Second Chances: Book Two in the Cardinal Trilogy

By W.A. Smith

"Second Chances" is a story of love, loss, and the special bonds we make in the least expected situations. Evie Barnes, an eighteen-year-old waitress from Roseburg, Oregon, lost her adoptive parents in a car crash when she was only ten years old. Following the tragic accident, her grandparents took over as her legal guardians. Eight years passed as she moved forward and grew, but unfortunate timing would see Evie's grandfather pass away just a few months before her graduation. Heartbroken, Evie and her grandmother continued onward, carrying with them the emptiness created by the void of her grandfather's passing.

Paige Bennett, a contract attorney, was on her way from Portland to Canyonville to attend a meeting, when, during a thunderstorm, her car broke down in front of a roadside diner. It just so happened that Evie was working at the very same restaurant. Paige becomes stranded, and as the weather worsens is forced to remain there for most of the day as she awaits the only nearby tow truck service to arrive.

Paige and Evie start talking, and before they know it begin striking up a friendship that will transform into a special bond, connecting an attorney and teenage waitress in ways they could have never known possible. Open the pages of "Second Chances" and join in a heartfelt adventure of inspiration, faith, and family. The exploration of Paige and Evie's friendship is a reminder that if one is willing to open up, even if it's with a complete stranger, an emotional gear might start turning within one's mind that could change their life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667839677

Book preview

PROLOGUE

Make it stop, Paige Bennett begged her mother, as the intensity of the contraction took hold of her entire body. She had been in labor for the past four hours and her tiny eighteen-year-old frame was starting to wear with exhaustion. Dr. Kenneth Morgan had just left the room after checking in on Paige. Dr. Morgan was a lifetime friend of Paige’s father and, as fate would have it, would be delivering Paige’s baby today.

Helen Bennett allowed her daughter to squeeze her hand as the pain reached its crescendo and Paige resumed a somewhat normal breathing pattern.

You’re doing great, baby girl, Helen tried to reassure her. The contractions are getting closer so that means the baby should be here soon. Even though it was true, the statement was misleading. Helen knew that Paige was only dilated to four and was approximately halfway done.

I can‘t take it anymore, Paige complained through tears. Can’t we just operate and get her out of me that way? You know, a C-section.

The nurse, who had just entered the room at the end of the contraction, immediately fielded the question from Helen.

I’m sorry but we try to deliver all babies naturally. It’s better to let nature run its course. We only will do surgery if there is a threat to the baby or the mother. The nurse smiled as she finished because she had three children of her own and knew full well what her patient was going through. She placed a cool washcloth on Paige’s forehead and then put her hand on her shoulder.

It will be over before you know it and you won’t remember the pain when you see your daughter’s eyes looking up at you. Then she gazed at the fetal monitor and said, I’ll be back in a little bit. She looked Paige in the eyes and with a look of genuine compassion said, Hang in there.

I’ll try, Paige said, trying to grin but she couldn’t muster up the honesty that her answer required. As the nurse opened the door to leave, Cole Lockwood appeared in the doorway and stepped aside for the nurse to exit. Cole was Paige’s eighteen-year-old boyfriend and was half the reason Paige was in the predicament that she was currently in. He smiled as he looked at Paige in the bed and had a cup of crushed ice chips in his right hand and a McDonald’s McChicken sandwich in the other. He looked over at Paige’s mother and gave her an apologetic look. Of course, it was the same look that he couldn’t help but form on his face every time he looked at her. Since the day that he and Paige had informed her parents that she was pregnant, Cole couldn’t seem to generate any other facial expression around Helen.

Cole walked up next to Paige and handed her the cup of crushed ice. Paige’s eyes danced from his sandwich to her cup and gave him a quick look of disdain. Cole didn’t notice her look as he took the seat opposite Helen, but next to Paige.

How are you doing? Cole asked before the compartment that housed his common sense in his brain could prevent the words from exiting his mouth.

How am I doing? Paige asked sarcastically. Let me see; I have been here for over five hours and I feel like a football is trying to force its way out of my pelvic region. She gave him a dirty look and then asked him, How are you doing?

Mentally trying to find a shoehorn to remove the foot that he managed to put in his mouth within a record time of three seconds, his face formed back to the same expression that was reserved for Helen.

Sorry, Babe, Cole winced at the thought of Paige’s description of what her body was going through.

Paige didn’t mean to be upset with him, after all, she was deeply in love with him, but her emotional state was overwhelmed with hormones, and her nerve endings were being battered with intense sensations of pain.

As she looked at his expression, Paige was reminded of the fact that she did love him and that if she had to go through this pregnancy, then he was the only boy in the world that she would want it to be with.

