"Katy, none of this seems right. It doesn't seem real."
"It takes some getting used to, Charlie."
"I don't know if I ever will be able to get used to it. Everything reminds me of her. Everywhere I look, everyone I see, everything I touch, the memories. I can't stop thinking, thinking if things were different, maybe she would still be here. With me, together."
"You loved-"
"Love"
"You love her. You will never be able to fully forget, Charlie. And no one is asking you too. The times you two had together are too great and memorable to not remember. But you do need to pull yourself together. It's not you, her and the kids anymore. It's you and the kids. They need you Charlie, your they're dad. You can not take anymore time away from that."
"I know. It's just, I can't get over the promise we made to each other. The one thing that kept us strong, happy, a family. Now I don't know if it's broken, or still there."
"What's the promise Charlie?"
"That we would always be together."
WATTYS WINNER
When her fiancé ends up in a coma and his secret mistress, Halley, shows up, Mary feels like her world is falling apart. What she doesn't realize is she's actually falling in love...with Halley.
*****
Eight years after a traumatizing accident that killed one of her loved ones, Mary Kincaid is about to marry her childhood sweetheart when the universe yanks the rug out from under her yet again, leaving her fiancé badly injured and in a coma. Of course this is when his secret mistress shows up, a beautiful person whom Mary should by all rights hate - so why does she find herself inviting her to stay in the spare bedroom? She soon learns that sometimes the person you're looking for comes when you're not looking at all.
Content and/or trigger warning: This story mentions violence, addiction, and childhood trauma, which may be triggering for some readers.
[[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]]