After Nola as run out of the lighthouse, noisy Zachary has picked up her notebook and started to read.

24 - "Memories of Catherine" Part 3.

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Nola Chamberlain Basics of the Novel and the Short Story Professor Hutchinson Memories of Love

As Rachel looked over her life, there were many "firsts" that stood out in her mind: the first time she had went to Mrs. Lambert's kindergarten glass; the first time she had kissed a boy; the first time she had told a boy, "no"; the first time she hadn't told a boy, "no". But of all the moments in her life that had filled her with fear, wonder, and amazement, Rachel knew that there was one that would forever stand out above the rest, and that was the first time she had ever laid eyes upon Simon Walker's face.

Many people might say that there was no such thing as love at first sight, but Rachel knew those people had probably just never seen anyone with eyes as blue as Simon's.

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"So she's taking a creative writing class. And she's writing a love story. Of course. Isn't that the first rule of writing? Write what you know.

"And I'm sure her love story will have a happy ending; I know that's the way she would write it. But reality is not the stuff of fiction, Nola. Not everyone lives happily ever after; sometimes not every one even lives.

************************************************************ Zachary's mind begins to drift off back to a hot, Georgia night. It had been almost three months since he had become Catherine Byer's boarder, but in truth, he didn't feel like a boarder at all. He had grown close to all the members of the Byer family, and had spent time with each of them. He had taught Emma how to sew. He and Jimmy had fixed up old Bonnie, and gotten the old car back on the road. And he and Catherine had spent countless hours together, just talking. Zachary had never known anyone as easy to talk to as Catherine. And even though, he cared very much for Emma and Jimmy, it was Catherine Byers that had somehow crept up into his soul. And Zachary who had never been in love before, had no idea what to do about it. He kept his feelings locked up tightly inside himself, until the fateful night that he couldn't keep them locked up anymore.

Zachary had been helping Jimmy with his homework when Catherine had called to him, "Zach I can't find Sweatpea, anywhere. And I'm worried; I think it's her time."

"Her time?"

"Didn't you ever notice that my cat was pregnant?"

"I thought she was just fat."

"Oh, Zach. I swear. Do you think maybe you could help me look for her?"

Catherine and Zach roam through the house with the both of them calling, "Here kitty kitty; here kitty kitty."

Catherine, says, "Maybe we should look in my bedroom. Seeing Zach's reaction she adds, "It's okay, you can come in my bedroom. I won't tell Mrs. Baxter if you don't."

"Mrs. Baxter?"

"You know, the town gossip. Or as we call her at the bank, 'the mouth of the south'."

After they are both in the room, Zach says, "Wait a minute. I hear something. In the closet. He pushes back some boxes and says, "Here she is, I mean, here they are."

Catherine looks in and sees Sweetpea and five grey kittens. "Their daddy must have been that old grey Tom that I used to see hanging around the back porch. I guess that's always the way."

"What do you mean?"

"The men stay around long enough to make the babies, and then it's up to us women to have them and take care of them."

"It doesn't have to be like that, Catherine. Not all men are like your husband. I would never leave you, I mean, I would never leave my wife and kids. If I was ever lucky enough to have my own family."

"I don't believe you would, Zach. I know all men aren't like my Bobby, but the sad thing is a lot of them are. But I guess I shouldn't dwell on thoughts like that. Bobby is part of my past. What do they say, 'forgive and forget'."

"Have you forgiven him?"

"Forgiving was actually the easy part, it's forgetting that's tough. Especially, when you reach out and grab a hold of nothing every night."

"Catherine . . . "Zachary stammers.

"What is it Zach?"

Emma walks in the room before he can answer. "Mama, Me and Jimmy have been looking for you two. We just got the new Elvis' Presley LP and we're fixing on playing it. It's so dreamy. You two have to come listen to it."

"Sure." "If it's okay with you, Catherine." Zachary adds.

"Yeah, I guess my baby can take care of her brood all by herself. But don't worry, SweetPea, Mama will be back to check on you later."

Everyone goes into the parlor, and Emma starts the record player. Elvis' 'Love Me Tender' begins to play.

"Why don't you two dance?" Emma asks Zachary and Catherine. "It seems a shame to have music this wonderful playing and nobody dancing to it."

Jimmy jokingly says to Emma, "Yeah, I bet you wish Billy Lowell was here right now, to dance with you. You know you have a crush on him."

"Well maybe I do. But it's still a shame to have Elvis on the record player and nobody dancing."

"Well, maybe Emma does have a point," Catherine says. "Why don't we give it a whirl, Zach? That is, if you don't mind dancing with a grandma."

"A grandma?"