Paige’s thoughts turned to the memory of the night that they had conceived the baby. It was during a New Year’s party at their friend’s house on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia. It was December 31th of 1999 and the entire world was in party mode. There wasn’t one venue on the planet that didn’t have Prince’s song 1999 playing on a continuous loop. Paige and Cole had been drinking, but not to the point of total inebriation. Both of them were buzzed and in a state of elation. As the partygoers danced and drank in eager anticipation of the final countdown, not just to a new year, but a new century, Paige and Cole made their way to an empty bedroom upstairs and locked the door.

Hot and sweaty from the dancing, Cole removed his shirt and tossed it onto the hope chest at the foot of the bed. The mixture of raging hormones and alcohol was the perfect recipe for the eventual outcome that was about to happen.

Both Paige and Cole were virgins. Cole almost had sex with his previous girlfriend a year prior, but her mom came home early from work and had unknowingly put a wrench into their plans. Shortly after that, his girlfriend broke up with him because she wanted to date the quarterback of the football team. Being only sixteen years old at the time, it really didn’t bother Cole all that much. It wasn’t like he was in love with her. Now, almost a year later, a seventeen-year-old Cole was walking and texting on his flip phone in the hallway at school and was, of course, not watching where he was going. Consequently, he ran squarely into Paige, causing the books in her hands to spill on the tile floor. As Cole reached down to help her pick up the sprawled-out papers, his remarkably intense blue eyes caught hers and he was hooked. He knew at that moment that Paige was his soul mate. The woman that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Despite the fact that he was still in high school, he could feel it in his bones that he was going to marry that girl one day. It only took him until after school that day to ask her out.

Now, three months later, they had devised the plan to lose their virginity, on the night that the century ended and a new one began.

Breathing heavily from running up the stairs hand and hand, Paige’s eyes reflexively gazed upon Cole’s slick and glistening chest. God she wanted him! She placed a hand on each of his shoulders and allowed him to remove her blouse. She raised her hands above her head just long enough for the sleeves to be released from her body. The attraction was as undeniable as two magnets in close proximity, a force that brought them together like no other. She wrapped her arms around his neck and with no hesitation from either party, embraced in a kiss that was the prelude of what was to come.

After twenty seconds, Cole gently pulled his lips from hers and asked, Are you sure you want to do this? The question was surprisingly sincere for a seventeen-year-old boy who was almost entirely consumed by the intense hormones of reproduction.

Paige blinked in surprise at the question, but offered her boyfriend a heartwarming smile and replied, Of course I do. As the corners of Cole’s lips edged upward in a smile of his own, Paige plunged her lips into his as the two of them made their way to the bed. As more clothes found their way to the hope chest, the music from the room below abruptly stopped and they could hear the sound of dozens of people yelling in excitement as the DJ announced that there were sixty seconds left.

During the months that followed, Cole and Paige playfully argued about what year their baby was actually conceived. Neither one of them knew for sure, but if the truth was known, it had been on the exact stroke of midnight; the bridge that separated one century from the next.

Here it was, just a week shy of nine months and Paige was on the verge of delivering the baby girl who they had created at the New Year’s Eve party.

Of course, the first month of the pregnancy was the toughest month that Paige had ever had to endure in her entire life. First, she had to tell her parents that at the young age of seventeen she was pregnant. Second, her morning sickness proved to be quite intense for her, and had missed several days of school due to her sickness. Furthermore, it would have been bad enough for any daughter to reveal to her father that she would be pregnant for the duration of her senior year, but for Paige it was more severe than that. Her father was Chief Justice Leland Theodore Bennett of the Georgia Supreme Court. The look of shock and disappointment on the usually stoic face of Leland Bennett will be forever ingrained into Paige’s memory. Her college career had already been pre-planned at the early age of four. Because Paige was Helen and Leland’s only child, her education path was planned out and dictated for her. Even before middle school, Leland informed Paige that she would be attending Harvard Law School.

Chief Justice Leland Theodore Bennett was a proud but mostly arrogant man. He had been raised with a silver spoon in his mouth and had known privilege all his life. His desire to maintain airs and keep up the appearance of superiority was exhausting for Paige. Her entire life was filled with lessons on how she should act in front of her parents’ friends and colleagues. Not only that, the relationship between Leland and his daughter had always been pragmatic at best. She had always tried to live up to the expectations that her father had placed on her, but in her eyes, managed to fall short.

So when Paige informed her father that she was going to have a baby, he became enraged and demanded how this could have happened. In his anger, he stormed away from her and locked himself in his home office for over two hours. When he finally opened the doors, he beckoned for his wife to join him in the study. Paige could hear the muffled sounds of a husband and wife, a father and mother, involved in a serious debate about the fate of their only daughter. During the hour that followed, he managed to convince his wife that Paige should have an abortion so that she could graduate from high school without the stigma of being a teen mom so that she could attend Harvard in the fall.

Paige was confused and didn’t know what to do. On one hand, she was about to carry the baby of the boy whom she did love, but on the other hand, they were only seniors in high school and Paige had her entire college future to think about.

