Second Chance at Forever (Forever Book 2) (36 page)

“Marsha.”

“Yes, Peaches.”

“What’s his address in New York?”

I said a tearful goodbye to Marsha, with the promise of seeing her soon along with Freddy. I was thinking of my daughter. Riley was so upset when she left here this morning. She hadn’t returned any of my text messages, but she was in school, so I hoped to speak with her when she got home. Before leaving for Johns Hopkins to meet with Samuel, I phoned Walker. He answered on the second ring.

“Reese, are you alright?” His voice was laced with anxiety.

“Hi,” I said, barely above a whisper. “I’m okay, Walker. I’m sorry I didn’t call you back sooner.” I heard him sigh on the line, probably counting to ten.
Oh, my mercurial man.

“Reese, I’ve been worried, to say the least, and then you released your guard? What were you thinking?”

“Walker, knowing you I’m sure your watchdog is nearby. You don’t have to worry about me. Samuel is not going to hurt me.”

“Well, that remains to be seen, Reese. He already has more than once, and I’m here in California, where I can’t protect you. I need to know that you’re safe.”

“I am, Walker. Please believe me. I will call you later this evening once I return from meeting with Samuel.”

“What! Why are you meeting with Samuel? You don’t owe him anything, Reese. Let the lawyers handle this. He’s already been served with papers.”

“What? How? I didn’t even have a chance to phone my attorney yet.”

“Reese, I had my lawyer contact yours, and it’s a joint effort.”

“Walker, how could you do that without talking with me first? He was meeting with Riley this morning for breakfast. If she was present while he was served divorce papers, it’s no wonder why she’s ignoring my texts right now.”

“Reese, did you really think I was just going to sit back and do nothing? You know me better than that. I only expedited what you already had in motion. Please don’t be angry with me. I’ve been going crazy wondering how you’re doing, and you not keeping in touch with me like you promised you would is driving me to the brink of insanity.”

“I’m sorry, Walker.”

“Reese, I don’t want your apologies. I just want you. Please tell me that you’re coming to California?”

“Walker, you know I can’t do that right now. Riley is still in school, and it will be weeks before I go anywhere. I also have to make another trip to New York, then down to Georgia.”

“I’ll come with you, Reese.”

“Walker, I need to do this on my own. You and I still have so much to talk about, but before I do that, I need to make things right with Freddy and Nana.”

“How long will you be gone for?”

“I haven’t booked anything yet. I still need to speak with Samuel, and then work things out with Riley. I won’t go anywhere without calling you first. I promise you that I am not running.”

“Okay. I trust you baby, and I’ll be here waiting for you.”

Our call ended, but somehow I knew I would be seeing my Walker sooner rather than later.

“GOOD AFTERNOON, MRS. BRIGGS.”

“Hello, Gretchen. Is he in?”

“He is, and he’s waiting for you.”

I’m sure he is
, I muttered under my breath. Taking in a few deep breaths before entering Samuel’s vast office, he looked up from behind his desk with sad eyes staring back at me.

“Come in, Reese, and please close the door behind you.”

“Gretchen, please hold all my calls until I say otherwise.”

“Yes sir.”

“Please, Reese, have a seat. I won’t bite. As if seeing our daughter this morning wasn’t hard enough to take, I return here to my office only to be served with divorce papers. Divorce papers. Really, Reese? My side of the bed is probably still warm, and you serve me with this crap!”

“Samuel, you should have never been served with those papers today. It was a mistake on my lawyer’s office.”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Reese. I know this was him. So is this is how your new life is going to be? He’s going to control you and make decisions for you? This is not about him, Reese. This is our marriage, our life together. How could you allow this to happen? It’s bad enough that I had to be totally decimated to my very core by flying home with the happy lovers, but now he goes and does this? Did you fuck him in our bed the minute I left?”

“No, Samuel, I didn’t. He’s in California, and yes, he was the one that had these papers served to you. But I was the one that had them drawn up weeks ago.”

“Why, Reese? Why are you doing this to us?”

“Samuel, I’m saving us, before it gets so bad that we will have nothing left. I decided on this long before Walker ever re-entered my life. I know you don’t want to believe that, but it’s the truth. Our marriage is simply over, and it’s been over for quite a while now. You just won’t come to terms with it. I tried talking with you, but you never listen.”

“I’m listening now.”

“Samuel, please let me go.”

“How do I do that, Reese? How do I do that? You’ve been my entire world since the day I treated you in the hospital. I loved you then, and I still love you now. I will go to counseling. I’ll take a leave of absence from the hospital. I will do anything to save our marriage. Please Reese, give me that much.” Getting up from behind the desk, Samuel kneeled before me, taking my hands in his own. “Please Reese, don’t leave me. I love you.”

“I love you too, Samuel, but I’m in love with Walker. He never left my heart. I can’t walk away from him this time.”

“You love him more? Has it always been this way, Reese? Have I been blind all of these years? What makes you think you can make a marriage with him work, while ours didn’t? I have devoted my entire life to you and our daughter. If you can so easily just erase me from your life, then get the hell out! You’re right, baby. You don’t deserve me.”

“Sam…”

“What, Reese? What can you possibly say to me? Clearly you don’t love me, you don’t want our marriage, or our family. Why the hell are you still here?”

