Second Chances Ch. 06

I wanted us to be face-to-face when we told my brother and his family. They were such a big part in getting us back together. Their support made a world of difference. After finding out that they were going to be home over a weekend when their oldest was in a school play, Jerry and I booked a flight without telling them.

Showing up at the school play surprised the heck out of all of them. After the show when we were all talking, Jerry said that he was hungry. I suggested dinner at a nice restaurant. Dave was puzzled, "The kids too?" I was starting to answer when Jerry cut me off and said "We're in town, we know it's a little high, but we both got promotions. We needed to celebrate. Our treat. Let's go. No arguments."

Even if the dinner with my brother Dave, my sister-in-law Terry and their two kids was at a McDonalds with Happy Meals all around, it would have been a super treat as far as Jerry and I were concerned. Family is so important to us all, and Jerry's been welcomed back with open arms. We are celebrating joy of being all together.

The initial appetizers took longer to order than it should have. Our waitress Jill was very patient with us. We ended up joking and laughing with her as we stumbled along. She left us to put in the order.

I was leaving the wine choice to Dave and Jerry. As far as I'm concerned, most wine is good, some is great. Restaurants generally don't have bad wines and since I've been in the Oregon wine country, I've appreciated wine much more.

While Dave and Jerry were debating the wine options, the waitress arrived with a bottle. It was a cheaper one, but not bad. Dave spoke up first, "I'm sorry, but we didn't order this."

"This wine is a gift from another table. They said it was in appreciation of what you did." This had us all confused. We looked around the room and couldn't see anyone we either recognized or was looking at us.

I asked the waitress to point out the person who provided the wine. I was still getting a no when Jerry was a little more direct with a $20 bill. He asked her to have the person come to our table if that was possible. The choice of entries was next on the discussion and we were soon moved on to that.

Dave and Jerry had moved on to discussing the differences of types of pasta. Both of them are minor foodies, to a point. A young man approached to our table. It wasn't anyone who we had ever seen before.

"My fiancé and I are celebrating our engagement today. My bride-to-be saw the two of you sitting there and wanted to thank you for all the help you gave her. I also would like to thank you for what you did for her. I hope that you enjoy the wine." Then he attempted to leave.

Jerry spoke up quickly, "I'm sorry, could you tell us your name and who your fiancé is? I'm sorry, but I can't place you at all."

"My name is Kevin Handstrong. You don't know me at all. I only know you from my fiancé. She didn't want to disturb you, and she feels uncomfortable about it." He was looking a bit uncomfortable, but he continued.

"What you did for her was at the lowest part in her life, after all her bad decisions, you held out an olive branch and a life preserver. I knew her at the time. I saw her, I saw the person she was underneath. I've have watched her climb out of the hole she put herself in."

I am completely confused about what he is saying and I glanced at Jerry for direction. He wasn't confused at all. That's when Jerry grabbed my hand and says "Let's go and meet her, lead the way Kevin."

Leading us across the dining room I kept looking at the other diners. No one I know, no one looking at us. We turn a corner. Sitting in a profile to us is Diana. Now I understand it all.

Jerry is the first one at the table and reaches for her hand. Even I can see the difference in her face. It's not worn and drawn, it's not tense or on edge. Nervous, yes, but there's a peace that I never saw in the videos. She's also 10 pounds lighter, a great weight for her tall frame. She's healthy and happy. This is what Jerry did?

She looked up at Jerry, then me. "I didn't want to disturb you." Holding her hand out, there is a silver diamond less ring. "Kevin proposed to me this morning. I'm just beside myself. We were walking in and I saw you two there." She paused a few seconds, "It had to be fate. We've never been here before. I never had the chance to say thank you to Jerry for all you did for me. I was a pretty rotten person." Looking at Kevin then me, "I've done so much damage to so many people and Jerry here gave me the chance to get clean with everybody and myself. I was able to apologize to the other two wives but I found out you moved out of the area." She cleared her throat a little and took a sip of water. Her hand was shaking slightly.

"And that was after what I did to him," she faced me directly, "and you. I'm sorry for what I did to both of you. Please accept my apology. Sandy, you have one heck of a man. What he did for me can never be forgotten."

I was speechless, but I reached over and gave her a big hug. I think that she sobbed a little bit. That's when Jerry spoke out, "It's funny that your celebrating your engagement today, we are too. We came back to Ohio to tell her brother and his family."

Kevin looked at his bride-to-be and smiled. "She's been working hard, very hard on her issues. It's been tough, but she's not ever been this person before. It's the real Diana now, the one that was inside of her. Not the scared one, not the broken one."

Jerry bent down and kissed her on her cheek. "Life is pretty good when we get second chances. I got one too. That's a great reason to celebrate." Reaching out his hand to Kevin, they clasped hands. "Congrats to you both. Please enjoy your dinner and your new life together." We left, watching them hug and kiss.

Walking back to our table, Jerry told me he needed to use the rest room and tried to excuse himself. Jerk doesn't think I know what he's going to do. I called out to him, "No, we're doing this together. Go to the bathroom after we pay for their bill, and I hope that it'll be for an extended dinner."

Jerry smiled at me then hugged me, "And a good tip too. Let's do what's right for them. Let's find their waiter."

Neither Kevin or Diana were as well dressed as the restaurant would have liked. That's one of the reasons they were seated in the back. This will be an engagement present. It would probably be $100, without our wine or tip. If we didn't have the money, it would be different. Jerry and I have shared values. If he wasn't going to do it, I'd ask him to. That makes a marriage work. Holding on to anger doesn't work.

Giving people a second chance, sometimes we can succeed in life.

We got back to our table and sat down together. Terry asked "Who was it, you were gone over 10 minutes. The kids needed to start eating or we'd get kicked out of here."

I looked over at my nieces and saw both eating their pasta with a red sauce, just like their Dad makes for them. "Good thing that they're eating. I'd hate to get kicked out of here today."

"Well? Who was it?"

Jerry answered, "It was Diana, she became engaged today. They also came here for a special engagement dinner." At that Jerry nudged me and I pulled out my hidden hand, showing Terry the ring. "She isn't the only one celebrating an engagement."

We immediately became the center of attention in the dining room. Terry couldn't contain herself. "HE DID? OH MY GOD. YOU GUYS FINALLY DID. DAVE, THEY FINALLY DID IT. THEY'RE GETTING MARRIED." Then she realized the commotion she made and sheepishly sat down, holding on to my hand with the ring.

Second chances take a lot of work. Just like luck.