After a week of discussing what they should do, both Paige and Cole reluctantly agreed to abort the baby. Because Leland wanted nothing to do with the baby, he refused to go with his wife and daughter to the clinic. How would it look if anyone discovered that his daughter was pregnant without being married?

Unbeknownst to Leland, Helen had picked up Cole on the way to the clinic so that Paige could see her boyfriend before the procedure.

As Helen Bennett sat next to her daughter waiting for the removal of her grandchild, a tear formed in her right eye, and took solitude in the slightly wrinkled corner of her eye. Even though she knew that Paige’s life had been planned out for her and that a baby at this stage was completely out of the question, Helen wondered to herself what if?

Miss Bennett, the clinic nurse called out, and both Helen and Paige looked toward her. She was obviously calling for Paige to go back.

Cole stood up with Paige and gave her a hug. I love you, he assured her.

I love you too, echoed Paige, as the beat of her heart increased as the anxiety over the procedure intensified. Helen hugged her daughter and tried her best not to show the sadness that she was suddenly feeling.

The nurse led Paige back to the room and told her to remove her clothes and put on the gown that was placed neatly on the metal bed before her. Doing what she was told, Paige slowly undressed and then awkwardly placed her hands through the holes designated for her arms.

The room seemed colder than it should be as Paige sat there alone waiting for the nurse to return. Paige had her hands flat on the table with her legs swinging through the air. Her legs reflexively stopped as the door opened to reveal a man who was obviously the doctor, and the same nurse as before.

The doctor introduced himself and began to explain the procedure to Paige. Almost immediately Paige’s breathing became labored and she was beginning to feel lightheaded. The possible cause of her symptoms might have been an instinct that popped into existence the moment the fetus was conceived. An instinct, though subconscious in nature, reared up to protect the tiny little life form growing inside of her.

I can’t do this, Paige said sheepishly, as she started to rub her hands together nervously.

It’s a simple procedure, the doctor tried to reassure her. It will be over before you know it.

No, Paige stammered. I can’t go through with it. I want to keep the baby. As she finished her declaration, tears fell from her face onto the table, I can’t kill it.

Please, get my mom, Paige softly ordered. I need my mom.

The nurse looked at the doctor who then shook his head as the nurse left the room.

Helen Bennett was sitting next to Cole. Both of them were glancing through the waiting room magazines, not really interested in any particular article.

Mrs. Bennett? The nurse called out from the door that Paige had entered only a few minutes ago.

Yes? Helen answered, as she turned in the direction of the voice.

Can you please come with me? the nurse asked Helen.

Helen flashed Cole a concerned look and then stood up from her seat. She followed the nurse behind the door and down a hallway. The nurse opened a door for Helen and allowed her to enter first. On the examining table was Paige, her cheeks wet from tears.

I can’t kill my baby, Paige sobbed, as she embraced her mother. I can’t do this.

Helen embraced her daughter and helped her down from the table. It’s okay, darling, we will figure it out.

I’m so sorry, Mom, Paige said, as they walked out into the waiting room.

Cole walked up to Paige and asked, What happened? Are you alright? He could see that she was crying.

Paige hugged him and whispered into his ear, I can’t kill our baby; I just can’t.

Cole placed his arms around Paige and embraced her. It’s okay.

When Paige and her mother returned to the house and informed Leland that she couldn’t abort the baby, his face turned red and he began to yell at both his wife and daughter. Even though it was intense, Paige managed to stand her ground and was determined that she wasn’t going to go through with an abortion.

As the days turned into weeks, and many family discussions later, it was decided that Paige was going to give her baby up for adoption. It was the lesser of two evils, as Paige would later refer to the decision.

Cole had revealed to Paige early in their relationship that had been adopted when he was only four days old. His parents were unable to have children biologically so adoption to them was the only option. Cole never felt that he was not wanted or unappreciated. In fact, just the opposite; his parents loved him, unconditionally. They had referred to him as their sparkling light that appeared on a dark day. Even though he and Paige weren’t going to keep the baby, he was confident that there were parents out there who would love it.

Paige’s water broke in the early morning hours of August 24th, 2000. The baby girl inside had signaled that she was ready to be born, which caused Paige to re-think what it would be like to be a mom. She had grown attached to the little life that had depended on her for the last nine months and knew in the deepest part of her heart that she loved her.

Paige and Cole had secretly decided on a name for her. Because she was adopting, it was recommended that she didn’t name the baby so that it would be easier to be separated at the time of birth. In spite of this, Paige and Cole had named her Hope.

Now dilated to four centimeters, waiting for the next contraction to begin, Paige made an announcement.

We’re keeping the baby, Paige stated matter-of-factly to the entire room.

Cole looked up from his sandwich and looked at Paige to make sure he heard what he thought just heard.