"Well, my baby just had five babies of her own, didn't she?"

Zachary laughs and says, "I wouldn't mind dancing with a grandma at all, but I don't know how. My stepmother didn't allow any dancing in the house. Said it was sinful. So I never learned."

"It's not that hard; I could show you how," Catherine offers.

Catherine and Zachary start to dance, but Zachary still seems very timid.

"Relax, Zach. I'm not breakable. There, isn't that better," Catherine says putting her head on his shoulder. There really is nothing to dancing. Just listen to the music and let your body take care of the rest."

Suddenly Zachary pulls away, "I need some air," he says as he steps out onto the porch.

Catherine follows him outside "Are you okay, Zach?" she asks with genuine concern.

"I'm fine. It's just that dancing with you . . ."

"Didn't feel right, huh? Must have been like dancing with your maiden aunt?"

Zachary wanted to tell Catherine that wasn't the case at all. He wanted to tell her that dancing with her had felt too right. But he said nothing.

"Zach, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I notice every time you mention your stepmother you look so mad. It's not good for someone as young as yourself to be carrying around so much resentment. You need to let go of that."

"I don't know if I can."

"I understand, but I felt so much better after I forgave Bobby. It was like years had been lifted off my life."

"But how did you forgive someone that hurt you like that?"

"I just figured that people are just people. Sooner or later they will disappoint you. But that doesn't necessarily make them bad, it only makes them human."

"Catherine, you are an incredible woman."

"Zach, you keep talking like that, and Mrs. Baxter will think that there really is something worth talking about, going on in this house."

Zachary started to say something, but before he could Catherine had turned her back on him and was staring into the nighttime sky. "Look at all them stars out tonight, Zach. You know, if it wasn't for the mosquitoes and all those damn crickets chirping so loud that you can't hear yourself think, tonight would almost be . . . romantic. Oh, look there's a shooting star. Why don't you make a wish on it, Zach?"

"My stepmother always said that superstitious things like that were . . ."

"I know. I know. Sinful. Now, what is life without a little sin, every now and then. Make a wish and that's an order."

"Okay."

"What did you wish?"

"I can't tell you that. Then it won't come true. Isn't that what they say?"

"Well, if you cross your fingers behind your back, then you can tell and it will still come true."

"I think you're making that up."

"Come on. Just tell me what you wished."

"I wished . . . I wished that there was really something going on in this house worth talking about."

A shocked Catherine responds, "You're kidding right? Zach, I'm almost old enough to be your . . . "

"I don't care about that, Catherine. I just know that when I'm with you, I'm happy. Probably for the first time in my life."

"Zach, I don't know what to say."

Emma opens the screen door and calls out, "Are you two going to stay out there all night. Jimmy wants Zach to finish helping him with his math."

"We were just coming in," Catherine says trying to sound calm. "We'll finish this conversation later. Okay, Zach?"

"Okay."

Later that night as Zachary lies in bed, he hears a soft tap at his bedroom door.

"Zach it's me. Catherine.

"Catherine, what is it? What are you doing here?"

"This might be the most selfish thing I've ever done, but God forgive me, there's only so many nights one woman can spend alone."

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Zachary comes back to the present and realizes he's been twisting Nola's notebook in his hands. He tries to straighten it back out as he says, "No Nola, not all love stories have happy endings, but then you can't always tell that by the way they begin."

to be continued

In this Episode, Quinton comes to tell Nola that he's leaving Springfield. (Remember she didn't get the letter, so she didn't come to Thornway Road that night); We get a little more light shined on some of Nola and Quinton's past problems. And Nola strokes Quinton's hair.

25 - "If There Was One Place, I Was Never Disappointed."

Nola is sitting at the kitchen table when she hears a knock at the door. "Maybe it's the electrician coming back to take another look at those wires," she says to herself. "Come in," she calls out.

The door opens and Quinton walks in. "Hello, Nola. I hope you don't mind me stopping by without calling, but I really need to talk to you.."

"Uh, Quinton, No. Actually I don't mind at all. There's something I think I need to talk to you about too. Why don't you sit down, and I'll get you a cup of coffee."

Nola brings Quinton a cup of coffee and says, "Better yet, Why don't we go in the living room and sit on the couch? I think I've already spent entirely too much time sitting at this table."

Nola and Quinton go to the living room. Quinton sits down first, and then Nola sits down very close to him. "So, Quint, why don't you go first?"

"Go first?" Quinton asks seemingly very distracted.

"Isn't there something you needed to talk to me about?"

"Yes. That's right. Nola, I'm thinking about leaving Springfield . . . for good."

"Why would you want to do a stupid thing like that? I mean, you just bought our . . . your house back. Why would you want to leave now?"

