Second Chance

The sleek white Jaguar sedan cruised effortlessly along the highway south of London. I had bought the Jag just recently, and I had gone heavily into debt to purchase it, but it was my pride and joy. I just loved driving it, especially on the highways where it could really show its paces.

Sitting next to me was my current girlfriend, Miranda. It was a Thursday evening in the summer of 1959, and we were on our way to attend a wedding the next Saturday. The bride was an old friend of Miranda's, and she lived with her family in a little village to the west of Southampton. Miranda was chief bridesmaid, and so she wanted to spend the day before the wedding helping the bride with the final preparations. I had decided that a day in the country would be a nice relaxing break from work for me, so I didn't object to arriving early.

Miranda was an actress, or so she claimed, as she was presently 'between engagements'. We had met at a party in London a few weeks earlier, but as I got to know her better, I decided that 'drama queen' might be a better description of her. Everything in her life seemed to be a crisis. I had agreed to accompany her to this wedding, but I had already decided that I would break up with her after this weekend. I just hadn't thought of how I would break the news to her.

Miranda's directions to our destination were totally useless, of course, and it was quite late in the evening when finally we arrived. The bride-to-be and her family lived in a quaint little cottage called 'The Willows' in a small village.

We knocked at the door and it was answered by a girl who was about seventeen, I guessed. She greeted Miranda enthusiastically. "Hi Jill!" exclaimed Miranda in her usual exuberant way, throwing her arms around the girl's neck and kissing her cheek. "This is James," she said. "Hello James," said Jill, smiling at me.

We went inside, where I saw a middle-aged lady whom I assumed to be Jill's mother, and an elderly lady, who turned out to be a great-aunt. "Where's Katie?" asked Miranda. And at that moment, another girl came into the room.

I stared at her. Could it possibly be her, I thought? There was only one way to find out. "Katie? Katie Summers?" I asked. "Is that you?"

The girl looked at me for a few seconds. "Do I know you?" she asked, puzzled.

"It's James. James Owen, from high school," I said. "Remember me?"

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. "James Owen! It's been years!"

"Five years, actually," I said. "I was sixteen when you moved away."

The room erupted with questions. Katie calmed everybody down and told them what had happened. Katie and I had known each other at high school. But when we were sixteen, Katie's father had been transferred to another city by his employer. So they had all moved away, and I hadn't seen Katie since then. "We will have to spend some time catching up," said Katie. "But it's getting late. Maybe we can do it tomorrow."

It was getting late. Miranda was going to stay with Katie's family, but there was no room in the house for me, so they had booked a room for me at a local inn, the Red Lion. So I said goodnight and drove over to the Red Lion, which was only about a half mile away.

The inn was a pleasant enough place, and as I was rather tired I went straight to bed. But I did not get to sleep. My mind was occupied thinking about Katie.

At high school I had had a schoolboy crush on Katie. And then at the school dance at the end of the year I had summoned up all of my courage and danced with her. We sat together between the dances, and she didn't dance with anyone else. Then after the dance I walked her home. We held hands while we walked, and when we reached her front door and had said goodnight, she put her arms around my neck and kissed me.

As I walked to my house, all I could think about was that kiss. I wanted to ask Katie to go out with me, and to be my girlfriend. There were only a few days of school left until summer holidays. I knew that I would be going away with my family for four weeks on our annual trip to visit our distant relatives, and as soon as we came back I intended to ask Katie to go out with me. But disaster struck! When my family returned from our holidays Katie had gone! I found out from one of her friends that her father had unexpectedly been transferred by his company, and so they had moved to another city.

Eventually I got over Katie, of course. I finished high school, and moved to London as there were more job opportunities there. As I dated other girls, Katie became a distant memory. But tonight, all of those memories had come flooding back to me. Eventually I fell asleep and dreamed about what might have been.

I slept late the next morning. After I awoke and dressed, I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast on the terrace of the inn. Then I strolled over to The Willows.

