Second Chance

E-Book Edition, License Statement

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book
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respecting the hard work of this author.

This
book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a
product of the author’s imagination or are used factiously.

Cover
by theauthorsredroom.com

Edited
by Maikao Julian Tran and Nancy Yang

Copyright
© 2012 by Ong Xiong

All
rights reserved.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my husband, Dang Thao, whose
support, patience, and love allowed me to write this story.

To my children, who sacrificed sunny
days playing inside because their mommy couldn’t leave her computer.

To my sister, Maikao Julian Tran,
who spent hours reading my first drafts, who offered invaluable insights that
allowed me to proceed with this story when I found myself stuck.

To Shane Perry, Jessica Kapaun, Cary
McKnight, and Crystal Thompson, who read this novel and offered opinions that
helped me progress and edit.

To Tony Hawthorne, whose offhand
comment, “Why not girl?” led me to start this story.

To Gina Groah, Genna Kalland, Misty
Mundell, Gaotah Yang, and Nicolle Gangl, who are always encouraging.

To Becky Lindberg, who shared an
office with me and listened to my ups and downs.

To the rest of my friends and
coworkers at PAI, who offered encouragements and inspirations.

To my editor, Nancy Yang, whose
initial editing of this story made me realized I still have a lot of work to do
and a lot to learn.

To my family, who made writing
possible.

I thank all of you for everything
you have done to make this dream a reality.

Thank
you. Thank you!

PROLOGUE

February 2010

Sue’s breath hung
in the cool air of a February evening. Loose strands of her hair swayed in the
wind, clinging to her chapsticked lips. A car pulled into the parking lot at
Indian Mounds Park and she heard the faint sound of music drifting her way. She
drew a deep breath, trying to shut the music out.

“…Do you
remember the way I love you?

Do you
remember me…?”

Painful memories
surfaced like blood oozing from a freshly cut wound. She swallowed the lump in
her throat and fought the stinging in her eyes. Hope Madison continued to sing
what her heart wanted to forget.

“…I remember
the way you smile and laugh…

…Please
remember me in the past…”

She covered her
ears and closed her eyes. The pressure in her chest could no longer be
contained and she let out a shuddering breath. It hung in the air. “Leave me
alone, Jae,” she told herself. But, he had left her alone. He was gone. Gone
long ago like the dreams of a stupid, stupid girl.

It had been nine
years. It was time to move on. She would go to New York. She needed to go.

Khyba twirled the
ring on his finger as his eyes wandered out the window of his Gulfstream. The
slick, private jet with its custom designed interior was a symbol of his
success and his loneliness. The jet had been his home for the past year and he
was becoming tired of it. After his international tour, he was going to sell
it.

He had a
bird’s-eye view of a metropolitan city with its gridded landscape. The city was
just like any other city he had seen before, nothing new.

He closed the
shade to the window and rested his head on the plush leather seat. He massaged
his temples and drew a long breath before resting his elbow on his knees. His
hands moved wearily over his closed eyes. He pressed his palms together and
opened his eyes to look at his assistant.

Unable to focus
on what his assistant Jackie was saying, he got up and made his way to the
bedroom, ignoring his captain’s instructions to sit and buckle up as they
prepared for landing. Jackie stopped talking and watched his back retreat
without a backward glance.

He would be in
New York for two weeks. He was booked to perform at Madison Square Garden and
to start the promotion of his new movie, scheduled for release in two months.

Two long weeks in
the states. Two weeks in a country he had no desire to be in.

CHAPTER
1

New York,
February 2010

Michael looked
around the baggage claim area at JFK airport looking for a woman he never met
before. He scanned the area again, making sure this was where he needed to be,
but there was no sign of this Sue Thao he was to pick up. The only resemblance
to what he was looking for was this Asian teenager sitting on a bench, reading
a mangled paper back of
Twilight
by Stephenie Meyer. The distinctive
black cover with ghostly white hands holding a blood-red apple was very recognizable
to him. Lord only knows how many times his nieces had shoved that thing in his
face. “Uncle, uncle, are you Team Jacob or Team Edward?”

Katie had not
been specific about Sue. “She’s cute, you’ll like her,” Katie said.
Like her
in what way. As in bed?
As he continued to ponder what Katie’s intentions
were, he thought about the women in his life. Was he so lacking that Katie
thought he needed help in finding someone? He had a feeling Katie meant for him
to do more than assist this friend with the wedding party. Katie had been
hinting about his need to settle down, to grow up, to forget about Judith. “Sue
loves children; she’s a pediatrician, did I mention that?” Katie said. “Oh,
Sue’s very loyal and passionate, did I mention that?” she had added.

Cute?
Cute, petite Asian woman—doctor? Nerdy? Geeky? What exactly did Katie mean by
cute? As in barely legal cute? Well, she’s a doctor so unless she was a genius,
she surely was legal. He would have preferred Katie to describe Sue as pretty
or beautiful, but not cute. When he thought about cute, he thought of his
nieces, little-girl cute and that gave him the creeps to be thinking of a woman
in a cute way. It made him feel like a perv, prowling an innocent.

Loyal?
When he thought of that word, he thought of dogs. He was allergic to dogs. Then
he thought about Sue being passionate. Again, he thought of—he grinned.
Passionate
in bed?
That was one characteristic he liked about her, at least.

