Taking Chances by Ann Omasta (books for 7th graders .txt) 📕

I didn’t go far. I discovered a small, lakefront motel that was about a half-hour drive up the coast from Harbor Shores. Marta, the friendly, matronly woman behind the front desk, gave me a rate for the week and an actual metal key for my room’s door. It had been a while since I had seen one of those, and I knew instantly that I had found the right place to stay.

My room was small, but clean and functional. I unpacked my travel bag and took a walk along the lakeshore. I found some colorful rocks along the way and placed them in the pocket of my hoodie. The wind off the lake was clean and refreshing. If I couldn’t sort out my feelings in this wonderful spot, then I was a hopeless mess.

I spent the week walking the shoreline, eating in the diner two doors down from my motel, and simply relaxing. It was nice not to have anywhere to be at a certain time. Well, almost no place to be.

I had settled into the habit of having tea with Marta in the lobby of the motel a few times a day. She was a lovely woman who was proud of her numerous grandchildren, and I had seen pictures of all ten of them.

Marta had been extremely tactful so far and only asked polite questions about where I was from and my occupation, but today it seemed that her curiosity was getting the better of her. When I refilled our tea mugs and returned to sit on the lobby sofa with her, I was expecting to hear more about one of her grandchildren’s latest antics, but instead she patted my knee and asked, “What are you running from, Sweet Girl?”

“I’m not running,” I started to fib, but the look she gave me told me that she could see right through me. “Okay, I am running because I’m trying to stall having to make a decision between two men.”

“That’s a good problem to have.” She chuckled as she said it, but then she turned serious. “I had two men who wanted me once, and I’ve wondered every day since then if I ended up with the right one.”

Her words surprised me. I had expected some hogwash about following your heart and knowing the right answer deep down. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life regretting my decision, or even questioning it.

“How did you decide between them?” I asked her. I was truly curious about how she made her decision, and I was hoping for a better solution than the flip a coin or eeny-meeny-miney-mo options that I had been considering.

She answered me sadly, “I waited so long that one of them dropped out of the race. Not making the decision became my decision, because I only had one option left.”

She was deep in thought when she said, “I loved my Hal.” I already knew that Hal was her late husband. She had tears in her eyes as she continued. “We had a wonderful life and family together. I wish that I had chosen him, though, instead of just taking him because he was the last man standing. He deserved to be my pick.”

She gave me some advice then. “Don’t wait too long, Honey. Make a decision and stick with it. Let the one you choose know without a doubt that he is the one you want.” I nodded at her. Her suggestion made sense, and it was what I wanted to do more than anything. It was just such an enormous, important choice, and I didn’t want to screw it up.

I suddenly wondered about the other man. Did he still pine for Marta? Had he moved on and built a life for himself? Was he happy? As if reading my mind, Marta said, “Danny, the other boy, got married shortly after Hal and I did. I think people call him Dan now, but he’ll always be my Danny.”

I smiled, trying to picture a young Marta with Hal and Danny fighting for her attention. The similarities between our stories were striking, and I had to know if she felt like fate had stepped in or if she could have been happy with either man.

“Do you think you and Danny would have had a good life together, if things had worked out differently?”

She considered for a moment before answering. “Yes,” she finally answered, nodding. “We would have had a happy family life together, but things turned out the way they were meant to be.”

What was left of the tea in our mugs had gone tepid, so I rose to take them to the sink. After I washed them, I turned to ask Marta a question before going back to my room. “Are you sure Danny is still married?” At her perplexed look, I continued. “His wife could have passed away. They could be divorced. It’s probably worth checking into.”

She sat there for a moment, pondering that before responding. “Yes, I think that might be worth looking into.” We grinned at each other, and I walked outside to return to my room. I had a good feeling that Marta might soon be getting her chance with the one that got away.