Always - excerpts

   Rick walked through the old house listening to the familiar squeaks of the hardwood floors as he made his way to her office, hoping to find the answers to his questions. A picture of the two of them sat on her desk, their smiling young faces staring back at him. The day he met Alex, he felt like a blind man seeing for the first time, as if she had been hiding in some dark corner of his heart all along. When their hands touched, the electricity flowed between them, intense and undeniable. It broke his heart to think Alex didn’t remember what they had shared. They were in love but never lovers. She’d been afraid to tell him she was pregnant with Chris’s child but he knew. It was true what they said about women glowing during pregnancy, Alex had never been more beautiful. Instead of seeing the joy of impending motherhood in her eyes, he saw fear and uncertainty. He would gladly have raised another man’s child simply because it was a part of Alex. Seeing her smile, radiate happiness, was worth any sacrifice he had to make. His heart ached at the thought of a child with her amazing eyes and unruly hair. Would there ever be a child in their future? That was the day he realized his heart belonged to her forever. She was like the wild violet you found growing in the yard. It made no sense why it was there alone in a sea of weeds but it made you smile anyway. It needed so little to survive but something about it made you want to give it all you could. But when you dug it up and put it in the garden it withered and died. 
   He’d bought her a ring that day but never had the chance to give it to her. The ring still sat in its red velvet box in his dresser, a constant reminder of his love for her. Her memories of their love died that day with her, but Rick’s never would. As long as there was life there was hope. That thought got him out of bed every day. Now Chris was out and threatening to take her from him all over again. Neither one of them was prepared for this confrontation.