Page 15 of Second Chance Fate (Hope Falls: Brewed Awakenings #5)

“Your inhaler is in the front zipper pouch of your backpack,” Taylor reminded Owen as they sat in the drop-off line at Hope Falls Middle School.

“I know, Mom.”

“And so is your nasal spray.”

Owen’s jaw ticked as he stared out the window. He didn’t verbally acknowledge what she’d said, but she knew he heard her. She didn’t take his attitude personally.

The Baqsimi Glucagon Nasal Spray was for break-glass-in-case-of-emergency, most-dire-circumstance use only when Owen’s blood sugar dropped to dangerous, fatal levels.

The side effects were a laundry list of awful, but Taylor insisted he carry it because he’d had to use it on two occasions.

The doctors couldn’t say for certain that it saved his life, but they also couldn’t say it hadn’t.

The SUV ahead of her pulled forward, and she took its place.

When they came to a stop again, she reached into her purse, which was on the console between them, and pulled out a few individual packs of Skittles and Gummy Bears.

She always kept candy there in case Owen’s blood sugar dropped while they were out.

“Here, make sure you have these in your pockets when you go out for recess or in P.E.” She handed the packages to Owen. “And you have your lunch?”

“Yeah.”

He’d insisted on packing his own lunch, and the therapist they both had seen since coming to California told her she needed to loosen the reins, or her actions could stunt his development.

She explained that Taylor was a caretaker by nature, and Owen’s health issues caused that tendency to go into overdrive.

It took her from what would be classified as helicopter parenting to lawnmower or snowplow parenting.

Taylor hadn’t been familiar with any of those terms, but she’d done some research and found out that it did pretty much describe her to a tee.

She wanted to remove every obstacle to prevent Owen from experiencing any setbacks or challenges and intervene to obstruct any failure or discomfort.

In her defense, his setbacks could be life or death.

“Did you pack any fruit?” Fruit was better than candy, but she couldn’t have him walking around with fruit in his pocket.

“No, but I brought the cake,” he explained as the SUV’s taillights came on once more as it pulled up.

“Okay, good.” Taylor nodded, doing her best to disguise the panic she was feeling at the thought of him attending school again.

The only tell was her knuckles, which were bright white because she was gripping the steering wheel so hard. She let her foot off the brake and rolled forward before coming to a stop right in front of the school.

Owen opened the door just as the information he’d just given her registered in her head. She reached over and grabbed his arm as he was climbing out of the front seat. “Wait, cake? What cake?!”

He looked over his shoulder. “The cake from Mr. Santino’s birthday party.”

After answering, he started to get out of the car again, but she didn’t let his arm go.

“We didn’t go to Mr. Santino’s birthday party.”

The car behind her honked, but she didn’t care. She needed to know where he’d gotten the cake from.

“The pastor guy dropped it off when you were in the shower.”

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Owen shrugged as the car behind them honked again.

“Mom, I have to go.” He pulled his arm out of her grasp.

“What did he say? The pastor?!”

“Nothing. He just dropped off the cake.”

“He didn’t say anything ?”

Owen’s face scrunched as if he was trying to remember. “I mean, I guess he asked if you were there.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I said you were in the shower. It wasn’t a big deal. Why are you being so weird?”

The car honked again, and Owen pulled his arm away and got out of the car. He grabbed his backpack and adjusted the strap on his shoulder before shutting the door.

“Have a good day!” Taylor managed to get out before the door slammed. “I love you.” She said to her son’s back, even though she knew he couldn’t hear her.

Ice-cold fear ran through Taylor’s veins as she watched Owen seamlessly integrate into the stream of preteens all ascending the steps of Hope Falls Middle School as she pulled away from the curb.

She’d mentally prepared herself to be scared today because of her son’s health, but now, after finding out Caleb had shown up on her doorstep last night, she’d just unlocked a whole new level of anxiety.

Each time Owen was out of her sight, she went into a hyper state of vigilance, waiting for the call that he’d had a seizure or an asthma attack or passed out due to low blood sugar.

It wasn’t something she did on purpose or that she had any control over.

It just happened. But now on top of that, there was an extra layer of dread.

Did Caleb know something?

Did he remember her?

Did he have a suspicion that Owen was his?

If he did, was last night some sort of test?

Was it calculated?

Had he waited for Taylor to get in the shower before knocking on the door?

Did someone from the children’s church who thought the photo of the groundbreaking ceremony was Owen tell Caleb, so he came to the house to investigate?

Would it be so bad if that were the case?

Taylor had played out hundreds of different scenarios in her head of how she could tell both Caleb and Owen the truth. The problem was, none of them felt right.

Going to church yesterday had been a risk.

But she felt she had no choice since Owen was starting school today.

Her time of being under the radar had run out.

Now they were officially part of the town’s ecosystem, or at least the school system.

She’d gone to the church service to check off her final vetting box.

She’d come to Hope Falls for a reason. She could have gone anywhere, started over anywhere, but she’d come here so that Owen might be able to meet his father.

If she were being honest with herself, she was hoping for more than just a meeting.

In a perfect world, which she was painfully aware that this world was far from perfect and anything but fair, nevertheless, she would love it if Owen could have a relationship with his father.

An alert popped up on Taylor’s phone indicating Owen’s blood sugar had spiked.

She got all the notifications from his glucose monitor and pump, which was amazing.

It gave her a sliver of peace of mind when she was away from him.

When she didn’t immediately see the reading logged that he’d been given a dose of insulin, her instinct was to flip a U-turn and drive back to the school.

She pulled up to a four-way stop and had to make a choice: flip a U-turn and go back to the school or make a right and go to the coffee shop like she’d planned.

Despite every maternal cell in her body screaming “U-turn,” she made a right and pulled into a space near Brewed Awakenings Coffee Shop.

Once she turned off the engine, she took a moment to gather herself and shake off the ever-present worry over Owen that clung to her like a shadow.

As she sat in her car attempting the impossible, another alert sounded; this one indicated a dose of insulin had been administered.

She let out a breath she’d been unconsciously holding.

With a brief reprieve that he was okay, she did a quick check in the visor mirror to make sure she was presentable.

What she saw reflected back were dark circles beneath her eyes.

She’d overslept this morning, which had been happening more and more frequently.

She found herself being tired throughout the day and having to fight to stay awake.

She’d even fallen asleep standing up in the shower the night before.

Her body felt achy and fatigued. She’d mentioned it to the therapist, who told her that it could be a delayed response to PTSD or her body’s reaction to living in a hypervigilant state with Owen’s health issues.

Whatever the reason was, it made her look like she was an extra in The Walking Dead. She’d skipped any concealer this morning because she was in a rush and only slapped on mascara and lip gloss; she was regretting that decision now.

Was it worth going home, putting concealer on, and then coming back?

Probably. She should look her best when applying for a job.

Sadly, the mere thought of the energy that would take instantly ruled it out.

This was as good as she was going to get today.

She grabbed her purse from the console and headed inside the shop.

A cheerful bell dinged above her head, announcing her arrival.

She closed her eyes for the briefest of moments and inhaled the bold aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

The scent of roasted beans wrapped around her like a comforting hug.

It was a mix of earthy and sweet, creating a sense of coziness and warmth.

These days, caffeine was as essential as water, sleep, and food to keep her functioning.

Taylor would mainline it if she could. Working at the coffee shop would be a bonus considering the access to her current stimulant addiction.

She’d heard the saying, don’t get high on your supply, but she doubted that was applicable to baristas.