Everyone Deserves a Second Chance (8 page)

"Why are you doing
this to me?" He groaned as she pulled his shirt off and
started pulling his jeans down his hips.

"Shhh." Lindsey
said against his mouth before she kissed him again. Her clothes
were quick to join his on the floor.

Marcus stood before her
while she explored his body with her eyes and hands, mouth and
tongue. He saw her eyes alight with glee as she traced the
muscles of his stomach and chest, arms and shoulders. Her fingers
grazed over his skin leaving it on fire where it passed. She
looked up at him and smiled.

"You're so
beautiful." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed
him. They lingered there for several seconds before Marcus found
himself exploring her in his own turn.

His hands traced the delicate line of her neck and shoulders. He
cupped her breasts in both hands and ran his fingers over her
nipples while he kissed her neck and shoulders. Then he ran his
hands down her arms and the slight swell of her stomach. His eyes
caught on the faint stretch marks across her belly and he jerked
away suddenly. She was married. She had a son. She had an entire
life, which he was no longer a part of.

"What, what's
wrong?" Lindsey asked as he pulled away and reached for his
pants. "Marcus?"

"Get out."

"What?"

"I said get out of
my room." He gathered up her clothes and shoved them into
her arms. "Get out!"

"At least give me my
keys—"

"You want your keys?
Here," he shoved his hand down his pocket and handed them
roughly to her. "Take your damn keys. Just get the fuck out
of my room!"

He could see her holding
back tears as she turned and hurried down the stairs buck-naked.
Marcus swore and sank down on his bed.

"Garrett, Garrett
wake up. We're leaving." Lindsey pushed her shirt the rest
of the way into her jeans and brushed her hair out of her face.
"Garrett, get up!"

"What, what's
wrong?" He jerked awake and rubbed at his eyes. "Is it
time for the parade yet?"

"We have to go. Come
on, get up."

"Leave? I don't want
to go!" Garrett crossed both his arms and looked up at her
with angry eyes. "I like it here! I wanna stay!"

"I know sweetheart
but we have to go." Lindsey sighed and pushed away from his
bed. Quickly she went to the dresser and started putting his
clothes back into his backpack. Her suitcases were already packed
and outside.

"No! I don't want to
go!" Garrett stood up on the bed and screamed. "I don't
want to go! I don't want to go!"

"Garrett you stop
that right now. Get down."

"No!" He
crossed his arms and glared at her with as angry a look as he
could muster.

"Don't you talk back
to me. You'll do what I say. We're leaving right now."

Garrett broke into sobs
as Lindsey pulled him off the bed and put his shoes on. As soon
as she had a jacket on him she took his hand and started for the
car.

"No! I don't want to
leave!" Garrett screamed and tried to jerk his hand out of
her grip.

"Garrett, knock it
off!" Her sharp tone of voice ended his protests but only
made his sobbing louder. He cried even harder when Lindsey
buckled him into the back seat and shut the door.

"Lindsey, what are
you doing?"

Lindsey spun as he called
the question. He stood on the front steps in only his jeans and
his cowboy hat. The light from inside the house cast a yellow
glow behind him, highlighting the tone of his body and the
intensity of his eyes.

"I'm leaving."

She grabbed one suitcase
and then another and shoved it into the trunk of her car. From
inside the car she could still hear Garrett screaming and crying.

"The motel isn't
cheap."

"Who said I was
going to the motel?" She snapped as she slammed the trunk
closed. With an angry huff she opened the drivers side door and
got in. As she pulled the door shut and started the car Marcus
crossed the distance and stood directly in front of her car.

Annoyed Lindsey rolled
down her window. "What are you doing? Get out of the way."
She snapped.

"You're not going
back to him."

"Marcus get out of
the way or I swear I'll run you over." Her eyes flashed fire
and she put the car into gear.

"You're not gonna
run me over."

"Wanna bet?"
She could feel her foot itching to hit the gas pedal.

"You came to me for
help." His voice was soft yet pleading.