We’re what? Cole asked politely, learning from his previous comment.

I don’t want to give Hope up. She is our daughter and we are her mom and dad. It should be us raising her. As soon as she finished that sentence, her teeth clenched and she immediately started to moan. This contraction was going to be more intense than the previous one.

Are you sure? Helen asked, knowing what that decision could mean for the rest of Paige’s life.

As the pain intensified, Paige reached out to grab Cole’s hand, knocking the McChicken sandwich from it, causing its contents to splatter across the tile floor. Cole momentarily sighed at the loss of his lunch, but quickly returned his attention back to Paige.

Yes, I’m sure, exclaimed Paige through the pain. I love my daughter and I want to keep her.

At that precise moment, Leland Bennett opened the door to his daughter’s room.

What was that? he demanded, as he heard the last of the words exiting Paige’s lips.

Paige could see the rage behind her dad’s eyes as he gazed upon her swollen belly.

Despite being exhausted mentally and physically, Paige somehow managed to muster the strength to defy her father.

I’m not giving her up, Father, Paige winced as the contraction twisted and mauled at her body. She is my daughter and I want to keep her! Paige began to breathe rapidly, trying to remember her Lamaze training. She knew that she was now fighting two battles and was trying all she could to win on both fronts.

Be reasonable, Leland pleaded, daggers in his eyes. What about the family waiting to adopt her? What about Harvard? What about law school? You will screw up your life if you keep it. Paige instantly picked up on the way that he referred to Hope as an it.

Paige didn’t know if it was the pain of the contraction of the emotion of fighting with her overbearing father, but she found the courage to stand up to him.

"First of all, Father, she is not an ‘it’, she is my baby girl and I have carried her for nine months. She is a part of me and I don’t care what you say, I will be keeping her." Tears of anger had erupted from her eyes and her pupils reflected an intensity that neither Helen nor Leland had ever experienced before.

Leland turned his gaze in the direction of Cole. This is all your fault! If you hadn’t violated my daughter, none of this would be happening right now!

Cole was always somewhat nervous around Helen, but was totally and fearfully intimidated by Leland.

Wait a second, Cole stammered, as he tried to defend himself. I didn’t violate her; we both consented. Even though it was the truth, it didn’t do anything to win brownie points with Paige’s father.

Be that as it may, Leland retorted, but you are both too young to raise a child properly. Where will you work? What about college?

Cole looked at Paige and then swallowed. I’m working at Benny’s Bistro downtown as a part-time prep cook. Now that I graduated high school, my boss has been giving me full time hours.

Well, that’s remarkable. A prep cook, Leland said, sounding bemused. You wouldn’t be able to support yourself, much less my daughter and the baby.

Paige jumped in to help thwart her father’s attack on Cole. I don’t care; we’ll figure it out.

At that moment, Leland’s cell phone went off and he looked at the screen of his Nokia 3310. It was the local police chief.

I have to take this, Leland declared, ending the heated discussion as he answered it. Chief Justice Leland Bennett, Leland said as he hastily exited the room, finding a solitary corner down the hall to hold his phone call as privately as possible.

While Leland was on his phone call, Paige, Cole, and even Helen had begun trying to come up with suggestions on how they could support themselves, as well as a child.

Leland was gone for almost an hour when he finally returned to the room. Paige was now dilated to seven centimeters and the baby’s arrival was all but imminent.

Where have you been? Helen questioned her husband. Your only daughter is about to deliver a baby and you are taking phone calls? It wasn’t very often that Helen spoke up to her husband, but when your only daughter is about to give birth, Helen couldn’t imagine anything else more important.

I still have duties as the Supreme Justice, my dear. Leland’s reply was dripping with an undertone of unquestioned authority. I do what I must to serve this state, Leland paused for the briefest of moments before finishing, and my family. Helen hated when he suggested that he worked solely to support the family. She knew deep down that he loved the authority that he possessed, not just the substantial amount of money he was earning.

Helen squinted her eyes at her husband and the look of anger was still displayed all over her face. Well, we need you right now. Can you be here for us?

I’m here, am I not? Leland asked his wife, bemused for having to state the obvious.

Helen wasn’t in the mood to mince words. She looked away from her husband as he took a seat that was closer to the door. He sat there with his legs crossed, almost as if he was on the bench of the Supreme Court listening to a plaintiff’s argument concentrating on thoughts that no one would be privy to.

Unfortunately for Paige, she stayed at seven centimeters for the next hour. The constant barrage of contractions and lack of food were making her weaker. She was turning pale and her skin was sticky from the hours of sweating.

Helen didn’t want to show it, but she was growing more concerned as the minutes ticked by. Paige was losing her strength and the look on her face indicated that she was almost at the end of her rope.

