Sally Burling met Oliver Corman in college. She was a pretty, shy, accountancy major and he was one of the most popular guys on campus, a promising football player with a brilliant future.

After graduation, Sally and Oliver married and got ready to move to New Orleans after he was offered a contract to play for a local team. But a month before the move, Oliver was in an accident.

Oliver had crossed the street against a red light and he was run over by a taxi. It was an accident that could have cost him his life, but for Oliver, it was disastrous. He lost his future, the future he’d been planning for his whole life. A torn tendon on his left ankle put a pause on his pro career, and he now had to rethink his possibilities.

Sally sat next to Oliver in his hospital room and held his hand. “Babes,” she said in her quiet, determined way. “We are going to be just fine. We lose one dream, we dream another.”

Second chances have to be earned.

Oliver closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep. It was alright for Sally to talk, she didn’t lose everything she’d been fighting for. He was angry at life, and for some reason he couldn’t explain, he was angry at Sally.

But Sally was right. She found a job in a big accounting firm, and Oliver was hired as an assistant coach for a successful high school team.

When Oliver’s parents moved to Florida, the young couple bought their old house, and after three years, Sally fell pregnant. She was in her sixth month and glowing with joy.

Sally placed her hands tenderly over her swelling belly and smiled. “Everything turned out so well,” she sighed.

Oliver exploded. He threw his glass at the wall and screamed, “It turned out well? I’m a gimp teaching snot-nosed kids with half my talent so they can get to the top. I’ve got nothing except you whining at me! It did NOT turn out well!”

After that, Oliver apologized to a sobbing Sally, but the first crack had appeared in their marriage.

After Sally gave birth to twin boys, she went back to work. She was quickly promoted and given a fabulous raise. She was earning three times Oliver’s salary and he hated it. Then he was offered a job coaching the local college’s football team.

Oliver’s situation improved, and he regained a little of his former status. He also started noticing the pretty girls who came to the games a little too much.

“I think you should be home with the children,” Oliver told Sally. “They are starting school and I don’t want them being latch-key kids.”

“But, Oliver…” Sally said. “We need the money…”

“Are you saying I can’t support my family?” Oliver asked harshly. “Am I some kind of a loser? A leach?”

“No!” cried Sally. “Of course not…”

“Don’t you love your kids?” Oliver asked. “Or is the money more important to you?”

So, of course, Sally quit her job and stayed home with the children.

Oliver and Sally’s relationship became more and more strained. Sally suspected that Oliver was flirting with the college girls, and maybe even having affairs, but she was afraid to confront him. She’d learned to be afraid of his explosive temper and sharp tongue.

Instead, she made the best of her situation, and her children were a delight, until the day Oliver kicked her out. He just walked in one day and said, “Pack your things. You’re moving out.”

“What?” Sally gasped. “I don’t understand!”

“I’m divorcing you, do you understand that?” Oliver said. “Get out.”

“The children…” Sally cried.

“You keep the children,” Oliver said. “Just get out.”

Sally packed her things and the children’s and they went to her parents’ house. But the divorce brought her one more surprise. The house was still in Oliver’s parents’ name and so she had no rights over it. She walked out of the marriage with nothing.

“You have your children,” her mother said firmly. “You have your profession to fall back on. You’ll be just fine.”

And she was. Sally found herself another job. She wasn’t earning as much, but her ability quickly earned her praise and promotion. She was back on the fast track, and this time nothing was going to derail her.

Five years later, Sally was a happy woman. She had a great job as CFO in a large company, her own house, and her children were growing up and healthy.

One Saturday morning, she decided to go shopping, so she picked up some cloth shopping bags from the kitchen and headed for her car. She popped the trunk to stow the bags and had a huge shock. There was a thin, dirty man curled up inside her trunk, fast asleep! Sally screamed and the man woke up with a start.

“Please,” he cried. “I don’t mean any harm…”

That was when Sally recognized him. “Oliver?” she gasped. “What are you doing here? Are you stalking me?”

“No!” Oliver cried. “I didn’t know this was your car…It was just so cold and it was the only trunk I could open…”

Sally was staring at him. He looked nothing like the handsome athletic man she remembered. “What happened to you?” she asked quietly.

Oliver’s eyes filled with tears. “The college… I was accused of getting the kids on steroids…” he said. “It wasn’t true but…I had to sell the house to pay a lawyer. I spent everything on legal fees and I still spent a year in jail. Now no one will hire me.”

“I see,” Sally said.

“Everything went down the drain after you left, Sally,” Oliver whined.

“I didn’t leave, Oliver,” Sally reminded him. “You kicked me out.”

Oliver looked injured and replied, “You don’t understand what I was going through. I never stopped loving you, Sal, never!”

Sally’s expression softened. “Oh, Oliver,” she said sadly. “How did we get to this?”

“Maybe…Maybe this is a second chance,” Oliver said. “We could be happy…”

Sally hesitated. Then she said, “Get in the car, Oliver. I’ll help you.”