"I…don't—don't
wanna go!" Garrett sobbed from the back seat. He pulled at
his seatbelt and cried harder. "I—wanna stay here!"

"He'll do it again,
you know he will. That's why you came in the first place. Don't
try to fool yourself. I know how much he scares you. You would
have blown my head off if the shotgun were loaded."

Lindsey drew in a shaky
breath. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes. The cold
sense of terror she'd felt that night was again spreading
throughout her stomach. When the tears started to stream down her
face she put the car in park and turned it off.

As she got out of the car
Marcus was suddenly before her. He took her face in his hands and
wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. Finally he
pressed a kiss to her forehead before he pulled away. "Thank
you."

Lindsey could only nod as
she wiped at her face with her hands. She watched as Marcus
pulled open the back seat and took Garrett into his arms.

"Shhh, its okay
buddy. How about we go inside and get some hot chocolate? You
like hot chocolate don't you?" Marcus asked as he shifted
the boy to his hip and followed Lindsey back inside.

Garrett nodded as his
sobs subsided into drawn apart hiccups and then a watery smile.

"Good."

In the kitchen Marcus
bent to set Garrett down in a chair but he immediately started
screaming and held tighter to Marcus's neck.

"Okay, okay. It's
all right. You're not going anywhere." Marcus soothed the
boy as he sat down on a chair and held him closer. With a hand he
wiped away the tears streaming down his face.

"I guess I'll make
the hot chocolate then." Lindsey said with a sniff and went
to rummage around the kitchen. Within minutes she was handing the
steaming cup to her son and warning him that it was hot as she
took a seat at the table across from the two of them.

Garrett took a few sips
of the drink before he let Marcus set it down on the table and
curled closer to his chest. His crying continued to slow until it
stopped. Within minutes he was asleep, his head pressed against
Marcus's shoulder.

Lindsey sighed at the
picture the two of them made. Sadly she stood up and took
Garrett's cup to the sink. When she'd washed and dried it she
turned to look at the two of them again. Marcus was watching her.

"He should have been
yours." She said in a near whisper. It was true that Garrett
looked a lot like Marcus. They both had the same dark hair and
intense eyes. Watching the little boy sleeping in his arms only
made her heart ache harder.

"Look Lindsey. About
upstairs—"

"I'm sorry. It won't
happen again." She said quickly cutting him off mid
sentence.

"Let me finish."
Marcus continued, looking down at the little boy in his lap and
then back up at her. "You have a life Lindsey. You have a
husband, even though he's filthy as scum, and you have a great
son. You have a whole life without me. It has to stay that way."

"I shouldn't have
come here. This was a mistake." She fretted, wringing her
hands together and then pressing them to her forehead.

"No. You needed to
come. I think we both needed it." Marcus sighed. Lindsey
could see the warring emotions in his eyes. He was silent for
several minutes before he spoke again.

"I'm going to
propose to Brenda soon. I think its best that you know that after
what happened tonight." He watched her face closely for a
reaction.

"How soon?" It
was all she could bring herself to say.

"Very soon. I've
been planning on asking her for the last two years. The first
year I wasn't sure. Then last year Lauren broke her arm and the
timing was shot all to hell."

Lindsey turned away from
him and leaned on the kitchen counter. She could hear his steady
breathing behind her, and then his movements as he stood up with
Garrett still in his arms.

"I'll tuck him in
before I go to bed." He said and she could hear him walking
away.

"Marcus."
Lindsey spun and watched him turn to face her. "What if…
what if I wanted a second chance? Another chance for the two of
us?"

His face was stony as he
replied, "You had your chance." He turned and went up
the stairs without a backwards glance.

The fall parade was one of the biggest events in the county.
Clubs and shops and sponsors from most of the state arrived early
in the morning to setup their booths along the sides of the route
that the parade would follow. It was such a big event that the
police had to section off parts of the town to re-direct the
sparse traffic and settle any brawls that cropped up.