When Paige had finally dilated to nine centimeters, the nurse paged Dr. Morgan. After a few minutes, he came rushing in and the look on his face turned to concern when he examined Paige.

Okay, Paige darling, Dr. Morgan began. It’s just about time, but I need you to listen very carefully to me. Paige blinked in an effort to focus on what the doctor was saying.

I have detected a heart murmur with the baby. Once I get her out, I need to take her to the ICU and get her hooked up to special monitors. Do you understand what I am saying?

Is she going to be okay? Paige questioned, with alarm in her voice, a fearful apprehension blanketing her emotions, her lips curling up into a tearful pout.

Paige, I’m going to honest; I don’t know, I really don’t. But you need to be strong and get through this, Dr. Morgan stated, as he gazed upon the fetal monitor, removing his stethoscope from his neck and placing it onto Paige’s womb. There was something in the way that Dr. Morgan’s facial features changed, revealing more than just a mild concern. Was it the look of worry, or was it apprehension? Whatever it was, Paige became more fearful.

Oh my God, Helen gasped as she squeezed her daughter’s hand. Leland withdrew from the chair that he had been sitting in and took up a position directly behind his wife.

Help her, demanded Paige of Dr. Morgan. The short-term memory of the pain that she had just endured was washed away by the fear of losing her baby.

Dr. Morgan didn’t reply but was focused on the baby. When I tell you to push, I want you to give me the biggest push that you can muster. Do you understand?

Yes, Paige replied as she nodded her head.

Paige could hear the doctor mumbling words as if he was reciting from an instruction manual. He was the best OBGYN in the entire county, so Paige knew that she was in the best hands.

Okay, when I say push, you push, Dr. Morgan said as he looked up from under the gown.

Grunting her answer, as the pain almost became unbearable, Paige waited for his command.

Push! Dr. Morgan ordered.

Paige was literally trying to pull water from a dry well. Almost all of her strength had been used up. There was nothing left. However, somehow Paige managed to dig down deep into her very soul and found just enough strength to push. She screamed as if to mentally will the baby out with her thoughts.

Paige could feel Hope leave her body. It was like nothing she had ever felt before, a sweet release, a cataclysmic expulsion, creating an exhilaration that she had never experienced in her entire life.

Dr. Morgan quickly examined the baby and placed Hope on Paige’s chest so that she could see her. Even though the baby’s skin was slightly red from the force of being expelled from the womb, with blotches and mucus on her tiny little face and body, Paige could tell that she was beautiful.

Hope, Paige sobbed with relief and joy, you’re here. You’re actually here. As she gazed upon the tiny baby, the apprehension that she had felt over the past nine months of anxiety to be responsible for raising a child vanished, and all she could see was a lifetime filled with love and happiness for the family that had just been created.

I love you, Paige said to her baby as she gently placed her hands on the back of the infant.

Cole moved in closer to get a better look at his daughter.

You did it, Cole said admirably to his girlfriend, as the emotion of seeing his baby girl’s face took over. You’re the most beautiful looking thing that I have ever seen, Cole told his daughter, his words directed solely to her, as if she could understand them. Cole’s heartbeat accelerated as he responded to the love that was overflowing from within it, a love for Paige, and now a love for Hope.

We did it, Paige corrected, as she kissed Hope gently on the forehead for the first time.

Dr. Morgan reached in to grab Hope, but had a concerned look on his face.

I need to take her to ICU immediately, Dr. Morgan said, the sound of nervous concern filling his voice.

Is she going to be okay? Paige questioned as Dr. Morgan hurriedly left the room.

What’s happening? Paige demanded, as the nurses attended to her. Paige knew that she was still bleeding, but couldn’t think about that right now. She had a feeling that Hope was in trouble.

One of the nurses left the room to see what was happening with the baby, while another doctor and nurse entered the room to work on Paige. For Dr. Morgan to remove the baby from the delivery room was definitely not a good sign.

Though not knowing the fate of her daughter, Paige still had to deliver the placenta. It wouldn’t be anything like delivering the baby, but she had used up all her strength. As the nurse removed it from her, Paige could feel herself fade as exhaustion overwhelmed her.

I love you, Hope! Paige yelled toward the hospital room door, in an effort to make her recently born daughter hear her voice. Unfortunately, the words came out as a barely audible whisper, and the last image that she witnessed before passing out was that of Cole sitting next to her with a look of confusion and disbelief painted all over his face.

Hope never made it back to Paige’s hospital room. Her heart had stopped in the ICU, and despite all of Dr. Morgan’s efforts, he solemnly informed the Bennets that he couldn’t get her heart to start up again.

******************************

The day of Hope’s funeral was devilishly hot. The sky was bright blue absent of all clouds. Paige glanced at the reflection in her bedroom mirror to see if she could recognize the image that was being displayed back to her. She was wearing a knee length black dress with shiny black high heels. Paige had pulled her long brown hair back into a ponytail with her grandmother’s fancy hair clip holding it into place.

