A Second Chance

By Catherine Carson

After almost eighteen years of marriage Katie Cameron is left by her husband Brogan as he apparently feels he has been trapped into a life he is not ready to accept.
Their twin son and daughter, Mitchell and Libby, take matters into their own hands when it appears Katie and Brogan are drifting towards a permanent break-up.
Will they succeed in a reconciliation…or is it too late?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781326174903

Book preview

A Second Chance

A Second Chance

By Catherine Carson

Standard Copyright © Catherine Carson 2015

ISBN 978-1-326-17483-5 Paperback

ISBN 978-1-326-17490-3 eBook

Front cover by permission of Julie A. Brown from her portfolio

Profile of the author

Born in Scotland I now live with my husband in the North West of England.  We have three children who, between them have given us six wonderful grandchildren.

I studied commercial subjects at school and college and spent most of my working life in the offices of various companies, starting as a junior in a local garage typing invoices for car repairs.   I left Scotland and crossed the border to England to marry the man I met whilst on a holiday with my extended family and eventually became a secretary with a beer bottling company leaving six years later when the first of our three children came on the scene. 

Returning to the workforce when our children were young adults I finally untied the apron strings to join the offices of a large wholesale book supplier and embraced the advancement in technology since I had first learned to type on a manual typewriter and take notes in shorthand.

During the years I became something of a letter writer as friends and family lived in many parts of the country and indeed the world.  Often friends and family would tell me…..‘You could write a book’ to which I always replied…..‘But would anyone read it’. 

When my granddaughter asked if I would write a book especially for her I confided in my good friend Lisa Schmidt and she told me to go for it.  That book became the first of many stories which had been lurking in my imagination for a good number of years.

Once started I found the stories simply kept coming and often an overheard conversation or a glimpse from the passenger seat of the car would trigger a likely scenario which my imagination would then elaborate and weave into a story.

My hope is that my writing brings a little pleasure into the life of my readers and allows them to leave the mundane world behind for a few hours as they meet the characters I adore creating.

www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

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Other Books by this Author

The Mouse in the Library

Family Ties

Overall Construction          

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and Cakes

Memories Rekindled

Wholesale Love

Hope’s Conflict

Estates of the Heart

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for Custody

White Knight Black Knight

Through the Garden Gate…

Love Lost and Found

Alphabet Bachelors

A Dreamer’s Tale

A Precious Jewel

Footbridge of Solace

Girl Meets Boy

Demolition of the Heart

When Life Gives You Lemons

Return to the Past

Pretence & Reality

Opening a Can of Worms

Fields of Contention

A Heart Encased In Steel

~~~~~~

Tapestry of Love-Bk 1

Twins Exchanged-Bk 2

Highland Feud Bk-3

~~~~~~~

Soil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1

Desert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

Body Language-Bk 3

~~~~~~

An Open Book-Bk 1

Afraid to Love-Bk 2

A Second Chance-Bk 1

Taming the Playboy-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Estranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

Identical Mistake-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

Beyond Claymore-Bk 2

~~~~~~

Sneaking Into His Heart-Bk 1

Scent of the Heather-Bk 2

Dedication

This story is dedicated to anyone who has had to fight feelings of betrayal when a husband, partner or significant other turns from them trying to recapture a part of their lives thought left behind forever.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names.  They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

Chapter 1

Slamming the front door shut and stomping upstairs was a sure sign the weekend at his father’s had not gone well for Mitchell Cameron. 

Katie waited for her daughter to enter the kitchen and tell her what had upset her twin brother so much he could not come and say hello to his mother.

‘Hi Mum.’ Libby dropped her weekend bag on the floor and came across the room to hug her mother.  Katie could feel the tension in her daughter’s young body and held her close.  Obviously there had been some tension and from experience she knew not to push the matter as Libby or Mitch would tell her in their own time.

Katie still found it difficult coming to terms with the fact Brogan Cameron, her husband, the father of her children, had abandoned them saying he needed his own space.  Of course, what he really meant was he wanted to go back to the playboy existence he had enjoyed before marriage and children had taken over his life.

‘Have you eaten?’  Katie asked when she felt her daughter relax and ease away from her.  ‘Yeah, dad and Pippa took us to the new restaurant they seem to love.’

At the mention of Pippa Skelton’s name, Katie felt as if a knife had been plunged into her heart.  It would appear Brogan had finally declared his interest in the woman who had set out to be her replacement both in his social and personal life.  She wondered how long it would be before he finally made the estrangement of their marriage official and asked for a divorce.

