Love Again (Second Chances Series Book 2)

So much loss...

My heart is breaking into a million little peices because I know he's telling the truth. He loves me but because of his past he won't let himself be happy. So my heart breaks not only for myself but also for him.

I cup his face and through the tears lodged in the back of my throat I say, "Leo in an effort to protect your heart you have completely shattered mine." He goes to speak but I close the distance between us and place my lips gently on his. I taste both of our tears and as I pull back I fight back a sob. "I love you Leo Baker. Now and forever. I hope one day you allow yourself to be happy again."

I stand up and he grabs hold of my hand. "Emma-"

"Goodbye Leo." I pull my hand free and walk out of the room. As I make it to the door I hear something else break but I cant worry about it I have to keep moving before I completely fall apart.

Once I'm home I crawl into bed and lay there until I eventually cry myself to sleep. The next day I feel horrible, my eyes are all puffy and I have a killer headache. Wouldn't you know it, today is the day I start working at David's house. I shower and put on more makeup than normal to try and make myself look somewhat human. I throw on a fitted pinstripe blouse and fitted pants, then I throw my hair in a ponytail.

I have to go to the office for a quick meeting with a new client before I head to David's. Lily is waiting in the reception area when I walk in. She hugs me before she even says anything.

"Oliver told me Leo was being an ass. Are you okay? What happened after Ollie left?"

I start to walk back to my office and she follows me. Once I set my things down we both sit on the little sofa.

"Its over. For good. He explained why it won't work. He told me he loved me but that we can't be together. He would like to be friends."

"Bullshit." I look at her in suprise. "He's taking the easy way out. Trust me I know."

Lily does know. She went through something traumatic and instead of telling Oliver and letting him help her heal she pushed him away. They spent seven years apart before they made their way back to each other.

"I know you do Lil. And because you know then you understand why he's doing it. I can't force him to be with me. As much as I want to help him heal I can't keep getting sucked in just to have him push me away and hurt me all over again." I get up and walk to my desk. "He needs time and all I can do is give it to him. If and when he's ready he knows where to find me. Until then I have to keep living my life. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a client coming in about ten minutes and I still have to get some stuff together."

She stands up and comes around my desk to give me one last hug. "I love Em and I'm here for you. Don't forget that."

"Thank you."

The meeting with my client goes well and when I'm finished I pack up all my stuff and head to David's. When I get to his house I ring the doorbell. He's meeting me today so that we can go over everything one last time before the painters and everyone show up in about a half an hour.

"Hi Emma. Come on in." I follow him in and then he closes the door behind me. "Here, let me take that for you." He grabs my bags.

"Thank you. How are you?"

"I'm doing good. How are you? How were your holidays?" We go into the kitchen and he tells me to take a seat at the island. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Im okay for now, thank you. My holidays were good. I spent time in Boston which was nice. How about yours?"

"Good. Time with the family is always nice. You sure you're okay? You look like you've been crying."

"I'm okay. Just personal stuff that I really rather not get into right now."

"Okay. If you change you're mind I'm here."

"Thank you. That's very sweet of you considering."

He gives a little laugh.

"Considering how things ended?" I give a little nod. "Emma, that doesn't change how I felt or feel about you so if you're hurting and there's anything I do to help then I want to help."

I feel the tears burning the back of my eyes but luckily I'm able to hold them back. Him being so sweet is just another reminder that I had something great and threw it away just to have my heart torn to peices. Love is messy and cruel sometimes.

"Thank you David. You're too sweet." I clear my throat. "Should we get work?"

"Of course." So that's what we do. I keep busy over the next couple of weeks with work and doing decorating projects around my own home. I also spend a lot of time working out and running. Anything to keep busy and keep my mind off of Leo.

I spend time with the gang but Leo is never there. I know they spend time with him also, without me. It's like mom and dad got divorced and the kids spend alternate weekends with them. At some point we're going to have to be mature about it and stop making our friends uncomfortable but I'm just not there yet. The wounds are still too fresh.

It's a weeknight and I'm sound alseep when my phone wakes me. I see its my dad calling. I instantly become alert.

"Dad? What's wrong?"

"Emma, your mom's had a heart attack. They're loading her in the ambulance now. Meet us at University Hospital." As he's talking I'm already getting dressed.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. I'll meet you there. Dad, is she alert?"

"No. Hurry Emma."

"Okay. I love you dad."

"I love you too baby girl."

I hang up, slide on my shoe's and run out to the living room to grab my purse and keys. There's no traffic at this time of night so I make it to hospital quickly. I run to the ER.

"Have they brought in my mom yet? Amelia Jones."

"Yes, they just took her back now. Come through the door to your right and someone will take you back."

The door opens and I follow a nurse down the hall. We turn the corner and I see my dad standing in the hallway crying. I run past the nurse.

"Dad!" He turns when he hears me. He opens his arms and I go right to him. He holds me tight and feel his body shaking. I pull back and look at his face. "How is she?"

"Not good. Honey it's not good."  He points to the room we're standing in front of and I see them preforming CPR on her. They use the defibrillator to try and shock her heart back into rhythm, they're also administering drugs and it all seems very chaotic. In the midst of all that chaos all I see is my mother lying lifeless on the table. My beautiful sweet mom.

I know in that moment that she isn't coming back. I'll never hear her calming voice again. Or her infectious laugh. I'll never feel her arms wrap around me and make everything better. She'll never see me get married and she'll never become a grandma. Then the doctors confirm what I'm thinking.

"Time of death 3:48 AM."

My knees give out and the only reason I don't hit the floor is because my dad holds me up. We cling to each other as we both cry uncontrollably.

The doctor comes out and tells us how sorry he is for our loss and that we can have as much time with her as we would like. So we go into the room and a nurse pulls the curtain closed to give us some privacy. We walk to the side of the bed and I watch as my dad leans down and kisses his wife of thirty five years one last time.