"Isn't is obvious, Nola? You didn't come by the other night."

"I was suppose to come by the other night?" a confused Nola asks.

"That's okay, Nola you don't have to spare my feelings. I know what's going on. Just look at you. You look absolutely. . . radiant."

"I do sort of feel radiant. I don't know, It's almost as if all the bad memories that were weighing me down were just lifted away. That little talk I had with Zachary did me so much good."

"Oh. So Zachary is behind this rebirth of yours. I should have known."

"Quinton. That's not what I meant. It was just that Zachary told me that I had to. . . well, never mind what Zachary told me to do. Let's just say, I did it. And I feel like a new person. And that's what I want to talk to you about."

"Oh, I can guess what you want to tell me. I've seen that radiant look on your face before. You're in love aren't you? You're in love with Zachary Lance. You're even calling him by his first name now."

"Quinton . . . "

"Tell me the truth Nola, I think I at least deserve that."

"Actually, Quinton, I think I am in love but not with . . . "

"And I guess you two will be planning to be married."

"Who? Zachary and me? Quinton, you don't understand. If you would just let me finish . . . "

"I guess I should be upset, but part of me is happy for you. At least he will be able to give you what I was never able to."

"What are you talking about now?"

"You two are going to have children, aren't you? Zachary is young; he will want children." I know I disappointed you when we found out we couldn't have any more."

"Quinton, I was disappointed for awhile, but I got over it. To tell the truth, I hadn't really thought the whole thing through. I just wanted a replacement for Maureen And you can't replace people."

"Is that why you didn't want to try to adopt?"

"Yes I wanted so badly to have a little girl that looked like Maureen, but I realized how selfish that was. But I never blamed you. How could we have known that the car accident you had all those years ago, would have left you with undetectable, internal damage that would only worsen over the years." "I thought you were disappointed in me," Quinton says with the faint mist of tears in his eyes.

Nola tenderly takes his hand and asks, "Quinton, is that why you turned away from me because you thought I was disappointed in you."

"Yes."

"Disappointed? If I was disappointed in anyone it was in myself. Remember what the doctors said, the damage was degenerative. If we had only tried sooner. But I was the one that didn't want to. It was hard enough dragging two kids on digs, I couldn't imagine what a third one would be like. And you know I didn't want to end up sitting at home, alone with the kids. Not having any more children was my choice. So if I was disappointed in anyone it was in myself." And let me tell you something else, Quinton R. Chamberlain. If there was one place I was never disappointed with you, it was in the bedroom."

"Nola, I don't know what to say."

"Maybe we've already said enough," Nola says gently stroking Quinton's hair.

"But I just wish we could have talked all this out before. Then maybe none of the other stuff would have had to happen."

"You mean the whole Jessica thing."

"Nola, I was telling the truth about that."

"Shsss. I don't want to hear another word about that. Remember what I said before. We need to put that behind us, if we are ever going to rebuild our . . . "

"Friendship?"

Nola moves within almost kissing distance of Quinton, and says, "Well, Quinton, there are friends and then there are friends."

And just then Zachary walks in the door.

"Hello, Nola. The door wasn't locked. I hope you don't mind me walking in. I didn't interrupt anything, did I?" . "No," Quinton says, getting up off the couch. "I was just leaving."

"Quinton, you don't have to go," Nola immediately responds, but before Quinton can answer her, Bridget and Peter walk in.

"Hi, Quinton, What are you doing here?" Bridget asks more than a little surprised.

"I was just leaving, Bridget."

"Good. Then you can take Peter and me back to that ice cream parlor. What was the name of it again?"

"Rosellie's," Nola answers.

"Yeah, that's it. Peter keeps begging to go back there," Bridget says grabbing Quinton by the arm and leading him out the door.".

"Quinton, wait. I didn't get a chance to tell you . . ." Nola starts to say, but it's too late. Bridget has already dragged Quinton out the door.

After they are gone, Zachary says to Nola, "I found your notebook. And I . . ."

"You read it, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. I'm sorry, but why didn't you tell me you were interested in writing?"

"I guess I didn't want you to laugh at me. I've actually been writing a little bit on and off for the last couple of years. My friend Gracie always told me I had a knack for telling stories. And I finally decided to take it more seriously."

"Nola, not to change the subject, but I couldn't help get the feeling something was going on between you and Quint before I showed up."

"You're very observant, aren't you?"

"So? How are things going between you and Quint?"

"Zachary, to put it in writer's terms, I don't think we've seen the last chapter of this one. No. I think this little story is far from over."

To be continued

Go to next chapter of "Sometimes You Get A Second Chance"