Local 4-h clubs had spent
most of the week decorating the route with fall decorations.
Haystacks with pumpkins, popcorn strings, and candy apples were
displayed for sale at every intersection. Scarecrows stood
grinning and lopsided beside streetlights that the children had
wrapped with strings of dried fall leaves.

The parade ended at a
rather large park where pavilions and tents had already been
setup the day before. Steam from vender's carts and barbeque
grills lifted to the early morning dawn as they prepared for the
stream of people to come later that day. Other venders setup
games and worked on the arrangement of their prizes that hung
from the walls of their booths. Excited children already ran
through the dew-laden grass of the park, left unattended as they
were by their parents.

All this Brenda saw as
Lauren pointed it out to her in her excitement. They drove behind
Marcus and Garrett towards the start of the parade, an elementary
school parking lot. As they came closer and closer to the school
Lauren became more and more excited. She bounced in her seat and
finally pressed her face to the glass of the window talking in a
stream of non-stop nonsense.

"Are we there yet?"
She asked, kicking repeatedly at the passenger seat in front of
her. "I have to check Tonka again before we go. I'm glad
none of his bows fell out but I want to check them again. He
looks so pretty doesn't he mom? All the other girls will be so
jealous when they see us. I bet they'll all start crying because
he looks so much prettier then the horses they're riding."
She stopped to look out the window. "Ew! Harmony's horse
looks stupid! Her horse looks like it's gonna throw up. Isn't
that funny Mom? Do you think I'll win a prize at the end of the
parade? I hope so! I want lots of them this year."

Brenda sighed and then
chuckled at her daughter's antics. She was relieved when they
finally pulled to a stop in the parking lot and Lauren jumped out
of the car and ran to help Marcus and Garrett unload Tonka from
the trailer.

The older gelding stood
patiently for them after he was out of the trailer and allowed
Marcus to put his saddle and bridle on without problems. Brenda
watched Lauren check the bows in his tail and then get Garrett's
help to check the bows in his mane. The little boy struggled to
lift her up but did all the same as she commanded him to.

Once the gelding was all set to go Brenda took Lauren into the
school to help her change into her dress.

Marcus whistled at Lauren
when she came back out. "Look at my little princess! You'll
win for sure this year."

Lauren smiled and ran to
hug him. "You like it Uncle Marcus? Mom and me picked it out
special just for the parade. Look, she even got me a tiara and
earrings!" Lauren turned her head left and right to show off
the sparkly magnetic earrings on either earlobe.

"You look perfect!"
Marcus kissed her on the cheek and then helped her up onto Tonka.
"Remember no funny business today. No showing off either.
Tonka will be good for you as long as you're good for him."

"I know, I know."
She said with a smile as she took up his reins and walked him
towards the other girls who stood waiting on their horses.

"There you two are!"
Rick walked up to them on his horse and then followed their gaze
to where the girls sat all decked up on their horses. "Don't
they look pretty!" He chuckled and stopped beside Marcus
before dismounting.

"Hey there Greg!
Been looking for you. They do look good don't they?" Marcus
nodded towards the girls who were being lined up and numbers
pinned to their horse's bridles.

"Connie is back
there with the wagon." He motioned behind him and off to the
right. "I tell you my boys were so excited to be bringing
both horses. They went nuts when I told them okay this morning.
I'm just glad I'm riding with the girls and not back there with
them. The girls are always easier to handle then the boys."
He chuckled. "Of course the lord had to bless me with three
of them."

"Let me get Rusty."
Marcus said then turned to Brenda. "You sure you want to
ride in the wagon with Connie?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. Now
go watch over my girl." She kissed him on the cheek then
called to Garrett.

The little boy finally
pulled away from where he stood watching Lauren and followed
Brenda as they wove their way through the other parade
participants. When they found the wagon Connie looked down at
them and smiled.

"Hey Brenda! Glad you decided to keep this old gal company
again. This must be Garrett." She smiled down at the little
boy who was suddenly shy and stood a step behind her. "Well
come on up here. We'll be heading out soon." Connie put a
hand down to help Brenda up and Garrett clBrendaed up into the
wagon on his own.