Page 6 of Second Chances

Amy widened her eyes in an expression of innocence—or as close as she could get, anyway. “What? It’s freaking hot out. Calm down. Not like I’m looking for husband number three. I told you I am resigned to living life as a single woman from now on.” Fanning herself, she continued, “What is with the lack of trees at a fair, anyway? Got us standing out here with the sun blazing down on us, baking while we wait to ride this thing. I tell you what, I’ll be ready for a little beer garden action before the show. What about you, Issy?”

“I could go for a tall one right about now.” Isobel elbowed Charlotte. “Mom, you down for some beer garden action after this?” Would she ever get used to drinking alcohol with her daughter? Since Isobel was thirty-two, she’d been legally able to drink for over ten years, but it was still difficult at times seeing her only child as an adult. “Actually, maybe I’ll meander over there now and get us a table. I see a bunch of people heading in.”

“But what about riding with us?” Charlotte was slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t share this moment with her daughter.

“Mom, only two people fit in the car, anyway.” Isobel leaned down to hug her. “You two go now, and after the concert, you and I can ride. Remember how we used to do that when I was a kid? It was so cool being on the rides at night, when the fairway was all lit up.” Times like these, when Isobel spoke fondly of her childhood with happy memories, made Charlotte glad that she and Brady had stayed together as long as they had, living with the quiet acceptance of having made a choice as teenagers.

Charlotte tucked a strand of hair behind Isobel’s ear. “I love you, my baby girl.”

Isobel whispered, “I’m so proud of you, Mom. Love you, too.” Watching her daughter walk away, Charlotte swiped the moisture from her eyes. “If she’s the only thing I ever get right in life, I will die happy.”

“Good lord—you’re only fifty! We’re just beginning the height of our sexual peaks, and you have a lot of living to do.” As the wheel came to a stop, they handed their tickets to the carnival worker, who secured the door after they sat down. “Speaking of sexual peaks, now that the kid is gone, be honest with me: how is life in Beverley so far?”

Charlotte flushed, as she did every time she thought of the man on the bench. “I’ve been so busy getting settled into my house and starting school that I’ve barely had time to think about anything else.” She’d only lived in Beverley for two weeks before beginning her new position as Beverley High School’s new English teacher. After teaching language arts to freshmen for twenty years, her curriculum had expanded with the juniors she now taught.

“Just remember to keep your options open. Don’t be all business and no play.” Charlotte rolled her eyes at Amy’s advice. “Seriously, I know you need to focus on yourself, so I’m mostly kidding about finding that guy again. But he was so nice on the eyes. And he was reading, Lottie! Reading! It’s almost like it was meant to be, so I’m just saying don’t be closed off to the idea of meeting someone.”

“This coming from the woman who just swore off men? You are so ridiculous, Ames. For one thing, I don’t even know if he’s married or single or…would even be interested,” Charlotte protested.

“I didn’t swear off men, just marriage! And I don’t know why you are always so down on yourself. Where’s that bodacious babe I’ve known all my life? The one who took charge of every situation, who was going to set the world on fire? Instead, you allowed yourself to become invisible.”

Charlotte couldn’t argue with her friend. “Listen, I know. And being more…out there, I guess you could call it…is something I vowed to do when I moved. What’s the point of changing my life unless I embrace it? On that topic, I have gotten friendly with most of the staff at the high school, and even made a couple of new friends in the outside world. One of whom is a librarian at the public library. She has the most interesting name,” Charlotte remarked to Amy, “Effie. She hasn’t lived in Beverley long, either, and we’re going to have dinner some night next week.”

“Oh, nice. Better not think of replacing me as your bestie, though, I’m warning you. We might live in different states now, but you can’t get rid of me!” Chuckling at her friend’s words, Charlotte considered the nights she’d spent alone since uprooting her life, learning to live in the solitude, stopping herself before calling Amy or Isobel. Part of her was finding it easier than she’d thought to live alone, but another part couldn’t help but listen for sounds of life from someone other than herself.

