Second Chance with Love (4 page)

His mother always spoke of her missionary days, and said if Nathan ever decided to embark on his first mission trip she would gave him all the support he needed. Nathan guessed it was her way of trying to steer him away from the world of money and power that had fascinated him.

She took every opportunity to give him little trinkets of advice or rehash anecdotes she thought would help nurture him toward helping others without expecting to gain from it. And although Nathan never saw his mother worried or fearful, he knew if she discovered he was offered a position in Gerald Grady’s firm, she'd be worried.

If only I could feel satisfied, like my parents
, Nathan thought.
But I can settle for an easy life.

Hilda struggled to remain calm as she listened to Melanie chat away about her date with Scott. Melanie seemed to be filled with glee.

“We’re already set for a second date,” she divulged. “The chemistry was so there.”

“That's wonderful, Mel,” said Hilda. “I'm so happy for you.” Indeed Hilda was very happy for her friend, but her happiness only went so far. She had lied about being ill, after all.

“He mentioned that we might go for a boat ride on our next date,” Melanie mentioned.

“What happened, did he have to go early or something? Why are you going home?” Hilda asked.

“We’ll you happened, silly. You did look a bit unwell, so I got a little worried. Scott said, it'd be best if I go and check on you,” Melanie said.

It squeezed at Hilda's brain. She'd done something pretty awful; lying to Melanie for a stranger, she'd had no justification for doing this. Had she expected Nathan to lead her astray? Hilda looked around the bar. Still, she was in a place where she never thought she’d ever go, and it was for a guy she had barely know for over an hour.

“Oh, I'm sorry Mel,” as she spoke these words, Hilda's own voice sounded alien to herself

“Don't be ridiculous, how are you to blame? Besides, I'm outside of your house now.”

Shock paralyzed Hilda. “What?”

Hilda had not even thought that Melanie would go to her house.

“Mel, please, you don't have to, just let me rest and I'll be fine, okay?” Hilda's mind was still frazzled from shock, she still needed time to recover.

A silence injected from the other end of the call. Hilda’s pulse began to thump.

Then Melanie asked, “Are you sure?”

“Hmm-hmm.”

“Okay then. I'll be around to check on you tomorrow,” promised Melanie.

“Thanks for checking on me, Mel. You're the best a friend I could ask for,” Hilda's words were true and from her heart.

I can see you as a woman, flowing red hair warmed by the sun, held in the strong arms of a good man. Both of you together in the grace of God. You will find love, have patience. Let love warm your heart. Sometimes the heart turns cold when you've suffered. Don't dwell in suffering. If love lets you down, give love a second chance.

There is a saying that wherever you go, there you are, and if you love someone, wherever you are they will be there.

She looked up and Nathan lingered by the table. He took a seat and smiled at her. Hilda did not know what would come of the risk she took with him, but she had to find out.

Chapter 1

Nathan Hawks shifted uncomfortably, head tilted backwards. His throbbing skull made the slightest sound into a lethal grenade. While the taxi sped to Birmingham International airport, he cradled a cellphone. Saying farewell to Tuscaloosa wasn't easy, even for the two week business trip in Guatemala that he volunteered for. His parents, friends, work, and church were there. During his stint in the military, whenever he returned to Alabama he found it difficult to adjust to civilian life

Still, he cradled his phone, his hand covering his face, and he closed his eyes. Though it seemed the dry heat had got to him, what really frustrated him were the effects of not having slept all night. Kiera had given him a lecture about his emotional absence in their relationship. He needed to talk to a friend.

"What's up, bud?"

Nathan felt another jab in his temple as his friend spoke to him. Scott Russell, always a source of support for Nathan. In just six years, Scott managed to start his own Christian record label,
Sermon,
which already showed great promise. He'd married Melanie Stobbs. At first they seemed like an unlikely pair, her being bubbly and talkative, he being cool and reserved. But their relationship worked and they had a child on the way. In six years Scott had made something of his life.

