Chasing Second Chances Read Online Free Page A

she was supposed to be invincible, she was supposed to be able to work miracles for her children, and yet, she could do nothing. It was bad enough when Jack had gotten sick with hand, foot and mouth disease, and she had simply watched over him, unable to do anything to ease his discomfort or when Lena had cried on her birthday because she couldn’t get a bunny, which Kate could not give her no matter how much she wanted to for health reasons, but this, this was the worst.
    She tried not to wallow in the sickening feeling, tried not to let the tears gush forth. Instead, she got up from her chair, intent on keeping herself busy. If she couldn’t do anything for her kids, then maybe she could do something for herself, or at least, she could do something, which was definitely better than just sitting still.
    She decided to unpack, but stopped halfway through when she saw the presents she was supposed to give to the children—the colorful beaded necklace and the jewelry box decorated with seashells for Lena and the stuffed toy shark and ship in a bottle for Jack. Again, she fought the tears, and winning, she decided to do laundry, hoping that the chore would distract her as it had done in the past.
    To a certain extent, it succeeded, and by the time she was done, sunlight was already drifting in through the windows.
    Morning had come.
    She did not know how another day could begin with her problems still unresolved. In the horror and thriller movies she had watched in her childhood, the monsters and serial killers were always gone by dawn, and yet she was still living her nightmare, no end to it in sight. Then again, she was not in a movie.
    She placed the folded laundry in the closets where they belonged, then decided to get another cup of coffee, this time with two slices of toast and a scrambled egg. She was not really hungry, but she supposed she had to eat in order to survive. It would do no one any good for her to end up in a hospital.
    When she was done with breakfast, she sent Bryan a message, thinking she could at least try to fix the problems that she could fix, then headed to the bathroom for a bath.
    She took a quick shower and then soaked in the tub, the water feeling wonderful against her skin, exquisite even, soothing and relaxing her.
    As she lay there, immersed in the water which glided against her skin and gently rippled with her every move, she remembered the first few months after Lena had been born. She could hardly take a shower, then, and soaking in the tub was definitely not an option. It had made her view baths as a luxury and not a necessity, and now she appreciated and savored them more.
    Lena…Jack…
    She was suddenly filled with horror at the thought of the void that would ensue if her kids were taken away from her. She had given up practically everything for motherhood – her career, her social life, her hobbies, maybe even her marriage. Her kids were everything to her and without them, she would not be able to call herself a mother and she would be lost.
    She would have nothing.
    She sat up and folded her knees up, hugging them and burying her face in her arms, trying to push away the horrific thought but hardly able to.
    What would she do?
    She sat there in anguish, too absorbed by it to notice anything else, which was why she did not hear the front door opening or footsteps coming up the stairs and she nearly jumped when the bathroom door opened, a confused Lloyd standing in the doorway.
    Lloyd.
    One moment he was standing there and the next he was beside the bathtub, offering his arms to her. She fell into them without thinking, ignoring the fact that she was wet and naked, that she had not seen her ex-husband in months, had not been with him for years and cried on his shoulder.
    “Oh, Lloyd,” she sobbed.
    “Shh.” He stroked her hair. “Everything will be all right. We’ll get them back. I promise.”
    She said no more, just crying on his broad shoulder, the tears trickling down her