2nd Chance

Chapter One

"No...no...stop!" Jade's eyes shot open as she sat up in bed. Her blankets were all tangled around her and she was panting. She rubbed the back if her neck with sweaty palms and tried to shove all images of Zach out of her mind.

"It's all in the past," she said as she unwrapped herself from the sheets. She checked her digital clock. It was 5:45.

"Well, I would have been getting up in fifteen minutes anyways," she mumbled. Jade softly padded towards the shower that was in the back of their trailer house, trying not to wake Emmy, her daughter, who was still sleeping.

An hour later, Jade was running across the small piece of land that separated the trailer from her restaurant, Jade's American Diner. She unlocked the front door, flipping the sign to 'Open', and headed straight to the kitchen to start cooking.

In fifteen minutes, she heard the little bell that hung over the front door ring as people walked in wanting breakfast.

"Hey, Jade!" They all called through the swinging door that led from the dining room to the kitchen. They all knew that she would be there.

"Hey, guys!" She called back over the sound of sizzling ham and bacon. She soon stepped out of the kitchen to take orders.

"I'll have two pancakes, please."

"Can I have scrambled eggs and hash browns?"

"Please give me a couple slides of ham and three pieces of bacon with an orange."

Jade hurried into the kitchen to finish cooking the orders.

By 7:30, she had served all of the people and just as she was about to start a new batch of biscuits, Emmy walked in through the back door in the kitchen.

"Mommy?" The four-year-old asked. She smiled, looking almost identical to Jade. Both had their dirty blond hair pulled back into a pony-tail. Both were wearing t-shirts, one Winnie the Pooh and the other just plain green, but while Emmy was wearing shorts, Jade was wearing old, faded jeans.

The day went by well enough. Jade cooked and took orders part time. Emmy helped by taking orders during the busier times, like lunch. Jade's mother came over and hour later and stayed to help cook and take orders. It was a system that had been working for three years, ever since Jade had moved back to her hometown in Webersville, Nebraska, and no one could imagine life any other way.

When 9:00pm finally came, Jade locked the doors and walked home with Emmy by her side. Her mother had already driven home to take care of her father, who was having medical problems.

By the time Emmy had been fed, bathed, and said her prayers it was 9:30. Jade stood beside Emmy's little bed, ready to tuck her in and kiss her good night, when a small voice peeped out in the darkness.

"Mommy?" Emmy asked. Jade asked what was the matter.

"Will you tell me a story about you and Daddy?" Emmy asked of her. Innocent little Emmy.

"Please, Mommy!" She begged, and Jade complied.

"Once, five long years ago, a man named Zachary Wilson met a girl named Jade Lewis. She had just moved to New York City to study writing books. She was only nineteen, and Zach was twenty-two."

"That was you and Daddy, wasn't it?" Emmy blurted out excitedly.

"Yes, Emmy, it was," Jade affirmed, then continued, "Soon, they got married and had a baby. It was a little girl named Emerald Hope Wilson!" Emmy giggled.

"But, Mommy, why did you and Daddy move away from each other?" Emmy asked.

Jade paused. The memories flooded back like a tsunami ready to destroy her and everything she loved.

"Be-because, Emmy," Jade said slowly. "Mommy and Daddy had a disagreement," Jade couldn't tell Emmy the truth. She was too young; too young to know all the details.

"But you said that Jesus tells us to not fight with each other?" Emmy asked, looking confused. Jade just shook her head.

"It's past time for you to be asleep." Jade said in her no nonsense tone and Emmy just nodded her head and snuggled under the covers. Within a couple minutes, she was fast asleep.

Jade stood there for a long time, just staring at her little girl. Where had the time gone? It was three years ago when Jade had moved back from New York. She had thought that in moving back, she could just leave it all behind. What a stupid dream. Of course, Emmy would want to know about her father. But how could Jade tell her that her father was a drunk? How could she tell her that her daddy had beaten her mommy? Or that her mother still had scars from those days? She couldn't.

When Jade finally went back to the couch in the main room of the trailer, she opened up her laptop. She had been taking online college courses for a couple years now. She should have her bachelors degree in English literature soon.

As she opened the college page, an advertisement popped up for online dating. Jade quickly deleted it.

"Oh, God," Jade prayed, as she stared at the computer screen. "I don't think that I could ever trust another man with my heart again. I've had my fill of human love, I suppose. Now, I'll just be single for the rest of my life. Poor Emmy, though." Jade wiped away the tears that desperately wanted to spill and straightened her shoulders. She would be strong for Emmy's sake, and for her own. But, mostly for Emmy.

A/N So, this story has begun! Really, it was all my awesome friend, Ashley. This story was completely her idea. I'm just writing it and changing it here and there. Go follow Ashley at LiveLaughLoveash. Her Wattpad won't let her write anything, so she handed this idea she had to me.

Now that you know Jade's background story, we are about to get into some really good stuff. New characters, here we come!