‘In that case go and make sure you have everything ready for school tomorrow.  I shall be up soon to speak to Mitchell.’  She had an idea her son had probably blotted his copybook with Pippa and had been suitably reprimanded by his father.

Turning back to preparing the next day’s meal Katie thought about the changes which had happened in her life in a short space of time.

***

Six months ago she had been happily married, or at least she thought she was happily married.  Her husband was no longer as attentive as he had been in the first few years of their marriage; but she thought it was simply a case of having to cope with the stresses of his successful company and the fact their children were approaching adulthood and could be a little difficult at times.  Especially Mitch who seemed to rebel against everything his father wanted for him.

He was a clever boy with a good mathematical brain and Brogan had insisted he should concentrate his options in that field; but Mitchell desperately wanted to follow a career in art and design saying he did not want to turn into a boring accountant like his father.

Katie frowned a little when she remembered the look on Brogan’s face when his son accused him of being boring.  That was probably the turning point for him she thought as she recalled the events later in the evening when she had tried to cuddle up to him in bed and he had turned away from her saying he needed to be at the office early to make some boring decisions which kept his family in the style they enjoyed.

Having taken stock of his life Brogan Cameron had decided, if his family found him boring then he needed to put some sparkle back in his life and in his opinion it meant moving out of the family home and recapturing some of the fun and freedom he had enjoyed before marrying.

That evening on his return to the family home Brogan told Katie he had something important to discuss with her alone. Sitting on the sofa in the lounge Katie watched her husband of almost eighteen years, pacing up and down raking his fingers through his thick hair. ‘Perhaps we should have a break, it may well help us both cope with the rut we seem to find ourselves in.  Who knows I might lose this feeling of having been trapped into a life I was never meant to have.’

‘Trapped Brogan? I’m sorry you interpreted my desire to wait until after marriage to sleep with you as a trap.  I suppose I planned my pregnancy so the trap would be well and truly sprung.’ Unable to speak further for fear of saying too much, Katie had gone upstairs to sleep in the spare room that night and again the following two nights, after which Brogan had packed his bags and left.

‘I really do think we need some time apart Katie and I have arranged to move into the company penthouse apartment.  Maybe after a few weeks we can make a decision about the way we want to proceed with this marriage.’  Lifting the two cases and overnight bag he had packed Brogan Cameron walked out of the front door and Katie felt as if her heart had gone with him.

Going upstairs to their bedroom she opened the wardrobe which had held her husband’s clothes and found every item from the rails gone.  Opening the tall chest of drawers those too had been emptied.  The finality of seeing the empty wardrobe and drawers was too much and she collapsed on the bed, which still held the scent of his body and cried for the years she knew she would never have with the only man she had ever loved.

***

Emptying the bags Libby and Mitch had brought home Katie filled the washing machine and set it going and made her way back through the house turning off lights and ensuring the back and front doors were locked before climbing the stairs to check on her son.

‘Goodnight mum.’ Mitch’s terse words hurt her a little but she knew eventually he would come and talk to her and could only presume he had again fought with his father regarding the options he wanted to take at Sixth Form College.

‘Goodnight sweetheart, I love you.’  Katie could not remember a time when she did not tell her children she loved them when she said goodnight. 

‘Love you too.’  Mitch replied from his hunched position under his duvet.

Popping into Libby she repeated her words and closed the bedroom door as she steeled herself to enter her room to spend another lonely night in the king sized bed Brogan had insisted they buy when they first married.

Chapter 2

It was three days later before Mitch and Libby finally told her what had caused their father’s displeasure. 

‘He asked Mitch if he had reconsidered his options and before he could answer, Pippa rounded on Mitch and told him he was nothing but an ungrateful brat and it was time dad sought sole custody of him as you were not giving him proper guidance.’  Libby knew her words would hurt her mother but she was also afraid her father would listen to his girlfriend and actually try and take him away from her.

‘Mum there is no way I would go and

Reviews for A Second Chance

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Trouble rating this. He left his wife for another woman and he kissed her more than once. They never slept together but his thoughts were just disturbing to me. Plus he was a bit of a jerk. Wait that is wrong. He was a total jerk. I hated him for most of the story and then he wants her back and is still blowing hot and cold. I just didn't like him. Yes there was an HEA and shows them seven years later but I just kept thinking how easy he left them before, for 10 months no less . And the writing seemed improved too.