Second Chances First

Chapter 1 Second Chances First

The hard mattress spring poked her back as she slowly woke from her deep sleep. Why is a spring poking me? The question rolled around in her mind and repeated until she turned onto her side and opened her eyes. She stared at the brick wall, with a furrowed brow. Where am I? She thought as she rolled back over onto that uncomfortable spring. She heard a familiar man’s voice yelling, “good morning beautiful!” She heard his thudding footsteps racing toward the bedroom. She saw his smiling face as he flew through the air and landed on top of her, smothering her in kisses. I think I know why the mattress springs are broken, she said to herself. “Hi, handsome,” she whispered in his ear. Lara continued, “What are we doing here?”

Daryl answered, “You are about to have a wonderful morning!”

Lara smirked and said, “what are we doing in this room?”

“Our bedroom?” Daryl asked confused.

“Our bedroom,” Lara repeated quietly, searching her mind. She remembered in 2017 she had promised herself, if she could ever have a redo in life, she wouldn’t let go of her husband for any reason. Hold on with both hands, she repeated to herself, and she smiled at her husband’s familiar face. “You are so handsome,” she said aloud to Daryl.

He smiled at her and brushed her long auburn hair behind her ear. Her heart melted as she relaxed into his embrace. I don’t know what’s happening, but I don’t what this moment to end, Lara thought to herself. 

“What’s for breakfast?” Lara asked Daryl. She was super curious to see more of this house they were in. She assessed quickly their house was small, just four or five rooms, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room. Looking around the kitchen she was guessing it might be the 1800’s. She was happy to see a calendar on a small writing table and realized it was March 11, 1880, based on a letter she had penned yesterday that was still laying there. She studied the name on the letter and had no idea who that person was. As she scanned the letter it seemed to be written to her sister, Elizabeth. She wondered how far away she lived. Her sister’s address was in England. Was she in England right now? Would Daryl think she was crazy if she told him they were married in the future? Her stomach was begging for some food. She could see Daryl had build a fire in the stove. She picked up four eggs that were sitting in a basket on the table and cracked them into a bowl as she looked around for a utensil to beat them. She placed the cast iron frying pan onto the burner and dropped the butter into the pan when it was hot, followed by the whipped eggs. Do we have spices? she questioned to herself. She spotted some rosemary and threw it in with the eggs. Daryl walked into the kitchen and sat down in front of one of the two plates Lara had set on the table. He smiled at Lara. She scooped a portion of scrambled eggs onto each of their plates. She was famished and scooped a large forkful into her mouth. The rosemary was a little pokey and she regretted not looking further for more spices to jazz up the eggs. “What’s on the agenda today?” Lara asked her husband. “Agenda?” Daryl repeated, then shrugged, “I think you have a suffragettes’ meeting later today. Since when are you asking me your schedule?” 

Lara rose and kissed him on the cheek. “Suffragettes?” How exciting she thought. “Do you like the name of our town?” She asked over her shoulder as she cleared the plates.

“Surrey? Yes, I suppose it has a strong history. Are you feeling okay darling?”

“Yes, yes, I feel fine,” she answered. 

“I might have pounced too hard on you this morning,” he laughed. “Well, the chores are not going to do themselves,” he said as he grabbed his hat off the peg in the wall and he walked out the door. 

Lara returned to the writing desk looking for more clues about her day and her life for that matter. She congratulated herself for handling this bizarre occurrence so well. She could not believe she and Daryl had been married in a previous life. Had she traveled back in time or was she on a different plane. Stay focus, she told herself. Daryl is here and we are together, nothing else matters right now. Her mind immediately began to wander again. Why aren’t there any kids in the house? How long have we been married? How old am I? Are my parents alive? Would I know them if I saw them? She looked around at the walls more closely. The kitchen had all hanging tools, pans, and useful objects. She walked into the living room and spotted a picture in a frame. It was a family photograph of strangers. They must be important to us if we have it displayed in our home. She studied it to see if anything sparked some recognition for her. They all looked familiar, but she could not come up with anything more than that. 

She headed up the stairs to the bedroom and spotted a bathroom. Oh, thank God! Indoor plumbing, she almost said aloud. I really should have paid attention more about history, she scolded herself. She was never happier to see a flush toilet than in that moment. “A claw-foot tub! Score!” she said lightly. 

Am I one of my ancestors? Lara thought as she remembered how deeply she had studied her ancestry in 2010. I hope this isn’t a dream. She was anxious to get dressed and find Daryl. She wanted to see as much of him as she could. She missed him so badly in 2017 when they divorced. Had this past Daryl ever experience anything like she was experiencing now, she wondered as she looked in her chest of drawers for proper clothing for the day. She could already tell she and Daryl didn’t stand on ceremony and she was happy for that. She dressed in a simple cotton dress, put on an apron, shoes that looked like work boots to her and grabbed her hat off the peg as she headed out the door to find Daryl.

Be careful what you wish for, rattled around in her brain, until she changed it to, I am thankful for what I wished for. I am holding on with both hands to the love of my life. I am going to enjoy every up and down, year, minute, and second, I get with him. A love like ours is rare and I will never forget that again.