn’t just let it go. When he saw a girl with long dark hair and Latin American coloring walk up to Trevor he grinned a little. Maybe Trevor found someone else to direct his attentions on he thought to himself. His hopes were shattered when Trevor just shook his head and started walking toward him.

  “Conner.” He greeted with a nod of his head before he turned this attention to Karla. “Karla, you are radiant as ever. If you didn’t feel like driving you could have called me and I would have given you a ride.” He said with a deviant smile as he winked at her.

  “Trevor, I`d rather walk than take anything from you.” She retorted and grinned when the smile left his face.

  He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “We will soon see.” Before he backed away he leaned in closed and gently nipped her earlobe.

  “You disgust me.” She said before she pushed him away and slapped his face. “You aren’t half the man Conner is and you don’t have a chance in hell at ever being with me.”

  Before Trevor could say anything Conner punched him in the mouth. “Leave her the hell alone or I swear that punch will be just the beginning.”

  “Mr. Newberry, Mr. Carpenter, what’s going on here?” Mr. Johnson said from behind them.

  “Mr. Johnson, I can explain everything.” Karla said before either boy could answer.

  “Then start explaining, Miss Peterson, because from what I saw Mr. Newberry and Mr. Carpenter should both be suspended for fighting.”

  “Can we all go to your office? I’ll tell you everything when we get there.” Karla said in a pleading voice.

  “Sure, let’s go.” He responded and they all followed him to his office. Once they were inside he took a seat behind his desk and Karla told him everything that had been happening with Trevor.

  When she was finished he turned to Conner. “Mr. Newberry, under the circumstances and since you are one of our top students I am going to let you off with two hours of after school detention, which can be taken any day this week except Friday.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Conner responded. He was relieved to not be suspended, but he knew his dad would have understood.

  “As for you, Mr. Carpenter, if I hear of you giving Miss. Peterson anymore trouble you will be expelled. We have a no tolerance policy at this school and I take it very seriously. I strive to keep this a safe learning environment and will do whatever necessary to maintain it. Are we clear?”

  “Yes, sir.” Trevor said, but he knew that Mr. Johnson couldn’t control what he did outside of school and his brain was already divulging a plan.

  “You may all go to class now.” Mr. Johnson said and handed them all notes to enter class.

  When they walked out of the office Karla hesitated for a moment and let Trevor make it halfway down the hall before she followed him to Latin class. Conner walked with her until he reached his class and disappeared inside after a quick kiss on the cheek.

  When she entered class she handed the note to the teacher and quietly took her seat. By the time class was over she could feel Rylee nearly bursting out of her skin from keeping her questions to herself. When the bell rang Rylee let the questions out.

  “What happened? Where were you? Why does Trevor look like he was punched in the face?”

  “Ry, breathe.” Callie interrupted her as they entered the hall. “I’m sure Karla will answer all your questions when you give her a minute.”

  “When we got to school this morning Trevor cornered me in the parking lot and said some things to me. I slapped him, but apparently that wasn’t enough for Conner because he punched him.”

  “Is Conner in trouble?” Callie asked, concerned for her brother.

  “Nope.” Conner said as he walked up behind them. “After Karla explained to Mr. Johnson what happened I got off with just a couple hours of afternoon detention, which I’m going to do today if one of you can take Karla and Elliot back to the hotel.”

  “I’ll take them.” Rylee said. “I was going to go over and see if I could help anyway.”

  “We will need everyone’s help when we’re able to get into the house and start moving out the things that weren’t damaged by fire, smoke or water.”

  “You know we will be there.” Conner said as he held the door open for his girls. He didn’t worry about Karla when he was with her, it was when he wasn’t that he was in a constant state of worry.

  “I know you’ll all be there. Jake and Kiara are coming home over the weekend to help too.”

  “Awesome.” Callie said as they took their seats and class started.

  The rest of the day passed quickly and after the final bell Conner kissed Karla on the forehead and went to Mr. Johnson’s office for his detention.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Karla said to Rylee and Elliot. As soon as they got in the car Karla’s cell phone chimed and she looked at the text on the screen. It was from Trevor.

  My Dearest, Karla,

  I may be forced to halt my pursuit of you within school grounds, but never doubt that I will not give up until you are mine. I will have you, My Love, one way or another.

  Until I see you again,

  All my love,

  T.

  Karla quickly slipped her phone back in her pocket and stared out the window. When they got to the hotel Karla
plastered a fake smile on her face and pushed the text message out of her mind. She’d deal with that later.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The rest of the week passed quickly. On Wednesday they were allowed back in the house to start backing up the things that weren’t damaged and by Friday they had almost everything ready for the movers to pick up on Saturday. Karla had a competition on Saturday, but her school was hosting this one so it wasn’t that big of a deal. The only down side to everything was the one text a day from Trevor.

  She hadn’t told anyone about them because they all had a lot going on, but after the text she got today she was going to talk to everyone tomorrow after the competition. Tonight she was going to shove it to the side and focus on the family surrounding her.

  “Are you ready for your first competition as a captain?” Jake asked from across the table.

  “Yep. I think the team is better prepared this year then we were last because there isn’t any of the tension there. Everyone is responding well to Daniel as head captain. I’m really glad I can help him.”

  “What about you, Rylee? How is being captain treating you?”

  “I love it, but everyone knew I would when I was named junior captain.” Rylee responded.

  “Yeah, we did.” Conner said and grinned when she stuck her tongue out at him.

  Karla’s cell phone signaled an incoming text and Conner looked at her in confusion. Everyone who usually texted her was sitting right here so she couldn’t play it off like she had all week.