Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(29)
As soon as I got home I headed straight for the shower. For about thirty minutes I relished in the feel of hot water spraying over my skin. I wondered what it would be like to make love to Galen in the shower. That would need to be something I mentioned to him the next time I saw him.
Once my shower was done, I decided on the popcorn dinner and a movie. I didn’t know how long Galen was going to be in his meeting, but it worked out perfectly. Having some Korinne time right then was what I needed. As I settled on the couch I heard my phone beeping in my purse. I had completely forgotten I had a missed call. Surely if it was important they would have called back. The number was not familiar to me, but they did leave a message. After dialing voicemail, a man’s voice that I didn’t recognize came over the line.
“Good evening, Mrs. Anders, I’m Richard Carmichael. I believe we have met before, but in case you don’t remember I was a friend and colleague of your late husband, Dr. Carson Anders. I’m head of the trustees over at the hospital and I’m calling because I wanted to invite you to a special reception in honor of Carson, along with some of our other valuable doctors. The reception is next Thursday night at seven o’clock. We really hope to see you there. Take care, Mrs. Anders.”
Dropping the phone, I sank onto the couch and tried desperately to suck in a good breath. I couldn’t believe this was happening again. Grief washed over me, and just when I thought I could move on I got reminded again of what I’d lost. The tears came at their own accord and I let them flow. I was beginning to feel happy and I thought those feelings were genuine. Was it just a mask that had me believing that I was happy? A delusion, a mask of delusion that covered up everything that I’d left unfinished in my life. I still hadn’t been to mine and Carson’s home or even to the graveyard where he was buried. The realization that I still hadn’t come to terms with my grief felt like a knife straight through my heart. By no means was I weak woman, but putting off my past was not going to help my future. Until I could deal with my past, how could I ever fully move on?
Galen had been a wonderful distraction, but he wouldn’t be able to fix what was broken inside me, only I could. I needed to find the courage and deal with my problems on my own. If I kept putting it off it would keep coming back when something reminded me of Carson. Would Galen understand if I needed time alone to figure this out and get my affairs in order? I just needed him to understand and give me some space while I got things taken care of.
My mind felt like a whirlwind of emotions. I loved Carson and I knew I always would, but now I was in love with Galen. Carson would’ve wanted me to be happy, but I couldn’t seem to keep the guilt at bay. It kept coming back like I was doing something wrong. Galen wanted to be there for me and he’d also been patient in letting me cope, but to move on I needed to do it myself. Please let him understand, I thought.
Chapter Twelve
“Rebecca, has Korinne called or left a message?” I asked.
“No, is something wrong?” she responded.
I checked my phone again to make sure I didn’t just miss the call and that I was overreacting, but looking through the calls she wasn’t there. “I hope not. I called her several times last night and she never answered.”
“Well, maybe she was asleep?” Rebecca assumed. Thinking about last night it was a possibility since it was really late when I called. The meeting ran over and I had no chance to call her sooner.
I nodded, hoping my reasoning was right. “That’s probably what it was,” I agreed. Rebecca looked at me like she didn’t believe my words, and truthfully, I didn’t think I believed them either. Something felt like it was wrong, and I didn’t think I would be able to last long not knowing if she was okay.
The day dragged on and still nothing from Korinne. I called her client for the day and they raved about how they were really happy with their meeting with her. She obviously was doing just fine, which made me wonder if she was avoiding me. Hastily picking up my phone, I decided to call her again. That made probably the tenth time I’d called her since last night. The phone rang and rang, but no answer. When her voicemail picked up, I made the decision to leave a message. Once the beep sounded I started recording my message. “Korinne, I’ve called you numerous times and I really wish you would call me back. I need to know that you’re okay and that I haven’t done anything to upset you. Whatever is going on, you have to know I’ll help you through it. I don’t think I deserve being put in the dark. Please call me back.”
I slammed the phone shut and sat it on my desk. If she didn’t call back by that night I was going to pay her a visit. I didn’t want to come off as being overprotective, but I had no idea why she’d be avoiding me and I wanted answers.
The rest of the day passed by in a haze, and with my thoughts and feelings being everywhere I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I decided to head home early and work out my frustrations in the gym by giving my punching bag a brutal beating. Needless to say, my knuckles were bruised and bloody after that workout.
After showering and getting ready for dinner, the call finally came. When I saw it was Korinne calling I let out a sigh of relief even though I was pissed from her ignoring me. “Korinne, what’s going on?” I barked out.
She sighed, her voice sounding sad and distressed, “I’m sorry I didn’t call you earlier.”