A Forever Kind of Love by Shiloh Walker Page B

doing.
    If he could ever find the stupid things.
    Reaching up, he tugged on the chain for the light and began the tedious task of searching for the right box.
    It was while he was hunting for the right box that he found the wrong one.
    A box full of dusty books, envelopes and junk, precariously perched, just waiting to fall. On one end, it was marked, Roger’s office and he winced as it went tumbling. Biting back a sigh, he crouched down and starting putting everything back in, only to realize it was going to be a nightmare to get things organized.
    A lot of papers had fallen out of place and he had no clue what went where, no idea if any of it was important. Muttering under his breath, he started shuffling the pages into order and that was when the pictures fell out.
    They were old.
    But there was no mistaking Zoe’s battered face. In the pictures of her face, even with her eyes averted, he could see her shame.
    What in the hell…
    A muscle jerked in his jaw.
    What in the holy fucking hell…
    Flipping them over, he stared at the date.
    All the breath was knocked right out of him.
    He knew that date—knew it well.  
    It was the day after he’d walked out of Zoe Childers—now Zoe Kirkbride’s—life.
    What in the hell…
     
     
    I want you to live.
    I want you happy.
    The cold seeped through the knees of her jeans as she crouched on the ground. There was a brightly colored autumn bouquet on Roger’s grave—from Bianca, Zoe supposed.
    “Hey, baby,” she murmured, reaching out and touching the gravestone.
    She’d been gone for six months.
    Roger had been gone for seven.
    It seemed like yesterday, and at the same time, it seemed like a lifetime.
    In those months that she’d been gone, one thing had become painfully clear.
    She loved Chase.
    Deep inside, she had never stopped loving him.
    Oh, she loved Roger…but the love she had for the two men was as drastically different as the two men were. Roger had been her rock—steady, abiding and so strong and true. She knew that she could have lived happily with him—had wanted just that, but life had kicked them both in the teeth, robbed them of that.
    Chase, though…he was her heart.
    “You knew, didn’t you?”
    There was no answer—none that she could hear, but in her heart, she felt something. A warmth. A lightness.
    There was also guilt, but that was her own doing, she knew.
    The heart didn’t exactly work in ways that could be explained, she guessed. Part of her had always loved Chase, and maybe part of her had always waited, had always hoped he’d come back. Not that she ever would have done anything, not if Roger was still here.
    “I love you,” she said, tears blurring her eyes. “I’m always going to love you.”
    Again, inside, in a way she couldn’t explain, she felt something. A warmth…a gentle touch. Like he was with her.
    It’s okay, gorgeous…go on. Be with him. We had our time together .
    Tears burned out of her eyes and she sighed, wiped them away. “It doesn’t feel like it was long enough.”
    Then, slowly, she brushed her fingers over his name, traced it with her fingers. Rising, she bent over and pressed her lips to the marble headstone. “But good things never last as long as we’d like, I guess.”
    Swallowing the knot in her throat, she said, “Thank you.” Memories rushed up and she touched her face, remembered the bruises, how battered and broken she’d been when Roger had come into her life.
    Chase had left her.
    Her mother had thrown her out.
    She had felt…worthless. Unloved, and unwanted by anybody and everybody.
    Roger changed that—Roger changed everything.  
    Roger had picked her up. Cared for her, made her realize she could be loved. That she was loved. He’d given her strength, had given her his love. Everything.
    And even now, he still gave.
    She could all but feel him smiling down on her.
    You were always stronger than you thought, Zo .
    No. She hadn’t been. Not until he’d shown her how to be