As their bucket descended, a man came into view—or the back of his head did, anyway. Wearing a ball cap with blond fringe peeking from under the fastener, when he fully turned around, her breath quickened. She’d questioned if she would recognize him should she see him again, after so many months. How wrong she had been, she thought, as her heart beat erratically in her chest and blood rushed to her head. Staring openly, she willed him to look her way, to let her catch his eye. And then it happened. Blocking out everything around her, heat flooded her cheeks, her chest, everywhere, as his eyes then locked with hers. To her disappointment, he turned away too soon, speaking to the man next to him. Drifting away from him, rising as the wheel circled, she moaned in dismay.

“Lottie? Lottie?” Amy snapped her fingers, breaking her out of her spell.

“Sorry…what?” Should she admit she had spotted him? If she did, Amy would certainly want to track him down, and she didn’t necessarily need her best friend and daughter as an audience if she encountered him.

Amy teased, “Thinking about him again, huh?” You could say that, Charlotte thought, but remained silent. “I agree, he’s worth daydreaming about.” Yes, he was. “Anyway,” Amy continued, “I was asking if you want to get a corn dog before we go to the beer garden?”

“Sure,” Charlotte replied distractedly, “I’ll text Isobel and see if she wants one.” Their ride concluded, she hopped from their bucket, sweeping a glance around the area, but he was nowhere in sight. Sighing softly, she followed Amy to the nearest corn dog truck.

Armed with three gigantic corn dogs, Amy and Charlotte dodged the crowd in the beer garden, looking for Isobel. Amy nodded to a door that led to the back, and they found her sitting at a picnic table talking to a man around her daughter’s age, maybe a couple of years older. “I see Issy isn’t wasting any time,” Amy observed. “Though I doubt the poor man will get very far.” Charlotte nodded in agreement. Isobel, always reticent with men and relationships, was career-oriented, with many goals she wanted to accomplish before she met “the right one”. Charlotte supposed that having her parents marry a month after graduating from high school was not the love story she had wanted for herself. Join the club, kid.

Isobel smiled warily as they approached. “Mom, Amy, meet Boyd.” He stood, tipping his head at the women while touching the brim of his cowboy hat. “He was just telling me that he owns a grocery store in…was it Clover Lake you said?”

Boyd nodded. “Pleasure meeting you all. I’ll leave you ladies to it. Isobel, I’ll look for you inside?”

Charlotte watched her daughter’s cheeks turn pink as she nodded unenthusiastically. “Here,” Charlotte told her as she handed her a corn dog with ketchup drizzled on the outside. Charlotte bit into hers, her teeth crunching on the salty-sweet coating, and she closed her eyes in bliss. Nothing was better at the fair than a freshly fried corn dog, in her opinion.

“So who was the dude?” Amy inquired.

“Oh, he sat down without waiting for an invitation. I mean…who does that? What if I wanted to be alone? He was nice enough, I guess, but he kind of had a general ‘ick’, if you know what I mean?” Isobel said.

“Yeah, like both of my husbands,” Amy agreed. “Best to avoid the ‘ick’ at all costs. Otherwise, you might need a prescription for penicillin.” Finished eating, Amy said, “I think we need some drinks to wash these down.”

“Sorry, I had a beer when I first got here,” Isobel motioned to the empty bottle in front of her, “and was planning on having some ready for you, but then Boyd showed up. I didn’t want him to, like, think we were going to drink together.”

“No problem,” Amy told her, “I’ll run up to the bar and get us some.”

“No, you stay here. Drinks are on me, since you paid for the tickets tonight,” Charlotte insisted.

“Well, keep them comin’, mama, because I’m thirsty, and the tickets weren’t cheap,” Amy laughed.

Chuckling as she made her way through the crowd that had amassed since they had arrived, “Proud Mary” serenaded her as she nearly collided with someone coming from the opposite direction. A hand on her elbow steadied her, and she looked into a grinning female face with shining blue eyes.