The total look of exhaustion, mixed with an overwhelming feeling of loss and despair, almost seemed to physically change Paige’s facial features. The emotional toll had wreaked havoc on Paige’s body and quite frankly, she didn’t know how she could possibly recover.

Paige could hear the soft footsteps of her mother entering her room. She looked at her through the reflection in the mirror, not saying a word, but conveying everything that she was feeling.

Helen knew all the words in the English dictionary, but that couldn’t help her structure anything to say that would remotely ease her daughter’s pain.

With a softness that grief of this magnitude could generate, Helen raised her hand toward Paige and said, It’s time.

Conjuring the will from deep inside of her broken heart, Paige turned around to face her mother and simply said, I know. Paige accepted her mother’s hand and the two of them left the room and headed downstairs.

Leland Bennett’s face was stoic as usual, but Paige did notice a sorrow that had not been indigenous to it before. She never knew if it was for the loss of his granddaughter or just the empathetic emotion caused by Paige’s own sadness.

A black limo pulled into the driveway and parked close to the front porch. The driver got out and opened the side doors for them. Paige donned her sunglasses as she entered the limo, gazing over its top to glance at the yard, almost as if she was taking it all in for a final time. The cemetery was just shy of thirty minutes away, but the duration of the ride seemed like mere seconds.

As the Bennett’s marched through the green grass of the cemetery grounds, Paige’s knees slowly began to tremble. The pace at which she walked slowly diminished as Hope’s headstone came into view, the finality of it all weighing Paige down as she approached.

Standing to the left side of Hope’s gravesite was Cole and his parents. Cole was staring intently at the newly dug hole, and when he heard the sounds of the Bennett family advancing toward him, he turned his head in their direction. Stepping away from his parents, he walked up to Paige, and with blood shot eyes, gave her a hug. Paige hugged him back, but didn’t utter a word. Cole gave her a hurt look, but didn’t press it.

Because Leland wanted a private ceremony, the six of them were the only witnesses to the burial. A Catholic priest exited the black SUV that had pulled up to the site and walked up to the separate families, starting with the Bennetts. Paige barely retained any of the words that he spoke, and the sunglasses shaded her tearful eyes.

Two gentlemen wearing black suits removed a small white pearl coffin from the back of the SUV and placed it on the stand that was set-up near the plot. The priest read from several gospels and ended with the Lord’s Prayer.

Paige stood there softly sobbing, doing nothing to restrict the tears from running down her cheeks. She reflexively rubbed her right hand over her belly as she had done hundreds of times during the last nine months. Over that timeframe, it had provided comfort. Before she went to bed at night, Paige would lay there talking with Hope, telling her about her day and how she couldn’t wait for her to be born. Paige had spent hours having these discussions with Hope. However, today it was a reminder of the loss that she had suffered. Paige desperately wanted Hope to be back in her belly so that she could have a do-over.

The priest finished and stepped aside to allow the participants to say their goodbyes. Paige wanted to go last, so both sets of parents put their hands on the coffin and then stood off to the side. Cole walked up with Paige and the two of them stood together in silence as they stared at the coffin. Finally, Cole wiped the tears from his eyes and said, Goodbye, Hope. He grabbed Paige’s hand to have her step away with him. Paige resisted his hand and remained where she was. As Cole walked away, a wave of despair rattled Paige’s body and she began to tremble. She bent over the coffin to kiss it where she thought Hope’s forehead would be.

Good bye, baby girl, Paige sobbed as she slowly walked away from her daughter. When she returned to her parents, two cemetery workers appeared out of nowhere and began the process of lowering Hope down to her final resting place.

In a blink of an eye, the last shovel of dirt was placed on the now covered hole. Paige sat down on the ground, with her legs crossed, staring at the tombstone of her now completely buried daughter. The fresh topsoil was the only indication that Hope was ever there. Paige told her parents that she needed to stay there by herself for a little while, so Helen and Leland withdrew to the limo to wait for their daughter to say her final farewell.

Paige read the words engraved on the stone over and over again. Finally, she lowered her head into her hands and cried as she said her last goodbye.

Walking to the limo, Paige knew that the words on Hope’s tombstone would always and forever be engraved on her heart, Hope Bennett—An angel that never got to touch the earth.

CHAPTER ONE

Paige Bennett opened the door of her office and walked over to her desk. She had a ton of work to accomplish before her 11:00 a.m. conference call. It was Monday, September 17th, and it was a beautiful autumn day. Of course, autumn didn’t officially start until the upcoming weekend, but to Paige, it was after Labor Day, so the fall season was basically in full swing.

Paige was one of ten lawyers who worked for Keller Law Group in Portland, Oregon. There were three partners who started and managed the company, Faye Keller, Aubrie Pearl, and Janice Kemp.

