Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(38)
Melissa took a sip of her tea and nodded. “Tell me about it. Well, after I caught him in bed with her it was game on.”
“Did you know he was cheating?” I asked curiously.
“I had my speculations, so one day I decided to come home early from work just to see if I could catch him, and what do you know … I did. Talk about perfect timing.”
Melissa was a firecracker in school, so I could only imagine what she did when she found out. I moved closer to her, eager to hear the rest of the story. “What did you do when you found them?”
Her lips quirked at the corner and I knew very well what that quirk meant. It was her devilish smirk, the smirk that said ‘I don’t take shit from anyone and you’re going to pay’ kind of smirk. “Well, I went around the side of the house and grabbed the water hose. Our room was just off to the side of the first level so it was easy to reach the distance once I was inside. It made me sick to hear their grunts and moans, but I busted down the door and sprayed them with ice cold water.”
I placed a hand over my mouth to stifle the laugh that tried to escape. Melissa was laughing, but I could see the hurt that still lingered in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Melissa. I know it’s not funny, but I can just imagine how terrifying you must have been. You have a temper just like me.”
She gave a small laugh. “And that is why no one messed with us in high school. Once I hosed them down, the whore ran straight out of the house bare-ass naked. It was funny watching her run around shrieking. Her husband wasn’t too happy to see her running to their house with no clothes on though.”
“Did they get divorced also?”
“Of course they did. Her husband went hysterical and threw all of her stuff out in their front lawn. Needless to say, it was the most excitement this neighborhood had seen in a long time. All right, so enough about me and my disorganized life. Tell me about you and what you’ve been up to. Are you married? Divorced?”
I took a sip of my tea before answering. Melissa smiled and waited patiently for me to speak. “I was married, but he died several months ago,” I told her.
Melissa gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh Korinne, I’m so sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
I waved her off and grinned. “It’s okay. I like talking about Carson. It used to hurt talking about him, but now I couldn’t imagine not talking about him. I miss him so much, but he’ll always be in my heart.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what happened?”
“He died in a car accident. He had worked a load of extra hours at the hospital with no sleep. It was something he liked to do and never minded it. Being a doctor was his passion. On his way home he fell asleep at the wheel and ran off into a ditch. He died that same morning.”
Tears welled up in Melissa’s eyes as she reached for my hand. “If I would’ve known I would have made sure to be there for you.”
I smiled. “Oh I know you would have, but after he died I moved to Charleston for a while to stay with my parents. I just moved back here a couple of months ago. Not being able to handle the loss, I ran away, but at last I’m finally coming to terms with it.”
“Well, you look like you’re doing great. You work for an amazing firm and you have a wonderful and creative gift.” Before she had the chance to continue my phone buzzed with an incoming text. I looked down at the screen and my heart thrummed a million times over when I saw Galen’s name pop up. He was finally home!
Galen: Pack a bag. You’re staying with me for the rest of the week.
“Ah, I would know that kind of smile from anywhere. Do tell my friend,” Melissa teased. I quickly texted Galen back.
Me: I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve missed you. I’ll see you in just a bit.
The goofy grin on my face had Melissa giggling and shaking her head. I couldn’t help but smile when I thought about Galen. “His name is Galen. He’s the owner of M&M.”
“Oh wow! Dating the boss man, huh? How did that happen?”
“I knew him in college. We dated for a while, but then I transferred to another school. I loved him then and I love him now. After Carson died I thought I would be too afraid to love again, but Galen is just … Galen. I couldn’t help but fall back in love with him. It’s scary to feel this way but I couldn’t ignore what my heart was telling me. He’s my second chance at a new life.”
“I’m happy for you, Korinne. Maybe one day I’ll have a second chance at love. It’ll be difficult to trust someone, but I guess I need to believe there is someone out there for me.”
Squeezing her hand lightly, I looked into her bright green eyes with warmth and understanding. I could see it in her gaze that she was lonely, but Melissa was strong and she would make it through this. “There is someone out there that will love you with all their heart and that will earn that trust you seek. Everyone deserves a second chance, and your time will come. I never thought I would get one, but I did, and he’s the most amazing man I know.”
Melissa stood and took our glasses. “Thank you. I truly hope you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” I teased. “You should know that.” We both laughed and said our good-byes. Happy and excited, I left Melissa’s house and headed home to pack a bag. I had a lot of time to make up for with Galen and it was going to start that night.