Hopeless Love

Reminiscing

Chapter 20
"Hurry, don't be late
I can't hardly wait
I said to myself when we're old
we'll go dancing in the dark
walking in the park and reminiscing."
-Reminiscing, The Little River Band

As Daniel laid in bed holding his wife in his arms, his mind began to wander to when they had been reunited after almost twenty-five years. It was by God's grace that he had been at the park that night to run into Cordelia. He had only been in town a couple of days and hadn't yet been sworn in as the interim police chief.

After he had lost Cordelia, he had been too grief stricken to stay in Augusta. He left his family and the lobster trapping behind and enrolled into the police academy in Boston.

Everything he saw in Augusta reminded him of Delia and it was all too much to stay in such a place. It was while in the academy and two years later that he met Ashley, who would later become his wife. She had dark, raven-like hair and brown eyes, very petite and quite the opposite of Cordelia; it's the only way Daniel could bare it, even two years later. They had been happy together and he loved her dearly, but his heart was always Delia's; nothing could change that. When Ashley had died in a car crash, it just seemed right for Daniel to return home and give his children a change of scenery.

"Cordelia?" Daniel stuttered in the park that night five-years ago.

Cordelia, now on the cusp of turning forty, had aged beautifully. Her figure held a little more weight than it had when he once knew her, and her clothes showed every curve. Her hair was shorter now, just below her shoulders, with the same curls he had ran his hands through countless times in the past. Daniel was now forty-two and had aged, as some men do, better than ever. Years of a strict regimen of working out for the police department had made his chest and arms larger than when he was younger. His dark hair greyed at the temples and his perfectly manicured beard had touches of white in the front on his chin. Besides those things and the usual wrinkles that come with age, both of them had stayed fairly constant as far as looks were concerned.

It was because of this attraction that Daniel stuttered her name when he saw her sitting on the grass beside of the bricked building where they used to leave notes for each other. It had been their way of communication a great number of times when they couldn't see each other face-to-face.

Cordelia looked up at him with her blue eyes, back down at the grass, shook her head, and looked back up to meet his gaze.

"Daniel! I, um, heard you were, uh, back in town," She managed to croak out, her voice full of emotion.

"Delia—excuse me, I didn't mean to sound so familiar," he said.

"Delia is always what I will be to you, Daniel," she said bashfully, "It's okay if you still call me that. My son told me they had hired you at the station and the next thing I know, I'm at our spot in the park. I didn't expect to run into you," Cordelia said sincerely.

Her heart was racing, and she could feel her hands trembling as she rubbed them over the necklace that was in her lap. After all these years, he still made her feel weak. She had thought the words over and over again of what she would say if she ever saw him again, how she would run to him and wrap him up in a tight embrace. Instead, she did none of these things. The light that once shone bright inside of Cordelia had been wiped out by the Buchanan family and her reactions were so prearranged and formal now to everyone around her except Declan and Ashtyn.

There was an awkward silence and then—Daniel. Daniel dropped to his knees in the grass beside of Cordelia and noticed the necklace in her hand. He tucked her hair behind her ear, not being able to think about anything else other than wanting to touch her. Before either of them could acknowledge this gesture, they had locked lips and were gasping furiously for one another. Years, years of yearning and wondering had led them to this moment.

He wanted her so badly he didn't waste any time. He grabbed her left hand and led her to his new police cruiser; sirens on and running every red light along the way. This made Cordelia laugh a laugh she thought was dead to her and the familiar sound drove Daniel wild. When he parked, they begin to kiss again, and not separating, he pulled her out of the driver's side door. He fumbled with his house key and thanked God that his kids were at his parent's house for the night. He pulled her inside, slamming the door behind him. She laughed at his urgency and followed him into the bedroom.
Picking her up, he placed her on the king-sized bed and began to remove her cream, silk blouse as he kissed her neck and licked around her ear lobe. One.By.One. He undid those buttons.

"You always were such a tease," she panted. She tugged at his shirt and he reached behind him and quickly pulled it off. In the past, she had been enamored by his body and now was no different.

He noticed how she flinched in certain places that he touched her, but brushed it aside, not knowing of her abuse with her ex-husband.

When they had finished making love, she laid in his arms in disbelief of what had just occurred. It was as though all the years of being separated hadn't mattered at all; they were together and that's all that mattered in that moment.