Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(4)
“I wouldn’t miss it.” He turned to head for the door, but paused and turned back around. “Oh yeah, I have another favor to ask you,” he said while cringing.
“What do you want now?” I questioned.
“Jenna is staying with Korinne tonight. Do you mind if I crash at your place? I really don’t want to stay at Mom’s,” he begged.
I shook my head, exasperated. “Please tell me you’ve thought about this. If she finds out you’re in town and you didn’t stay with her she’s never going to let you live that down.”
Brady groaned and nodded. “I know, it’s just that she drives me crazy sometimes.”
The past year had been a rough one for my family. My father passed away five months ago, and we all took it pretty hard, especially my mother. Luckily, she seemed to be on the mend. I, however, had inherited the family business, and with that came a lot of responsibilities. Taking the keys from the desk drawer, I handed Brady the key to my house. He snatched it up excitedly and looked at it as if it was a treasure. “Don’t mess with anything while you’re there, you hear me? I don’t want it to be like last time when you cost me hundreds of dollars to get my things fixed,” I ordered in a serious tone.
“You have nothing to worry about,” he promised. Yeah right, I thought.
Once my brother had gone, I was left to the silence of my office while thoughts of Korinne and our last night together replayed repeatedly in my mind. Tomorrow I was holding the quarterly cocktail party for my employees, and for once I was actually looking forward to it. The question was … would Korinne be looking forward to it, too?
Chapter Three
The boxes in the room surrounded me, and there was hardly any place to walk, or even see the floor for that matter. The desire to unpack or decorate anything was not something I wanted to do. What is ironic about that, is decorating had been what I loved most before Carson died. Being hired to decorate for a living had earned me a name in these parts of the state. Magazines had featured me, and newspapers had run articles on my talents. However, all of that felt like a dream now. I didn’t feel like that person anymore. When Carson died, my ambition to do anything died along with him. I thought coming back home was what would hopefully help me find my way to that spark again. I wanted to have my life back, a life where I could be happy. It was just the fear that held me captive.
I rented a furnished condo in the south-east district of Charlotte, NC. It was one of the smaller condos in this development, but I had no need for the extra space. I preferred the close quarters because anything larger would’ve made the loneliness seem greater. My phone buzzed, rescuing me from my thoughts. Looking down at the screen, I saw that it was my life-long friend, Jenna Perry, now Matthews, since she got married. The name on the screen read ‘Twink’ which was the nickname she had gotten in college. A few drunken nights had left us with some pretty ridiculous nicknames. Mine happened to be ‘Ducky’ and Jenna loved to use it. We met in college and had become instant friends. We kept in touch after I transferred, and saw each other often. Once she got married to Brady, they packed up and moved a couple of hours away. I missed her greatly, and wished every day that she could be here with me.
Hearing her voice was exactly what I needed. “Hey, Twink.”
“Where are you?” she demanded, sounding impatient and concerned. “I called your parents a few hours ago and they said you decided to come home. Why didn’t you tell me?”
I sighed. “Because I didn’t want to bother you. I didn’t think it would be a big deal.”
“Well, it is a big deal when I drive all the way to your house and it looks like a ghost town. You’re not here, so where are you?” she ordered again with more force in her tone. “What’s going on?”
“Wait!” I exclaimed. “You’re in town? I didn’t know you were coming down.”
“Yes, I came to see you, silly. Now stop dodging the question. Where are you?”
I had hoped to keep my living situation a secret, but again it’s a secret that couldn’t be kept for too long. Sinking down into the cold leather of my stiff couch, I decided it was best to try and explain to my friend how weak I had been, and how I couldn’t handle walking into the house I shared with Carson.
“I couldn’t do it, Twink. I thought I could go home, but I don’t think I can face it alone. I’m just not ready. I rented a condo not far from the house, so I’m going to stay here for a few months until I get back on my feet.”
If there’s anyone I could admit my weaknesses to, it would be Jenna, but it killed me to sound so weak. I had always been the strong and stubborn female out of my friends. Always the leader, the one who took charge and wouldn’t take shit from anyone. Where was that woman, the one who was strong and fearless? How can I get her back, and how long was it going to take to feel normal again?
“Give me your address and I’ll be right there. And just so you know, I’m staying the night because tomorrow we have big plans.” She screamed the last part in my ear, so obviously she was excited about something.
I groaned. “What kind of plans are you talking about?” Knowing her, it could be anything.
“I’ll tell you later, but for now we’re going to have some girl time. I’m bringing the cookie dough ice cream!” she squealed. I could just picture her now, jumping up and down with a goofy grin on that face of hers. It made it hard for me not to smile, and if anyone could get me to smile it would be her. After giving her my address, she said she would be right there and hung up. Now I wondered what those plans were for tomorrow night.