Presented by SHANNON MUIR’S INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS
SPONTANEOUS CHOICES SHORTS features short serialized fiction by author Shannon Muir, that may be later released as part of e-book or print collections. In 2019, these serials initially appeared every second and fourth Thursday (and fifth Thursdays as they occurred). This continues a new serialized story, “A Second La Chance,” about a young woman who originally hoped to have the children of a wealthy spoiled man to get paid off to leave him, but ends up with more than she ever bargained for when deciding to take a chance to start a new life for herself. This is part 13 of 16. FOLLOW ALONG IN THIS MARATHON OF “A SECOND LACHANCE” AS WE RACE TOWARDS THE CONCLUSION MAY 30 TO JUNE 4, 2019 WITH DOUBLE DOSES ON MAY 30 AND JUNE 3, AND A TRIPLE PACKED CONCLUSION ON JUNE 4! I couldn’t really decide how to feel. It never occurred to me I might meet anyone familiar with how Edmond LaChance led me into a life of being used; I’d also had a presupposition of what those kind of people might be like. Now, someone with me not only had direct familiarity with what I’d done but also apparently remorse about his actions.
Many a night since I broke free from Edmond, I wondered what the rest of the world thought of me, either as how the Internet made me known before being Edmond’s wife, while I lived as Mrs. LaChance, or the time after. Now, Rowan arrived, and with him the idea that maybe we never fully know ourselves. So, perhaps, what others think should not matter.
At that point, I decided if he really knew so much about me, it was time I learned more about him.
“Rowan, how did you end up with a job like this in the first place?”
I couldn’t see how much gas remained in the tank, but the freeway went for some distance yet. I knew that if he wanted to tell his story, he had time. The question remained what Rowan would say, if anything.
“I’m not proud of where I come from,” he said.
“Hah,” I reminded him. “Look at who you’re talking to.”
Rowan chose that moment to take a freeway off-ramp I wasn’t familiar with. He drove the high-end car we were in through streets of houses barely patched together. I didn’t feel comfortable about it at all.
“What are we doing here? We stand out, not blend in.”
“You asked me where I’m from. This us where I grew up, and I’m getting us some help.”
He turned into a garage and honked the horn quickly, three times. An older gentleman, well-worn by his trade, came huffing up to the driver’s side as Rowan rolled the window down.
“Rowan, my boy! What are you doing here?”
“Pops, this is Rikah here in the back seat. She’s in a bit of trouble and we need to hide both of us and the car until it blows over.”
“What about your nice new job, and the big reward for making that pickup your boss wanted?”
The old man looked genuinely crushed.
“Rikah’s the big package, and she’s too good for this guy. Pops, you always taught me to do the right thing growing up. I need you to help me “
My mind still struggled to process we now were in the neighborhood Rowan grew up in and he begged his father for help.