Scott's success in life often led Nathan to wonder what direction his life was heading in.

Nathan removed his shades and smoothed his hand over his thick, dark hair. He listened to his friend talk about Melanie, fussing over the minuscule details involving the decoration of the baby room. Pulling on his hair, feeling the ruffled mess it had become, a sense of comfort blanketed him as he decided it was too long now.

"How's Kiera?"

The question jolted Nathan. After hearing how well everything was going for Scott and Mel, he had reservations about unloading his problems on his friend.

"All's good on our end." In some respects this was true. Things were good for her, but were they good for him?

"Nate, are you pulling on your hair?"

Nathan released his hair, Scott knew him too well. "In not so many words, she decided, we should go our separate ways."

Scott sighed. “Long distant relationships were hard enough in the military. I thank God every day that Mel stuck with me, seems you're still having trouble.”

"You are so lucky that the first Christian girl you dated stuck it out when you were serving away from home." Nathan stared out the window.

"You can't give up, I'm sure you'll find someone."

An image of that someone flashed in his mind and brought a thunderous throb to his head. Long red hair, slender. How did his mind go wandering from Kiera who had brunette hair, to the hair his first love? It had been five years.

"Everything was going so well, you know?" Nathan slipped his fingers through his hair to grip it.

"Kiera does have a good head on her. You tried talking it out?" Scott always seemed to think Nate's relationships ended due to his aloofness.

"Oh, she talked. A lot."

"Feeling your pain, man."

"I couldn't get a word in edgewise."

"You aren't gonna like me saying this, but, I'll say it anyway -- you need feedback. Over in less than a month, you going for a new record of something?”

“Hey, you just gave me something to brag about Scotty, nice.”

“Don't mention it,” Scott chortled.

"Okay. When I get to San Andrés, I'll Skype her. Tell her to be give me the long and short of it."

“Forget that, make her lay it on thick.”

“You'd think I've taken enough of a beating,” Nathan smirked

"What a bummer, to have this laid on you when you're heading out to Guatemala."

"She made it clear that that it weighed on her mind too, and that she needed us to talk before I took off on my mission trip."

"I'm guessing it makes you wish you never opted for this sabbatical? I’ve been too busy for us to hang out. Now all of this with you and Kiera – what a downer."

"I'll say."

"Maybe it's your cologne?"

"Doofus," Nate laughed. Trust Scott to make a joke at a moment like this. Nate grinned to himself, Scott's attitude made light of tough times, and it gave hope. "Anyway, if all goes south, I may move in with you and Mel. You guys can adopt me; it's clear I can't care for myself."

"Uh-uh, afraid that's a no-can-do. From what I hear, if looks could kill, whenever you're around you'd have to literally flee the scene whenever the ladies see you. All jokes aside though, you'll be fine. Take it from you best bud, you're a good guy. Maybe you're personality needs a few tweaks, but that comes with meeting more people."

Nathan smiled to himself. It was not often Scott spoke so much.
I must really need encouragement
, thought Nathan.

"You have to pick yourself and get back out there," Scott said.

Nathan, appreciated Scott's proactive take on things, but thinking about all the muck-ups and failed relationships only exacerbated his headache. He was always being dumped, no matter how carefully he acted or how little he demanded. Every woman that stepped up brought hope to the relationship, hope of success. But each and every one ended in failure. It got to the point where Nathan had become cynical. Often at night he'd wake up and pray, "God, please let this be the one." He was afraid he was defective, that he had some irreparable quality that just made him a bad match.

He'd only backslid once. And after he prayed, he knew God had forgiven him. Yet it still left deep wounds that had not yet healed over the course of five years.

When he came home to visit his church, people often said he had great personal magnetism and no trouble attracting the opposite sex, so why hadn't he found the right woman? He smiled. But ringing through his mind was the idea that he was an actual failure. Clearly he'd missed something – a sign, a behavioral tic that pushed partners away.