At thirty-one,
Michael McHeney was six-feet-tall with a muscular, chiseled form, built from
his love of extreme sports. His mixture of German, Scottish, and Korean
heritage made him exotic and mysterious, or so he had been told numerous times.
His good looks paired with his wealth had attracted many beautiful women--not cute
ones--but beautiful women who would come to his bed willingly. He could get any
woman he wanted so why was he here, waiting for a cute girl, woman? He could
have sent his driver to pick her up. He didn’t need to be here. So why was he
here, wasting time?

Curiosity.

Michael glanced
at his watch. Where was she? He scanned the baggage claim area again, but there
was no sign of her, just the teenager. There were other free benches available
but the girl was cute. He grinned.
Cute
. He might as well practice talking
to a cute girl, woman, he thought. Lord, he felt like a pervert. But he sat
down on the bench with her anyway. She looked his way and gave him a warm
smile. He did the same.

“So, are you Team
Edward or Team Jacob?” Michael asked the teenager. He could have asked for her
name but that would be too personal. He already felt awkward enough. Talking
about the book was safe.

“Excuse me?”

“Who are you
rooting for to get the girl?” he asked, gesturing toward her book.

“Oh, I’m sorry.
I’m afraid I don’t know yet. I’ve only started the book,” she answered. “My
niece strongly recommended that I read this,” she explained.

“Seen the movie?”

She shook her
head. “I haven’t had the pleasure.”

“Watch it, you’ll
like it. My niece swears on her grandmother’s grave that Robert Pattinson and
Taylor Lautner are the two hottest guys alive. You’ll like them.”

She threw her
head back, laughing. “My niece said the same thing. But according to her, the
two actors you’ve just named are a little too young for me, I’m afraid.”

“I’m sure they
are older than you. At least Pattinson is.”

“I’m flattered.
Truly I am.” Still laughing softly, she took out her cell phone and glanced at
the time. “Are you waiting for a ride, too?”

“No. I’m picking
someone up…who’s supposed to be here by now.” Michael took out his own cell
phone. It suddenly occurred to him why he hadn’t thought about calling her in
the first place. The time he could have saved! He quickly scrolled down his
contact list, looking for Sue’s cell phone number. “Enjoy the rest of your
book,” he told her as he stood to leave. She smiled and nodded.

Sue watched the
handsome stranger walked away.
How strange
, she thought. After so many
years of recluse, she was finally out of Minnesota, conversing with strangers
as if the last nine years of her life had never been interrupted. She tried to
return her attention to her book but her mind wandered back to the stranger.
Had she not been so broken, would she have found some kind of normality with,
well, with someone like him?

Through the
years, she had tried to be a good daughter. No more scandal. No more disgrace.
Perhaps normality was not quite the correct term to define what she wanted.
Then again, what she wanted she couldn’t regain and what she needed was beyond
her little world.

At twenty-eight,
she was the shameful, spinster daughter who would probably never marry and bear
grandchildren. At this point in her life, she had lost the desire to have a
family of her own anyway, and the possibility of marriage was just as it was:
another possibility amongst so many other possibilities. She was no longer the
day dreaming girl who fantasized about love.

Sue put down her
book and checked her cell phone. No text messages. No calls.

Where are you
Michael McHeney?
She glanced at her phone again and groaned.
Why didn’t
I ask for his cell phone number?

She had been so
nervous; she hadn’t thought about how to contact Michael. Sue picked up her
book in frustration and held it up to hide her mumbling. She had been waiting
for Michael for half an hour. Had he ditch her? Should she call Katie? Yes,
that’s what she should do. That’s what she should have done.

No, no, no!
She should have taken the shuttle to get a rental car and get to her hotel by
herself. That’s what she should have done.

Be nice Sue
.
Without Michael’s help, she would have more to do than she could handle in two
weeks. She was maid of honor and so far hadn’t been a good one. Her dress had
been purchased online by Katie and altered based on her height measurements.
The karaoke party had been planned by Michael because Katie had declared she
didn’t want a bachelorette party, and Sue didn’t have time to plan anything
else. Honorary bridesmaid, Tony was helping as well, but Katie had insisted
Michael help her with the party. Katie had emailed her that Michael was picking
her up from the airport instead of Tony.

She knew Katie
was making a blatant attempt at match making. Yet, she couldn’t bring herself
to deny her friend this attempt. Perhaps, she wanted something to work out as
well. Perhaps, it was time to live again, to open up, to move on. Perhaps, by
some miracle, she could love another man.

Another
possibility.

Sue’s cell phone
rang as she was about to dial Katie’s number and she answered the call.
“Hello,” she greeted into the receiver. The gentleman who was just talking to
her turned to look her way. “Hello?”

“Sue?” the caller
asked.

“This is she.”
Funny, she could have sworn the man looking at her was talking to her. “May I
ask who’s calling?”

“Michael,” the
caller said. As he said this, the man she was watching started to make his way
back to her.

“Where are you?”
Sue asked, her gaze still upon the man.

“At the airport,”
Michael replied. “H.ave you decided what team you are on?”

“I’m afraid I
don’t have an answer for you yet,” Sue said with a grin. “Why? Which team are
you?”