“I’m so sorry, Samuel. I was just hoping that we could remain friends for Riley’s sake.”

“Oh you’re concerned for Riley now? Where was your concern when she had to witness me being served with these papers? She cried practically the entire time we were together. She may have given you the impression that she’s okay with all of this, but she’s not. You have irrevocably destroyed her faith in you. Believe me, Reese, I’m no better. She is not going to soon forget me assaulting you. I have repeatedly apologized to our daughter, but I broke something in us when I did that to you, and now with you ending our marriage, you finished it off.”

“Samuel, I will speak with Riley when I get home. She is not lost to us. I swear to you that will never happen.”

“It already has, Reese, but you do whatever you have to do. God knows I’m done trying to change your mind. I have my pride, woman, and if you want out so bad, then take it. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“Samuel,” I called out.

He didn’t answer me. His back was turned away from me. I got up from where I’d been sitting, and I wrapped my arms around his back, willing him to turn around. He struggled against his pain, a pain I caused him. He turned and held me in his arms. I whispered into his chest, “Please don’t hate me, Samuel.” His arms tightened around me, as he kissed the top of my head. He was breathing heavy, as his chest rose up and down.

“I’m mad as hell at you, but I can never hate you, Reese. I’ll always love you. I hate the fact that he will be holding you instead of me. I hate him for being the man that has your heart when I so desperately tried. I guess I never stood a chance to make you happy.”

“Samuel, that’s not true. Please don’t belittle what we have shared. I don’t know what will happen once I walk out of that door, but I have to try. I will never forget what you have meant to me in my life, and no matter what you think, you will forever be my friend.” I gave him a chaste kiss on his lips and slowly made my way to the door.

“Goodbye, Samuel.”

“Goodbye, Reese.”

I cried the entire way home. I had never wanted to run away more than I did right then, but that would be the coward’s way out, and god knows I’d already done that. I needed to get to Riley and beg her for forgiveness. I never wanted her hurt in any of this. I’m just praying she would give me the chance to really talk with her.

Her car was in the garage, that’s a good sign she’s home. I quietly walked around and searched for her, and saw light coming from under Samuel’s office door. I slowly entered the dimly lit room and found Riley curled up on her father’s couch near the fireplace. Riley was surrounded by crumpled up Kleenex and her homework. Although I knew she had been crying, she looked peaceful at the same time. I pushed her hair away from her face, as she slowly stirred and woke up. She took one look at me and began to cry again. My instincts kicked in and immediately went to hold her.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry.”

“I can’t help how I feel, mom. Daddy’s heart is broken, and our family is no more.”

“Now, Riley, you listen to me, and listen very carefully. Our family may be changing, but it is not broken beyond repair. I know you’re young, and you believe in the happily ever after. I still do, but sadly it’s not with your father. I will always love and care about him. My heart has always belonged to someone else, and I’m done denying it.”

I continued, “You, Miss Riley Taylor Briggs, are our daughter, and we love you with all our hearts. Your father and I never want to cause you one day of unhappiness, but I can’t always shield you from life’s tough times that may hurt once in a while. It sounds like a cliché, but it’s true, honey. On a good day, life can be complicated.”

Riley dried her eyes and gathered up all of her tissues. She looked at me with the same sad eyes as Samuel did. They were each other’s match, but at least she’s here at home where she belonged.

“I saw your father today. I know about the divorce papers being served to him, and I know you had to witness it. Again, I’m sorry.”

“Why mother? Couldn’t you have waited a few days? A week perhaps. All daddy and I wanted to do was enjoy a nice moment together to talk. The processor guy was a jerk; he looked like he enjoyed his job a bit too much.”

“I have a phone call in to my lawyer’s office to figure out how and why they were served without my knowledge.” I lied to Riley, knowing full well who was responsible for this. I didn’t even know if I was angry, since he gave me the push that I needed. “Riley, I don’t expect you to understand right now, but in time I hope you can come to terms with the decisions I made.”

“I don’t know how I can do that, mom. You did this all on your own without ever considering how I felt about it.”

“That’s not true, Riley. You have been the driving force behind every single decision I have ever made. I have without a doubt always put your needs above my own. This is what parents do. You’re eighteen years old and about to go off to college to begin what will be probably be the most exciting time of your life. Look what already happened in New York for the few days we were there. Riley, you didn’t even blink twice. That city lit a fire within you, and you took off right from the starting gate. I felt the exact same way when I arrived in New York for the first time.”

I held her hand as I continued, “We are not so different, my daughter. You’re in love, I was in love. You’re beginning a new chapter in your life, I did the same thing when I left Georgia. You always have a choice, Riley. The difference between our stories is that my choice was taken away from me. I suffered unmeasurable amount of pain that I hope and pray you will never experience in your life.”

“Why didn’t you fight mom? You just rolled over for Jackson’s grandfather like an obedient dog. I just don’t get it.”

“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know. After all of these years, I still don’t understand why Phillip Reed hated me so much, but he’s gone now and can’t hurt me anymore. In the end, I won, Riley, because after all that he did to Walker and me, I now have a second chance with the man I have loved all my adult life. And if it’s truly meant to be, then we will make it this time.”

“Only my father loses, right mom?” Riley said, letting go of my hand.
Ouch.