“There must be reasons,” said Scott.

"How about I throw out a few reasons off the top of my head: distant geographically, distant emotionally, distant psychologically. They think I don't let them get close, allow them in, whatever that means. And when I think they must mean living together, and I mention I'd prefer we live together after marriage, they say that's not what they mean." Nathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I don't know, Nate, women baffle me to no end. Mel can be a beautiful sunny day one minute, and a tropical storm the next.

One minute Mel loves me, then next she can't stand the sight of me. There's no figuring them out.”

Nathan paid the taxi driver and got out; the driver hurried to the trunk of the car. Nathan thought he had a better chance at catching a handful of water while it rained, than grasping how women thought.

"I wonder if I'm just wasting my time and energy on dating? I'll speak to Kiera, but as far I'm concerned, me making an effort to find someone is low on my priority list. Career comes first. And if it's God's plan, then I'll meet the right person who will accept me with all the minor defects I have.”

"You sound like you want to get back in the field. Bury yourself in work, now don't go all gung-ho and bury yourself literally, you hear? I want you back in one piece."

"There's not going to be any action. Just a bit of security, patrolling the area for a Cartel operation. It's probably nothing." Nathan said, wondering what took the taxi driver so long to remove his rucksack when saw the man struggling to lift it from the trunk. Nathan tapped the man gently and mouthed a “thanks, I got it,” and then lifted it up to his 6'5” stature with one flex of his arm.

"So you're going to at least enjoy the weather while you're there, something to look forward to in spite of this latest downtrend in the relationship department?"

"I think it's going to be okay. Relationships are a bit too much right now. I'm surprised you made it." Nathan smiled.

"It always seemed too much. Look bud, have a good time, and that doesn't mean calling the firm to check that everything is running smoothly.”

"Yeah, I hear you, bud."

"But are you going to listen?"

"Man, you're worse than my old drill sergeant Chambers.”

“Nah, I ain't there yet,” Laughed Scott.

“Alright, got the order loud-and-clear, I'll try and relax."

Nathan walked through the airport. As usual, people gawked and stared at his athletic build; however, after returning to God's grace and forgiveness, he worked hard to ignore the attentions of the opposite sex. Should he happen to meet a woman's eye, though, he nodded with a polite smile before moving on.

"I heard there will be a large number heading to Guatemala this time around, some you might even recognize."

Nathan trained his eyes on the crowd of people, some seated, others going through terminals, while even more stood in clusters. He didn't recognize anybody. This was not the first time he'd been part of a law-enforcement personnel group to counter narcotics in that region and he was not too excited about it. He was assigned there for no less than two weeks, two whole, uneventful weeks. At least he could get sleep at night and not have to deal with girlfriends calling to complain about his inadequacy as a partner. These types of jobs brought him into contact with the Guatemalan people, particularly the villages. The ones he came into contact with always reminded him that even though he complained about his lot in life, God's blessing saw to it that he was raised in a prosperous country and given insight to help those less well-off.

Whenever he had a spare moment, he took time to read his bible. The commandment,
honor thy mother and father
, brought him back to the letter, which brought his mind back to her.

Nathan spied the red hair of a petite woman walking with a small man. There was something about her that provoked his attention. The red hair perhaps? Without being able to say how, the color of her hair had a unique quality, distinguishing it from other redheads he had seen. He never saw the profile of her face, since her back was turned to an angle. Her hair was shoulder length, but looked as if it should be longer. From where he stood it looked like she was walking away from the man, gesturing to the far end of the building. She pulled an iPhone from her backpack. The man was talking to her, but her attention seemed fixated on her iPhone. Another couple came to join them, and Nathan watched as the man's shoulders slumped and he huffed in frustration at being interrupted. At this point, the woman took this opportunity to put a little distance between her and the man. Nathan shook his head, and wondered if some guy would ever crack the code to how women thought.