The crystal clock on her desk indicated that it was 7:16 a.m. and Paige was a tad upset for not getting to the office earlier. It had been her plan to arrive at 6:30 a.m., but her live-in boyfriend, Nathan Bailey, had immediately turned off the alarm and failed to wake Paige up. Luckily for Paige, her internal clock had awakened her before the morning got too far away from her.

Nathan was a stockbroker for Pacific Crest Securities, which was also based in Portland. He and Paige had met during a fund raising party in the summer of 2016, where both of their companies had donated several thousands of dollars to help combat the increasing homeless population in the city of Portland.

Now, two years later, Paige had recently asked Nathan to live with her at her two bedroom spacious loft overlooking the city. Even though they both had very busy lives, they managed to find time to spend quality time together. For Paige, the relationship with Nathan was exactly how she wanted it. As far as she could tell, he was probably going to propose to her sometime in the next year or so and that timeframe was fitting perfectly into Paige’s upcoming work schedule nicely.

Just as Paige turned on her laptop to start work, her cell phone went off and it was her mother, Helen.

Good morning, Mom, Paige stated, as she clicked on the speaker button and then reached for a file folder sitting on her desk. How is everything? Because her Mom still lived in Savannah, Georgia, on the east coast, it was 10:16 a.m. there.

Good, honey, Helen replied, I was just thinking about my daughter and wanted to see how you were today.

Paige glanced at the date and time on her laptop and suddenly realized why her mom had called. Today was the fourth year anniversary of Paige’s father’s death. Paige’s mind subconsciously played back the memory of her life since she had lost Hope eighteen years ago. It was like she was watching a movie’s trailer, but at twice the speed.

After Hope’s funeral, Paige had gone off to Harvard for four years and then was accepted into Harvard Law School. She graduated from law school in 2009 and began her career as an attorney in a law firm that was owned by a lifelong friend of Leland’s. During that time, Paige and Leland’s relationship had begun to deteriorate. Paige’s heart never fully recovered from Hope’s loss, and Leland’s lack of compassion for what Paige was going through kept a constant wedge in any kind of daddy–daughter relationship.

Paige worked for her father’s friend’s firm for three years, but she finally couldn’t stand her father’s constant inference in her life and quit the company. By chance, she discovered that a law firm in Portland, Oregon, was looking for an attorney who specializes in contract law. Three weeks later, Paige packed up her car and headed toward the west coast. Her only regret was that she was moving so far away from her mom, and that she was leaving her to be alone with her father.

Paige’s last words to Leland were that she wished him a good life, but it was going to have to be without her in it. Two years after that, Chief Justice Leland Bennett of the Georgia Supreme Court passed away from a massive stroke. Paige had contemplated not flying home for the funeral but quickly dismissed it because she knew that she had to be there for her mother. Helen was aware that her husband was arrogant and could be uncompassionate, but she had loved him through it all. Deep down, she knew that the man who she had met and fell in love with was still part of who he had become.

Over the last four years, Helen would go to his grave on the anniversary of his death and spend an hour or so, talking to him about the previous year’s events. Before she would depart his gravesite, she placed a single red rose on top of the tombstone and stated that she loved and missed him.

So, here it was, the day of the anniversary of her father’s death and Paige had forgotten.

I’m fine, Mom, really, Paige answered her mother’s inquiry, as the flashback of her life up until now ended, not invoking any emotional response from her one way or another. How are you doing?

Paige could hear the hesitation in her mother’s voice as she spoke, I’m doing well, then added, I’ll be going to see your father later on today, stated Helen of her yearly ritual to the cemetery. I have a luncheon with a few of the women from my bridge club and then I’ll go see him.

Paige felt genuinely sorry for her mom and the fact that her husband had passed. Even though it had been four years, Paige could hear in her mom’s voice how she missed having him around, even if it was just to have someone to talk to.

Suddenly feeling a slight pang of guilt that she hadn’t seen her mom in over a year, Paige said, I’m sorry I haven’t been there for you in awhile, but I’ve been really busy at the office and we have been working on expanding the firm. Unlike her relationship with her dad, Paige and her mother had grown closer over the years since Leland’s death. Helen had tried to comfort her daughter over the death of Hope and had fought hard against her husband for sending Paige to college so soon after the funeral, but Leland’s plans for his daughter would not be altered, so Paige attended Harvard only a couple of weeks after Hope’s funeral.

Don’t worry, dear, Helen comforted, I know how busy you are and, frankly, I have been keeping myself busy with my own projects as well, Helen softly sighed, I just want you to know that I love you and I am proud of the woman that you have become.

The corners of Paige’s lips turned upward to form a grin. Thanks, Mom, Paige said, You know that I love you too, and that I miss you. Unknown to Helen, Paige was planning on flying to see her mother over the Christmas holiday. The previous two Christmases, Paige couldn’t get enough time off to make the trip to Savannah and had to contend with an increase in caseload at the office. Fortunately, this year, Christmas Eve was on a Monday, so Paige took off the weekend before and was off through the 2nd of January.

