Valentine "Val" Green is a forty-year-old divorced mom of two who teaches kindergarten in her small hometown of Camden, South Carolina. She swears she will never find love again living in a small town until the day she bumps into substitute teacher Jack Dean.
Jack is a single dad of a seven-year-old daughter, Rose, who he shares custody with his ex-wife Jane. Jane decides she doesn't want to be a mother and Jack eventually gets her parental rights taken away and gets full custody of Rose. Jack owns his own construction company, which puts him and Val in contact with Val's ex-husband and wife, Wilson and Elise Montgomery, as Wilson is an electrical sub-contractor who Jack uses on his building projects.
Val's two daughters, Kathryn (Kate), age twenty-one and Elizabeth (Lizzie), age fifteen, live primarily with her, but Kate and Lizzie stay with their dad on occasion. Lizzie doesn't have a good relationship with her dad because he never wanted a second child and told her as much. Kate is the apple of his eye and can do no wrong.
Lizzie was only two when Val left her now ex-husband, so seeing Val with Jack caused Lizzie great anxiety. She struggles with her mom dating another man and feels that she will be ignored even more since Val will have a man in her life. Little do they all know that Lizzie's insecurities are the least of their worries, as Rose has more insecurities when it comes to her dad showing any sort of interest to another woman and makes no bones about her dislike of Val.
To add to the crazy mix that is the Green/Montgomery household, Kate tells her mom that she is pregnant. Kate asks if her boyfriend, John, can move in with them so he can be around for all the pregnancy firsts and to be there for her and the baby. Val agrees and makes the adjustment to having a man in the house again.
Val and Jack have a few dates, but Val ends things with Jack because of Rose, as she didn't want to cause any further anxiety for Rose. Unfortunately, Jack didn't see that Rose had an issue with Val and didn't understand why she blew him off. Val felt it would be better to just let bygones be bygones until they ran into each other again when Jack was subbing at the school.
They talk and work things out as Jack finally sees that Rose needed professional counseling. It helped that Lizzie created a bond with Rose, as they both were dealing with a parent who didn't want them and both were seeking therapy.
All is good in the world of soon-to-be grandparent, Val, when Kate's water breaks and they all head to the hospital. Val tells Lizzie to call her dad and John to call his parents while she calls Jack. Jack asks if he and Rose can come to the hospital, but Val doesn't want things to be awkward for the kids with Wilson and Elise there.
Lanter, McKinley: -
Karen Hawkins is an American author born and raised in Southwest Virginia. Throughout her childhood and adult life, she has been an avid reader. She recalls she would always find a quiet place to read and would spend hours and hours reading.
Karen is a divorced mother with two daughters, Emily and Sara. She has one granddaughter, Melanie, who is the apple of her eye. She has worked in higher education for the past twenty-seven years in many roles.
She recalls lying in bed one night, picking up a notebook, and just beginning to write. It was sometimes easy and a lot of times hard. The hardest thing was not only finding the time to write, but getting inspired. After sixteen years of writing and starting over and changing the storyline, Karen has finally finished her book. She hopes you enjoy reading Second Chances as much as she has enjoyed writing it.
Karen still resides in Southwest Virginia with her five dogs: Lulu, Elsa, Zoey, Reya, and Trixie. She enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Eric.
