Standard disclaimers apply
Second Chance
Dinner was wonderful. They told each other more about themselves. Gary told her how he and his friend Chuck ended up owning the bar. How Chuck wanted to make it an established restaurant. Only to, in the end, take off for California, with Marissa taking over his part of the ownership in McGinty's.
He told Kaitlyn a lot about his relationship with Marissa. How they met working at Strauss & Associates and the friendship that, they had formed. The entire time Gary and Kaitlyn were together, he never thought about the paper.
When it came time to pay the bill Kaitlyn insisted that she pay. "After what you did for me the least I can do is buy you dinner. Next time you can pay." She told him. Gary reluctantly gave in.
They made the short walk back to Kaitlyn's house. She asked him if he wanted to come in and he said yes. Gary was too nervous to notice before, but the home had a real "homey" feel to it. There were various pictures of Kaitlyn with the girls, family and Jessica and Casey by themselves framed throughout the house. He also noticed that even their drawings had been framed as well.
They walked into the kitchen and Kaitlyn asked. "Do you want a beer?"
"Sure. This place is great." Gary said looking around. Kaitlyn headed towards the refrigerator.
"You should have seen it before I bought it." Kaitlyn pulled two beers from the refrigerator and opened the drawer for a bottle opener. "We completely gutted it. Everything is new. I bought the place because it was across the street from my sister. It took over a year to renovate. Looking back now, it was a lot of work I don't know if I would take on a challenge like that again." She handed him his beer. "You wanna go and sit on the porch?"
"Yeah." Gary took off his jacket and laid it across the back of the kitchen chair. He followed Kaitlyn outside. The house had a nice front porch. Kaitlyn sat down on the swing and Gary joined her. They both looked at each other and smiled.
"It's peaceful tonight. Most of the time I don't know what to do with myself when the girls aren't here." Gary put his arm on the back of the swing and she laid her head back against it. He slipped his hand onto her shoulder.
"I can honestly say I don't get many peaceful times like this." Gary started to rub his thumb against the top of her arm. Gary thought to himself that holding her felt more right than anything he had every experienced.
Kaitlyn felt more protected being held in Gary's arms than she had ever felt with any other man. She decided that feeling meant something important and she wanted to open up to him and tell him about her past.
"Gary, how come you have never asked me about my ex-husband?" Kaitlyn asked. She figured this was a good way to open up the conversation.
Gary rubbed his free hand on his leg. "Well I figured if you wanted to tell me about him you would. When you were ready." He shrugged.
"He was a police officer. I think that was my initial attraction to him. I thought he would be just like my Dad. He was young when I met him, new to the force and trying to make a name for himself. He was a good man then." She swallowed hard and continued. "We were married for two years when I found out I was pregnant with Jess. I remember when I told him he was so happy." She smiled at the thought.
"Then after she was born, he changed. He kind of withdrew into himself. He started to get abusive, mostly verbal. I put it off as being part of the job. I tried to get him some help, you know psychological help, and it worked for a while. I didn't want to give up on my marriage. I was raised to believe that when you marry someone it's until death do you part. I had it my head that if I was pregnant he wouldn't hurt me." She looked down at the beer in her hand and started to play with the label.
"When I got pregnant with Casey it stopped for a while. Then he shot and killed a young kid in the line of duty. He struggled with it for a few months and started to drink a lot after that. Then one night he came home and he took it out on me. I ended up unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. Luckily, my neighbor who had been watching Jess found me. I had to have an emergency c-section to save Casey. He never apologized for what he did. I could understand if he didn't care about me, but I never understood his lack of feelings towards the safety of his own daughter. He never even wanted to see her." She said her voice barely above a whisper. She wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I never pressed charges against him. We separated and I left town, came here. A year went by and I got a letter from his attorney saying that he wanted a divorce and that he wanted to relinquish his parental rights. So, I let him. I petitioned the court to get my maiden name back and to have the girls' names legally changed. I haven't heard from him since then and hopefully I never will." She took a drink and then looked up at Gary.
Gary put his hand on the side of her head, pulled her close to him. "I'm sorry." He said as he kissed her on the temple.
She smiled and looked up at him. "I don't know why, but I wanted you to know."
"I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me. I just wish I would have known you then…I don't know maybe." He stopped. Their eyes met. He put his hand on her neck and ran his thumb across her cheek. He leaned in and gently kissed her. She knew with that one kiss that he would never hurt her. The gentle kiss grew into a long, passionate one. Kaitlyn reached up and put her hand on the back of his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. When they parted, they rested their foreheads against each other and both smiled.
"I've wanted to do that all night." Gary blushed.
"I'm glad you finally did." Kaitlyn teased as she poked him in the chest. She leaned back onto his shoulder, his arm going protectively back around her. She wrapped her arm around his waist. They sat for a long time just enjoying the quiet. Both feeling content in what they had finally found in each other.