Jill answered my knock at the door, and when I went inside, I was greeted by a scene of total pandemonium. Wedding preparations were in full swing. Of course it was Miranda who was causing most of the fuss, as she rushed around asking questions and giving instructions to everybody. Katie saw me and smiled hello. Miranda came over to me and gave me a quick kiss, and then she immediately found some jobs for me to do.

I finished the jobs, and then I tried to keep a low profile while I figured out some excuse to leave. Then Katie came over to me. "Poor James," she said. "I expect that you'd like to escape from this madhouse. Why don't you go for a walk or something and come back for tea?"

"Good idea, Katie," I said, and darted out the back door.

The village was very pretty, and I strolled around it admiring the buildings. Then I had lunch in a little café, and after lunch I discovered a very pretty park alongside a small river that flowed past the edge of the village. I walked for some distance along the path next to the river, enjoying the peace and solitude of the country. Then when it was time for afternoon tea I strolled back to The Willows.

Miranda managed to sit still long enough for us all to enjoy tea, but as soon as she had finished she jumped up and started rushing around again. Katie pulled me aside. "I have to get out of here for a while," she said. "Miranda's driving me crazy! Let's go over to the Red Lion for a drink, and you can tell me what you've been doing with yourself since I last saw you." So we sneaked out of the back door and walked over to the Red Lion.

We had a drink, followed by a couple more, as we sat in the glorious afternoon sunshine on the terrace of the inn. I told Katie of my life during the past five years, which really hadn't been all that exciting, but she listened attentively.

"So how is it that your family is living here?" I asked.

Katie's face clouded over as she told me that her father had been killed in a motor accident about two years ago. After that, her mother decided that she had had enough of city life, and they had all moved to this village. I didn't ask about her fiancé, and she didn't mention him.

We had been talking for a couple of hours when Katie said that she should get back. So I paid for our drinks and we left. "Let's walk back along the river," said Katie. "It's beautiful there this time of the day."

As we strolled along beside the river, Katie took my arm. "So, you and Miranda," she said. "Is it serious?"

"Oh no," I said. "We've only been going out for a few weeks. By the way, is she really an actress?"

Katie giggled. "She likes to think that she is," she said. "She has had a couple of small parts in plays, but nothing really worthwhile."

We walked in silence for a few minutes, and then I said, "Don't tell Miranda just yet, but I want to break up with her. I only agreed to come with her this weekend as I had already promised that I would, and I didn't want to let her down."

"I don't think that she will be too upset," said Katie. "She's hardly talked about you at all today. Miranda tends to fall in and out of love often."

We walked for a few minutes more, and then we came to a fence with a style. "I'll go first, and then I'll help you over," I said gallantly. I clambered over the style, and then held out my hand to help Katie. She stepped over the fence, and then jumped down. I reached out and caught her in my arms.

Katie didn't make any attempt to move away from me, and I bent down and gently kissed her on the lips. For a couple of seconds she kissed back, but then she pulled away. "James, what are you doing?" she scolded. "I'm getting married tomorrow!"

"I just thought that I would kiss the bride a little early," I said, smiling at her.

Katie smiled back. "Oh well that's alright then," she said. She nestled in against me, and pulled my head down to meet her sweet lips. We kissed for a long time, and suddenly the five years that we had been apart seemed like just a few days.

Finally Katie broke off the kiss, and looked deep into my eyes. "We had better get back," she said. I was sure that I detected a note of sadness in her voice.

That evening it had been planned that we would all travel to the town where Katie's fiancé Richard lived, and have dinner with Richard and his family at a local restaurant. The town was about ten miles away, and it was where the wedding would be held the next day. As Katie's family didn't own a car, Richard drove over to pick them up. Jill travelled with Miranda and myself in the Jaguar to show us the way. She showed us the church where the wedding was to be held.

Richard and his family were pleasant enough, I suppose, if a little dull. He did seem to be very attentive to Katie. Even though I was envious of him, I was at least pleased that Katie had found a man who would take good care of her. However, Richard and his family owned a farm, and I was having a lot of trouble visualising Katie living the life of a farmer's wife.

