by Maggie Way
“Daddy’s friend just had to go back to her home. She isn’t missing,” Corey finally said.
Approaching quietly, a young woman knelt down beside Corey. “Hi, my name’s Beth. We have a playroom down the hall,” she said. “Would you like me to take Michael and Sasha to play for a while?”
Relief slackened Corey’s shoulders. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Michael and Sasha towed Beth away, excited at the prospect of toys. Corey and John watched them go. The rest of the set was thankfully empty. In the silence, the weight of everything that had just happened crushed John into the couch. He sank down under the pressure and closed his eyes against another round of tears. Even the joy of finding his wife and children wasn't enough to dull the pain of losing Gretchen. He wasn't sure that pain would ever leave him completely. He didn’t really want it to.
“Are you okay, Alex?” Corey asked.
John opened his eyes to see her looking at him with concern in her expression. “It’s going to take some getting used to being called Alex again,” he said. Alex. He had his name back. He had his old life back. Was it wrong for him to not want to give up the new life he had found quite so fast? There was so much good in that life, too. Was John gone forever?
“I…” Corey started. Her lip trembling, she looked away from him. Seeing her so upset brought another wave of pain to John’s battered heart. Bringing her close to him, John held her against his chest as he stroked her hair. He had missed her so much. Even without knowing who she was or whether she still loved him, his heart had yearned for her.
“Did I do the right thing?” Corey asked.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“You were happy with her,” she said. “You loved her.”
She said “loved her”, like it was already over. He still loved Gretchen. Corey didn’t need to hear that. Swallowing his own pain, he tried to lessen hers. “I was happy with Gretchen, and I did love her,” he said, pausing when Corey sucked in a quick breath, “but there was still something missing. I had given up hope of anyone ever finding me, but I knew at least at one point someone in this world had loved me.”
Corey closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asked.
Was he sure? Yes. Did that make it any easier? Not at all.
“Yes,” he said. “I want to go home with you and the kids.”
“But you still love Gretchen.”
She needed to know and he couldn’t lie to her. “Yes, I still love her.”
“How can you just give her up then?” Corey asked.
John thought what she really wanted to know was whether or not he was going to be able to give himself back over to her, or if he was secretly going to be wishing he were back with Gretchen the whole time. Fear and disappointment had probably been her life for the past year. John couldn’t blame her for asking, but he wasn't sure he knew how to explain why that wouldn’t happen. He didn’t know himself. He only knew that as hard as it was to watch Gretchen walk away, he would let her go and never regret his choice.
“Gretchen saved my life. She took me in when I had no one, and she gave me a new life. I’ll love her for that for the rest of my life,” he said, “but we both knew from the beginning that everything we had together could end the second my old life caught back up to me. Maybe we were both secretly prepared for that to happen.”
Corey nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. She had probably just spent a year of her life having people doubt her husband would ever come back to her. Hesitating now made sense. She was strong enough to survive John’s disappearance, but after having been through so much it would be hard to open her heart back up if she thought it was going to be destroyed again.
“Corey, I gave you my heart ten years ago in the middle of a snowstorm when we were twenty years old. And even though I disappeared, you never really lost it. Gretchen was just taking care of it for a while,” John said. “I can’t promise you that after today I won’t think of Gretchen or my time with her again, but I can promise you I will never leave you again, not for Gretchen, not for anything. I’m so sorry I put you through all of this. Can you ever forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive, Alex. I never thought I would see you again. I thought you were dead,” she said. “Even if it means I’ll have to share your heart with another woman for the rest of my life, it’s worth it to have you back. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Corey,” he said. “And I’m glad you found me.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Worth It
The trip home was long and horrible. Gretchen cried nearly the entire way. It took the flight attendants on the flight from New York to Dallas a good hour before they stopped asking her what was wrong and whether she needed anything. It only took the flight attendants on the flight from Dallas to Albuquerque about five minutes. One of them had watched the Today Show that morning and knew who Gretchen was. She kindly ushered Gretchen to an empty seat in first class and brought her a pillow and blanket along with a box of tissues.
The last leg of the flight back home was aboard a tiny plane that had only one flight attendant who stayed in her seat the entire thirty minute flight. There were only a handful of other passengers on the plane, and they all left Gretchen alone. She was grateful for their lack of concern.
Climbing down the steps and onto the tarmac, the dry, cool air of the high desert hit Gretchen and told her she was home. The day had started out so wonderfully, and ended so horribly, but at least she was home. Gretchen paused a few steps from the airplane and thought about that word, home. New Mexico had been her home before ever meeting John, but it felt different without him. The idea of walking into an empty house still filled with his recipes, clothes, and memories was torturous.
But Gretchen kept walking.
