Second Chance Romance (Southern Nights) Completed

Chapter 5

 "Second Chance Romance"

2012 Copyright All Rights Reserved

 Chapter 5

The ride out to the cemetery was a solemn affair. Jade sat in the passenger sear of Oliver's car staring out the window while Libby sat in the back, strapped in her booster seat, softly singing to herself.

 The ceremony was nice, she thought to her herself. Everyone that spoke had nothing but kind words for her father, the melodious music was pleasing to the ears and the Church was set up pleasantly for a respectable service.

 "What ya over there thinking about?" Oliver asked quietly as he turned on the road that the town's lone cemetery was located on. All of the sights were familiar to her as she had been here herself many times growing up. Her mother was buried in this exact same cemetery.

Jade let out a loud sigh. "Nothing," she said and then in the very next minute she said, "Everything."

 Oliver chuckled lightly. "That's to be expected. You are burying your father today and even if you haven't been around the last few years I'm sure that you never stopped loving him."

 Jade then turned to Oliver, clearly surprised that he seemed to be able to understand what she was feeling so well.

"You know, you're right," she told him. "I never once stopped loving that man. This is all like some kind of really bad dream to me. Every time I walk into that house I fully expect to see him sitting at the kitchen table, pouring over his coin collection, or sitting at his desk in the den, working on Sunday morning's sermon. It...." she stopped and struggled to bite back a broken sob.

Oliver noticed her distress and after he parked, he turned the car off and turned to Jade.

Methodically, he unbuckled her seat belt and reached for her hand, holding it between both of his much larger ones. "I'm not going to tell you that it's going to be okay Jade because loosing a parent is never okay."

 Once again, she choked up on another sob and wanted to do nothing more than turn away from him. She hated weakness and she wasn't comfortable with Oliver seeing her weak now.

 Jade tried to pull he hand away from him but Oliver held her in place by tightening his hands around hers. Swallowing, he added, "But what I am going to tell you Jade is that I'll be here for you if you need me."

 He glanced to the back seat where Libby had leaned her head against the door and nodded off into an innocent slumber. He couldn't help but feel the beginnings of a smile creep up on his lips at how angelic she looked. He turned his attention back to Jade who was now looking down at her lap and gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. "I'll be here for both you and Libby," he stressed. "Anytime that you need me, I'll be there. That is my promise to you."

 Tears clouded Jade's vision and it took her a second before she could pull herself together enough to lift her head and meet Oliver's gaze. Sniffing, she used the back of her hand to swipe at her cheeks.

 "Thank you Oliver. If truth be told, I don't know what I would have done without you. You have made coming home so much easier for both Libby and I." She told him this with nothing but sincerity filling her voice and she truly meant every word. If it had not been for him, dealing with the stresses of the last week would have been much harder than they had been.

 Oliver grinned. "You don't have to thank me," he told her. Without realizing what he was doing, he started to slowly move in closer to her, ringing there faces just inches apart. "It was what I wanted to do. I like helping you Jade. I feel drawn to you and seeing you in the tiniest bit of pain bothers me. If I can help to ease it by being there when you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to talk to or just someone that will hold you on a long cold night, I want to do that. I want to offer you that and more if you'll let me."