[18+] - CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Traumatized by life and grief-stricken, a young ex-soldier returns to his hometown hellbent on pursuing the woman he loves - a woman who is now someone else's fiancée.
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When she was fourteen, Love Johnson wrote a lett...
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Standing behind a tree, he watched as the coffin was lowered to the ground. He could see his mother and sister whose arms were around each other as they dabbed their faces into wet handkerchiefs.
His mother, Clary Evans, had changed over the years. Her hair was greyer, her face paler and she looked like she had lost a lot of weight. His sister, on the other hand, had grown up to be a beautiful woman with her chestnut hair that reached to her waist, a diamond-shaped face mimicking mother's, and blue-green eyes like his own. They were both dressed in black dresses for the unfateful day.
He was dressed the same — in a black suit and pants, with his hair standing as messy as ever. He had never managed to get his hair to sit in place. The strands always looked like they had been victims of someone's loving hands at night. The only time he had managed to keep them in place was during his years as a soldier, when his hair was shaved close to his head.
Jonathan swallowed a gulp, unable to look at the coffin and he instead scanned the little crowd for familiar faces. His heart jumped when he saw Mr. & Mrs. Johnson, standing to the opposite side of his family. Mrs. Jonhson looked sad and her husband looked quite disturbed. Not a surprise, considering Mr. Laurence Johnson had been good friends with Jonathan's father.
His eyes searched more frantically for a sweet face and dazzling eyes but she wasn't to be found here.
Didn't she attend his father's funeral? She should have been here. Jonathan remembered clearly how much she had adored his dad because of all the stuff he bought home for Ava and herself whenever she came around to stay.
He stopped looking when disappointment rushed to him as time passed. He stood watching from behind the tree as the grave was filled and as people departed, the Johnsons following soon after giving their condolences to his family.
The silence around the grave was evident now and the sun was soon to set.
After staring at his mother and sister for a while, he stepped from behind the tree and walked towards them. His feet felt heavier with each step, the sight of the grave cutting his heart with a knife. He didn't want to look at it. It made him feel guilty, selfish, and traumatized. He would have to avoid looking at it.
His father was gone. He wouldn't come back for Jonathan to correct his wrongs. All he had left behind was a legacy and his family for his son to protect. Jonathan couldn't correct his mistakes but he could do right by his father.
"Mom?" Jonathan called once he was standing behind them, his tall shadow falling over the grave.
The women turned to him, Clary Evans clutching her chest with a gasp when her green eyes met her son's.
"Oh, Jonathan!" she cried and fell against his chest, holding his coat in fists as she let out a sob. "Oh, Jonathan...you're back. Oh, my son..."
The tears Jonathan had been trying so hard to control now escaped his eyes. His arms moved to hold his mother close against him and he rested his cheek on the top of her head.
