Second Chance Mom. Emilie Rose

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СКАЧАТЬ winced. “I’m going around the block, then cutting through the cemetery.” Otherwise he might run into Rachel again. He didn’t want her to see him like this. At least she’d dumped him before he’d crashed and burned on the field. The play had tangled up in his head that fateful day. Dyslexia was like that. Twisting things.

      Usually, he could compensate, but sometimes when he was stressed, tired or distracted, things mixed up, and that day he’d thought he’d spotted Rachel in the stands. He’d been sacked, his knee destroyed, and just that quickly, his promising career had ended. Washed up at twenty-three. He’d returned to college for an advanced degree because he couldn’t bear going home a failure. When he had come back, the pity in the townsfolks’ eyes had burned him like acid. But he’d channeled his discomfort into being the best damned coach and athletic director he could be, and his team had made the championship again this year. He’d given the good citizens of Johnstonville another reason to be proud of him.

      On the walk home the image of Rachel distracted him. Her body had matured well. Her legs were as sleek as he remembered, but she’d added lean muscles, and her breasts were larger. Not even a top that flattened them could hide her pebbled nipples.

      His knee and crotch screamed for attention. He needed a cold shower and the ice pack he kept waiting in the freezer. Damn, he hated weakness. Almost as much as he hated realizing he wasn’t over Rachel Bishop.

      * * *

      RACHEL PALMED HER PHONE, knowing she was about to make her boss and the rest of her team very unhappy. She hoped Marcia wouldn’t fire her. She loved and needed her job, even if she hadn’t yet figured out who’d watch Chastity during her shifts.

      Marcia answered on the first ring. “Hey, Rachel. Home yet?”

      She took a deep breath, as if preparing to dive from a high cliff. “No. I’m going to need more time off.”

      Silence. “How much more time?”

      “Five weeks. Chastity isn’t taking to the idea of changing schools. She wants to finish here...to make the transition easier.” Empty air greeted her words. Rachel’s pulse pounded her eardrums.

      “You’re putting us in a tough spot.”

      “I know, and I’m sorry. It isn’t fair to ask others to pick up my slack. But this is important.” Marcia was a mother with children close to Chastity’s age. Maybe she’d have answers. “Chastity’s threatening to run away if I force the move. I know it’s a power play, but she’s only thirteen, and I can’t watch her 24/7 and make sure she doesn’t follow through with her threat. Marcia, I don’t know what to do.”

      A heavy sigh filled Rachel’s ear. “You’ll learn. She’s at a difficult age. I’m there with my daughter, too. Chastity’s a smart kid to hit you with the one thing you can’t control. Let me think...” Marcia paused for just a few seconds. “Gaining custody is like an adoption. And I believe you can apply for family medical leave over the internet. That’ll keep your health insurance intact and free me up to hire a temp until you return.”

      Relief flooded Rachel. She didn’t have a computer, but she’d find one, even if it meant hanging out in the public library. “Thank you for understanding. I’ll do it ASAP. And again, I apologize.”

      “Do what’s best for your niece. We’ll muddle through until you get back.”

      “I’m going to need another favor when we get there... I’ll need help finding someone to watch her during my shifts.”

      “I’ll line up some possibilities.”

      “You’re a lifesaver, Marcia.”

      Weak-kneed, Rachel sank into a chair. She’d be stuck in Matt’s hometown for five more weeks. But not one day more.

      * * *

      CHASTITY’S HUMMING PROVED her excitement over the upcoming picnic. Rachel only wished she could share the enthusiasm. “You promise you won’t give me grief in five weeks’ time?”

      “I promised like three times already. You don’t have to keep asking.”

      Rachel had asked several times, but she was extremely nervous about the potential fallout if things went sour.

      The Johnstons’ house came into view. The white home with its black shutters and wraparound porch, decorated with hanging baskets overflowing with blossoms, represented every fantasy Rachel had ever had of a happy, normal home. She couldn’t recall her parents ever having a permanent residence. When they’d lived in the States they’d been dependent on the church to provide temporary accommodations, because they were always waiting for the next mission, the next cause. They’d literally owned nothing except for their clothes and necessities.

      Her stomach tensed and her hands tightened on the steering wheel. The Johnstons had always represented the perfect family—the kind she’d wished she had—and she dreaded looking them in the eye, knowing how she’d wronged them.

      It always came back to the mistakes she’d made. No matter how many good things she’d done since that traumatic turning point in her life, she felt as if she’d always be the screwup who’d tainted everyone and everything in her path. She’d disappointed her parents, made her saintly sister lie and hadn’t been good enough to raise her own daughter.

      She parked the car. Chastity launched from the vehicle and raced around the side of the house, leaving Rachel alone with her doubts. She forced herself to get out of the car and ordered her feet forward. They hesitantly complied. Then Matt came around the corner. Her heart crashed into her rib cage, and her courage fled.

      With the sun glinting off his golden hair and the sky-blue color of his polo shirt accentuating his eyes, Matt looked every inch the all-American male, the hometown hero. Her mouth dried and her pulse raced. Apparently the old saying was true. A girl never forgot her first love.

      “Glad you made it.”

      Rachel forced a smile, pretending she was happy to be there. She tugged at the suddenly tight neck of her T-shirt and smoothed a hand over her shorts to wipe her sweat-dampened palms, then used the excuse of stuffing her key and wallet into her pockets to avoid his outstretched hand. “Chastity was as thrilled as you predicted.”

      “You could have joined us at church.”

      “We were packing.” She hadn’t set foot in a church since the day she’d given birth. That day she’d stopped by the hospital chapel to beg forgiveness for her selfish ways and vowed to put others first from that moment forward if God would look out for her daughter. He’d upheld his end of the deal, and she had hers.

      “Come on back.” He held open the gate to a white picket fence. She sidled through the gap, being careful not to touch him. He represented everything she couldn’t have and didn’t deserve. No point in torturing herself. The gate snapped shut behind them, startling her with the finality of that clang.

      A dozen people occupied the backyard, giving Rachel a serious case of stage fright. Chastity and a blond-haired girl sat poolside, dangling their feet in the water and leaning close to whisper. A couple of men, beers in hand, guarded the grill, and several giggling, squealing children played in a water sprinkler on the lawn.

      Chastity fit right in here. But Rachel had denied her the opportunity to be part of this rambunctious, СКАЧАТЬ