Reaching into her pocket for her cell phone, she turned it on and saw another seven missed calls from Desi and three from her parents. That was only in the last two hours. Combined, Gretchen had thirty missed calls from people wanting to check on her. She didn’t want to talk to any of them yet. Her mom probably thought she was slipping back into the crippling depression she had experienced after Steve. She was undoubtedly convinced she was going to call her any moment and tell her she was coming home to sleep on their couch.
Yes, Gretchen wanted to crawl into bed for a few days and eat her weight in chocolate, but she wouldn’t self-destruct again. In the morning, she would call Desi and her mom and do her best to convince them she was still sane, but for the time being Gretchen wanted to be left alone. Pulling out the handle of her carryon, Gretchen started across the tarmac toward the airport, wishing the building was big enough for a covered terminal entrance.
A gust of wind knocked against her and almost tore the wrinkled envelope she had been crushing all day from her hand. Gretchen briefly contemplated letting the wind take it, but she couldn’t bear to let it go. Pressing it against her chest, Gretchen ducked her head and hurried toward the door of the airport.
The wind faded away as the door closed behind her. Staring past the four rows of hard plastic chairs in the terminal, she saw the doors leading out to the parking lot. Her car was out there somewhere. As Gretchen thought about actually getting into it and driving home, the more appealing the uncomfortable chairs looked to her. She wondered whether anyone would come and tell her to leave if she decided to just sit there for a while.
Filled with wedding plans and bits of centerpieces, her house was the last place she wanted to be. She had given John up willingly, but that didn’t erase the pain of losing him. Gretchen didn’t think she could stand facing her house quite yet. She needed someone to take her hand and show her how to survive this, but she had the lost the only person who could do that.
“Gretchen,” a voice said quietly.
Or maybe she hadn’t.
Looking up, Gretchen found the voice and managed to smile for the first time since the interview. �
��Carl, what are you doing here?” she asked.
He stood a few feet away from Gretchen, watching her. “I thought you might need a ride home.”
“My car’s right outside, though. You didn’t have to come.”
Carl smiled and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I know, but I didn’t think you should be driving after the day you’ve had. I thought you might need a friend.”
“So you watched the interview, huh?” She’d been hoping he’d been at work all day, but it wouldn’t surprise her to hear he had taken the day off just to watch it.
“Didn’t go quite the way you thought it would, I’m guessing,” Carl said.
“Not at all,” Gretchen whispered as the tears began to fall again.
That was as much as Carl could take. Closing the distance between them in two big steps, he swallowed her in a massive hug, squeezing away some of the pain with his compassion. Gretchen’s tears soaked the front of his shirt as he held her, and as they did they drew away some of her heartache. Why had she ever thought she would have to make it through this on her own?
“Let me take you home,” Carl said.
Gretchen sniffed and looked up at him. “I don’t want to go home, Carl. Not yet. I don’t think I can face it.”
Taking Gretchen’s bags from her, Carl took her hand, and said, “I made up my guest bedroom just in case you felt like that. You can stay as long as you need to.”
She leaned against him as they walked to his car. It was more than his size that supported her. His love and unquestioning friendship did more for Gretchen than anything else. She climbed into his truck and settled into the seat, still clutching the white envelope. Carl let her sit quietly as they drove, but he kept a firm grip on her hand. That would have bothered her once, but at that moment she had no desire to take her hand away.
Gretchen was huddled up on Carl’s couch before he finally let go of her, but he didn’t go far. Sitting down next to her, he pulled Gretchen into his arms and let his calming warmth soothe her spirit. For a while they just sat there. Eventually, though, Carl broke the silence.
“What’s that?” he asked, gesturing at the envelope.
She held it for a second more before handing it over to Carl. He watched Gretchen carefully as he opened the envelope and took out the single sheet of stationary. His eyes moved back and forth as he read it, but Gretchen didn’t need the letter to know what it said anymore. She had memorized it hours ago.
Gretchen,
I think I must be the only other woman in the world who knows what you’re feeling right now. When Alex disappeared last year, my heart broke. I hoped he was okay, but I feared he was dead. Knowing now that he had you to take care of him, and love him, gives me comfort.
It’s difficult to accept that the man I’ve loved for so long could fall in love with someone else, but seeing you, I can understand why he did. I only met you for a few brief minutes, but I could see the compassion and kindness in you.
Thank you so much for taking care of Alex when I couldn’t. I promise to do the same for you.
I wish you every happiness, Gretchen, and thank you from the depths of my heart for returning mine to me.
Sincerely,
Corey Turner
Carl refolded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope. “She sounds like a nice woman,” he said.
“She is,” Gretchen agreed tearfully.
Setting the letter aside, Carl folded his arms around Gretchen again. “Was it worth it?” he asked.
