AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How do people that get divorced remain friends with their ex? Right now, the thought is unfathomable.
Matt doesn’t wait long before he leaves the room without so much as agoodbyeorhave a nice lifeorfuck off.I wasn’t expecting to feel such a wide range of emotions. A part of me grieves for the woman that was so madly in love with Matthew Wells, but for the most part I feel relief. Relief to be free from such an unhappy marriage. The shackles removed. The tears flow down my cheeks before I can even convince myself that now is not the place to cry when I hear my lawyer’s voice.
“We did it.”
I sniffle and I’m happy to see that the room has cleared out. “Cromack…John…thank you,” I whisper. “For everything,” and before I know it I am hugging my divorce lawyer in a way that I assume most young women hug their fathers. So tightly that they never want to let go and Cromack has been more of a father to me than anyone I’ve ever known.
I don’t think I want to let go.
He pulls away and stares me down, his hands on my shoulders. “You take care of yourself, okay? As fond as I am of you kid, I never want to see you in my office again, you hear me?”
I nod. “Yes, sir.”
“Good.” He smiles at me before he pulls me into another hug, and I wonder if he’s ever hugged any of his clients. “I’m going to miss you, Charley.”
“Because I made you a shit ton of money?” He pulls back again and I shoot him a knowing grin.
He chuckles. “Well, it didn’t hurt,” he nudges me before standing and pulling me to my feet, “but no. Because although I’m a lawyer and I sold my soul a long time ago, representing you made me remember all of the good that I wanted to do once upon a time. You’re a good kid, Charley. Representing you made me feel less like the asshole lawyer that’s going to hell and more like the lawyer I wanted to be in law school. The one for the people. The people that need me. That are hurting. That feel that they have no hope. You gave me back a little bit of my humanity, Charley. And I’ll never forget that.”
The tears that I was hoping would stop, are now in full force hearing Cromack’s words, and I nod. “Stay in touch, okay? Keep me informed about Beth.” I giggle as I mention his fifteen-going-on-twenty-five year old daughter.
He groans. “She’s grounded for the rest of her life.”
“Take it easy on her, being a teenage girl is hard. Hell being a twenty-nine year old girl is hard.”
He rolls his eyes but I see the understanding behind them. The eyes that tell me, he gets it. “You’re living breathing proof that tough times don’t last. Toughpeopledo.” The words resonate with me and I find myself in his arms again. “I’ll be on the lookout for your ‘Save the Date.’”
I gasp as I pull away from him. “John!”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Oh, I’m sorry, are we being diplomaticnow?” He goes back to his seat and begins to pull out a folder assuredly for his next big case. “Go find that boy of yours and tell him the good news,” he says, putting on his glasses. “Go start the rest of your life, you deserve it.”
I’m barely through Will’s front door before I’m sprinting, dropping my purse, kicking off my shoes, and tearing through the house, moving up the stairs two at a time. We had agreed that I would come back here after, Will having cleared his entire day so we couldcelebrateproperly. I pass a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice as I make my way to his office. I open the door and his head snaps up, a smile crossing his face instantly.
“You’re early,” he says getting up out of his seat and making his way across the room towards me. I take a few steps, closing the gap between him and then I’m in his arms my legs immediately wrapping around his waist. And Iloseit. I’m squeezing him so hard, in hopes that he’ll tether me to the ground as the end of the storm finishes around me. I can barely hear his words over my sobs but I feel him stroking my back and the soothing sounds of his voice in my ear.
“Will,” my voice breaks as I cry into his neck, “I’m…free,” I sniffle and I almost can’t breathe at how vulnerable I feel in this moment.Will is the only man I can show this to. The only one that I can let my guard completely down with and still feel safe, protected, loved.
“How do you feel?” he asks in my ear. My cries settle slightly allowing me to hear his words.
My face, still buried in his neck, my eyes still squeezed shut, I manage to choke out the only word I’ve been feeling since I’ve dotted the I in Pierce. “Relief,” I squeeze him tighter. “Don’t mistake my tears for anything else.”
“I didn’t. This is normal.” I feel him move. I wonder where we are going but I don’t care.I’d go anywhere with this man.I feel him lower us, and then the plush couch underneath my shins allowing me to straddle him. I finally pull away from him allowing myself the first look at this gorgeous man since he scooped me into his arms.
“I love you. Thank you…for everything,” I whisper. “You…saved me.”
He smiles at me and I feel my heart skip a beat at how genuine it is. “Charley,” he whispers, rubbing a hand over my face as I wipe the tears from my eyes. “I am so proud of you. I might have thrown you the life raft, butyousaved you. You got yourself out and you’ll be stronger for it,” he tells me.
I giggle through my tears. “You’re shrinking me.”
“Comes with being in love with a doctor,” he shrugs. “You’ll eventually get used to it.” He winks and it reminds me and it ignites something within.
“Can’t wait.” I want him.Need him.Now.
“I love you so much and I can’t wait to start our life together,” he cups my face and then his lips are on mine.
I pull back, slightly, my lips still resting against his. “Do you want to go to your room and…start it?” I ask, knowing that Will and I both need to be as close as possible to each other. He picks me up and carries me to his bedroom, his lips never leaving mine once. His mouth is loving, worshipping. A kiss of a devoted man accepting me as I finally give my whole self to him. I thought I had given him everything already, but something about being completely free adds something to the kiss. Knowing I don’t have to look over my shoulder, that there’s no more lies, no more secrets, no more hiding. That we can have dinner tonight out in the open. It does something to me. And through that kiss I tell him.
I’m yours. Completely. Always.