At the end of the evening we travelled back to Katie's village. I dropped off Miranda and Jill at The Willows, and returned to the Red Lion. This time I had a couple of brandies before retiring, and I slept like the proverbial log.

The next morning, I was smart enough to stay away from The Willows until eleven-thirty, at which time I drove over, dressed ready for the wedding. As I had expected, chaos reigned once again inside the house. The biggest problem seemed to be that one of the cars that had been booked had broken down and was not available. The women were discussing this problem when I arrived. But when Jill saw me, she said, "Oh, James has a lovely car. Perhaps he wouldn't mind driving us."

"Of course I don't mind," I said.

"And his car is white," continued Jill, "So he should take the bride."

Miranda gave me some white ribbon and instructed me to put it on my car. "You know, like they have on wedding cars," she said in her usual helpful way. I took the ribbon and went out to the Jag. I had seen wedding cars with a 'V' made of ribbon on their bonnets, so I guessed that was what was required. But how should I attach the ribbon, I wondered. The front of the bonnet was no problem, as I just wrapped the ribbon around the 'leaping cat' mascot. I decided that the only way that I could attach the other ends was to just jamb them in the front doors. Katie would of course sit in the back seat, and as long as I was careful when I opened the driver's door, the ribbon should remain attached. So that's what I did.

As the time to leave for the wedding approached, we all waited in anticipation for Katie to appear. When she did, she was breathtaking! I was sure that whoever it was had said that all brides were beautiful, had Katie in mind when they had said it.

The other women got into the hired car, a large Wolsley, which left Katie and myself alone, as naturally the bride had to arrive last. "You are so beautiful," I said to Katie. She just smiled back. "Nervous?" I asked. "A bit," she said. "Let's go, then," I said. "I'll drive slowly."

Katie was silent as we drove, but when we were about halfway there, suddenly she said, "James, please stop the car."

I pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine. "What's the matter, Katie?" I asked. "Did you forget something?"

"No," said Katie. "It's more like I remembered something. Yesterday when you kissed me, I remembered the night of our first kiss. James, please kiss me again."

Katie leaned forward, and I turned around towards her. I took her face in my hands and kissed her, gently at first, and then with more and more passion. She sighed with pleasure as she returned my affections. Finally she broke off the kiss.

"I can't do this, James," she said with tears in her eyes. "I can't marry Richard. I want to be with you. Will you take me back to London with you?"

By way of an answer I reached out and kissed her again. "We had better go back to The Willows," I said. "You have to change your dress."

We drove back to The Willows, and I got out, not bothering to catch the end of the ribbon in my door as I closed it. The ribbon fluttered in the breeze, but one end was still caught in the other door. I then walked around and opened the back door for Katie. "You're sure about this?" I asked. "Oh, James, yes, I'm sure," she said, as she got out of the car.

We went into the house, and I waited while Katie changed out of her wedding dress, and collected her suitcase which she had packed ready for her honeymoon. Then she wrote a note to Richard and her family, and I wrote one for Miranda.

We went back out to the Jag, and as I opened the front passenger door for Katie to get in, the ribbon became completely free, and fluttered off in the breeze. It was as though a part of Katie's life was leaving forever. The symbolism was not lost on Katie as she watched it go, and a small tear formed in her eye. I squeezed her hand. She smiled at me and said, "Let's go, please, James."

We drove over to the Red Lion, and Katie waited for me in the car while I changed my clothes, collected my things, and paid my bill. Then we drove up to London.

*

It's now about six months since Katie decided that she didn't want to marry Richard. I know that this morning Katie would have once again put on a wedding dress. And as I stand at the front of the church, next to my best man, I think nervously about what happened the last time that she did this. But then the organist bursts into the familiar fanfare, and all eyes look to the back of the church. The church door opens, and my beautiful Katie enters, resplendent in white once again, on the arm of her uncle.

This time, I'm very happy to say, she didn't change her mind.