Page 35 of Second Chance Serenity

“Fine. I’m headed out for the day. Call if anything pops up.”

“You know I will.” She offers me a final wave before crossing over toward where Reyna sits in the waiting area.

“You good with this?” Jaxson asks, stepping out front with me.

“Fine with it.”

He crosses his arms. “She asked if I could teach her some self-defense, and I told her she should talk to you.”

“I appreciate that, but she won’t come to me for anything. Not anymore.”

“No, I got that when she refused. I did manage to convince her to give Jennifer a try,” Jaxson says.

“You could have taught her,” I tell him. Honestly, the former Marine can handle himself better than most. He would’ve been a great trainer.

“No, I couldn’t.”

“If she were anyone else, would you have?”

“Sure. But she’s not anyone else, is she?”

I watch through the window as Reyna, wearing leggings and a blue T-shirt, climbs into the ring with Jennifer. “No,” I admit. “She’s not.”

“You’re here a few days early,” Pastor Redding comments as he crosses over and shakes my hand. “Sunday isn’t for another two days.”

Standing in the church feels heavier today, as though my faith is being crushed by misplaced anger.

“Better early than not at all,” I reply.

He laughs. “Fair enough. How are you doing, Michael? How’s your mom?”

“She’s good.” I pull out a pack of gum and pop a piece into my mouth.

“And you?”

“That’s a bit more complicated, I suppose.”

“Ahh, isn’t it always?” He gestures to the front pew, so I follow him over and take a seat beside him. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”

Pastor Redding has been a friend of my family since before I was born. He grew up playing baseball with my dad, and even went on a date with my mom when they’d been in high school. Of course, they realized quickly they were better off friends, and my mom ended up introducing him to his now-wife. Confiding in him is as easy as breathing, yet I still choke on the words. “I’m angry.”

“At who?”

“Myself. God.”

“Care to elaborate?”

I shake my head and bounce my left leg, my need to be on the move stifling. “I left Reyna. I made my choice. And I’ve been kicking myself ever since.”

“You were young, Michael.”

“I was foolish.”

“Tell me, what was your reason for leaving?”

I stare down at my hands, unsure how to even put this into words he’ll understand. “My dad told me that I needed to go pro. That I had a gift and I should use it to better my life. He told me that marrying Reyna right then would be a mistake. That I was throwing away a life better than the one he had.”

The pastor is quiet as I talk, processing everything I’m saying.

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