“Loving John?” she asked. Carl nodded. A small smile crept onto Gretchen’s lips. Loving John had been a risk. She’d known that from the beginning. Even having lost the bet, she had still won something in the end. Gretchen wouldn’t trade her year with John for anything. It hurt now, but she couldn’t feel the pain of losing if she hadn’t had something to lose in the first place.
“Yes,” she said, “it was worth it.”
Leaning down, Carl kissed her forehead. His lips made her skin tingle and she felt a sliver of hope enter her heart. “I’m worth the risk, too, you know?”
“I know you are, Carl,” she said. “I know you are.”
It would take Gretchen a while, but she knew she would risk her heart again for love. She just needed a little time. Luckily, patience was one of Carl’s best qualities.
John and Gretchen’s stories will continue in Memory’s Edge: Part 2, as they try to move on with their lives separately, which proves more difficult than either of them expect.
About the Author
DelSheree Gladden was one of those shy, quiet kids who spent more time reading than talking. Literally. She didn't speak a single word for the first three months of preschool, but she had already taught herself to read. Her fascination with reading led to many hours spent in the library and bookstores, and eventually to writing. She wrote her first novel when she was sixteen years old, but spent ten years rewriting and perfecting it before having it published.
Native to New Mexico, DelSheree and her husband spent several years in Colorado for college and work before moving back home to be near family again. Their two children love having their cousins close by. When not writing, you can find DelSheree reading, painting, sewing and trying not to get bitten by small children in her work as a dental hygienist. DelSheree has several bestselling young adult series, including "Invisible" which was part of the USA Today Bestselling box set, "Pandora." The “Date Shark Series” is her first contemporary romance series, now joined by her first romantic comedy, “The Crazy Girl’s Handbook,” and the comedic “Eliza Carlisle Mystery Series.”
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For the Love of Chocolate
Superstitious Brides #2
by Susan Ann Wall
Chapter One
“You’re doing it wrong.”
The man’s voice was a smooth caress on Maddie Carson’s sweaty skin, but she ignored the heat and the words, focusing instead on the clock. Thirty-five seconds left to finish this sprint on the rower. She wasn’t concerned with technique, just…needed…to finish.
Maddie didn’t meet his gaze in the mirror, but shifted her eyes from the clock to his reflection. As usual, he didn’t wear a shirt. Hot Shirtless Guy was the nickname she’d given him. It seemed tacky to work out at a fitness club without a shirt, but the view was enough to motivate Maddie to keep coming in three days a week at 5:00 in the morning, so she tried not to judge. Plus, she was fascinated by the double horseshoe tattoo on his chest. If he ever asked why she stared at him so much, the tattoo would be her excuse.
Ten seconds. No, don’t put the shirt on.
Running out of steam, Maddie finished with a few hard pulls and cooled down with a few softer pulls. “How am I doing it wrong?” she asked as Hot Shirtless Guy — unfortunately not shirtless anymore — continued to gawk at her reflection.
Why oh why did she have to wear spandex? And why wasn’t her shirt ten sizes too big to hide the evidence of eating too many brownies?
“You’re not pulling it back far enough. You can increase the effectiveness of the workout by pulling it back more.”
Maddie did as instructed, pulling the bar all the way to her chin. Maybe proper technique would work off all that excess fat faster.
“That’s too high. You want to do it lower.”
She’d rather be eating a triple chocolate brownie (with milk, so it could qualify as breakfast), but that’s what got h
er into this mess, so she took the man’s direction and lowered the bar. Given the way he looked, Maddie trusted he knew what he was talking about.
“Now that’s too low.”
Maddie raised her brow. Too high. Too low. Geesh, the only thing left was the in-between, and her breasts made that a challenge. How could she pull the bar back with her double D’s occupying all that real estate?
His lips were pursed in a tight line. “You want to aim for your nipples.”
As if an invitation, her nipples tightened and tingled, the sensation swirling around the large curves, heading south in a rush. Thank goodness for padded sports bras. Hot Shirtless Guy didn’t need evidence of her attraction.
Maddie wasn’t the obedient type, but she pulled the bar to her nipples, nearly cringing at the contact. She did not want to be aroused at the gym, but couldn’t keep from wondering if Hot Shirtless Guy was this suggestive in the bedroom.
“Good. That’s good. Now harder.”
Oh, she wanted to pull harder, but not on the rower. Somehow, her motivation returned, despite the lack of bare skin showing on his torso. The man’s approving smile and head nod set Maddie’s will on fire as she hit the highest RPM she’d ever managed on this evil machine.
Figuring he would leave now that his work was done, Maddie gave the rower a few more firm tugs before cooling down once again. She released her feet from the straps and stood, tripping over the rower’s frame.
Hot Shirtless Guy caught her, but not before she head-butted his chest. His strong grip on her arms inspired another surge south. Maddie tried to right herself by planting her hands on his pecs. As the strong muscles flexed under her fingers, she jumped back, tripping over the rower again, landing on her ass.