Just then, Lexie Emery, Paige’s assistant, knocked on the office door. She was carrying a Microsoft Surface Pro with several file folders underneath it.

Sorry, Mom, Paige said, but I better get going. I have so much to do today. Paige waved Lexie into her office, as she signaled her to take a seat in the chair on the other side of her desk.

Sure, no problem, Helen said, knowing that Paige’s life was dictated by her career. Can I call you later tonight? Helen asked her daughter.

Absolutely, Mom, Paige replied. I’m having dinner with Nathan at 6:00 p.m. my time, so why don’t you call me around 10:30 p.m. your time.

Sounds good, Helen said, Talk to you later.

Bye, Mom, Paige said, as she ended the call.

Pausing for only a second to make sure that the call had disconnected, Lexie jumped right into her work. Good morning, boss, Lexie began. Here are the files on the Conner contracts that were faxed last night. I know that you want the changes from the Smith files, but they haven’t been sent yet. Before Paige could utter a word in response, Lexie lifted her index finger, as if to halt the presumed response from her boss, adding, I called them and informed them that you are waiting and expect that the Smith files will be on your desk within the next half hour.

Paige smiled at Lexie’s energy. Even though it was early in the morning, it was as if Lexie had been up for hours, and had consumed two cups of coffee. At times, Paige referred to her as Bugs for her similarity to the Energizer Bunny. Fortunately for Paige, Lexie was not only an excellent assistant, but also becoming a really close friend outside work. Paige had never liked to mix work with her personal life, but there was something so sweet and genuine about Lexie that slowly dismantled Paige’s unofficial work/life policy. Lexie was twenty-one years old and had recently graduated from the local community college with an Associate’s Degree in communication. Lexie had interned at Keller Law Group over the winter semester, and that was when Paige recognized a passion for working with people and a drive that was second to none. Upon graduation, Paige offered Lexie a full-time position and gave her a salary that was well above the starting rate for professional assistants. Lexie had this ability to feel comfortable around the firm’s partners and she could approach them without being nervous or anxious, and was very charismatic. Even though Paige and Lexie’s relationship could be categorized as friends outside work, Paige had not yet told Lexie anything about Cole or the loss of their daughter.

Good job, Lexie, Paige said, as she grinned at the well-dressed young woman before her. She was wearing a light blue silk blouse with a gray skirt that rested about three inches above the knee. Nude nylons with black high heels helped to complete Lexie’s look this Monday morning. It had taken Paige a few months, but she had slowly worked with Lexie on her wardrobe, and now Lexie was learning how to dress for success. However, it did take Lexie a month or so to get used to wearing high heels for the duration of an entire day.

Looking at her tablet, Lexie said, Oh, your conference call got pushed up to 10:00 a.m. Apparently, our client now has to catch a flight and needs to bump it up so that he can get to the airport on time.

Paige sighed, Perfect, just perfect. I was going to be cutting it close to getting everything ready for the 11:00 a.m. time, now, I have to really push it. Paige brought up a report on her laptop and began typing.

Don’t worry, boss, Lexie stated with dedication, I got you. Lexie’s fingers danced over the display on the tablet and she began working feverishly still sitting across from Paige. Lexie crossed her legs and used them as a makeshift desk to set the tablet on. Because Lexie was wearing an earpiece, she could manage incoming calls while working on reports that Paige needed.

The minutes raced by as if they were horses on a track, bred since birth to run as fast they could to get to the finish line. Before Paige knew it, only thirty minutes separated her from the deadline of the conference call. Looking across her desk to where Lexie was sitting, Paige paused to take a sip of her room warm coffee and to thank God that Lexie was on her team.

As if she knew Paige had directed her attention towards her, Lexie grinned with her eyes still focused on her tablet and then with a swiping motion, sent the final report from her screen to Paige’s computer.

Done, boss, Lexie declared, with only a slight hint of pride as the completed report reappeared on Paige’s laptop.

Great job, Lexie, Paige said, as she inserted the report into the final page of the presentation.

Lexie stood up from her chair and headed toward her cubicle that was just outside of Paige’s office. I’ll be at my desk if you need anything. I’ll be back in to set up the call for you.

Thanks, Paige answered, as Lexie vanished from sight.

After a few minutes of examining the report, Paige stood up from her desk chair and thought it was probably a good idea to go to the bathroom before the conference call started. As she exited her office and headed down the hall in the direction of the bathroom, Faye Keller caught a glimpse of her through the glass wall of her office and signaled Paige for her to join her. Faye was having a discussion with the law firm’s partners, Aubrie Pearl and Janice Kemp, via Skype. Paige motioned with her finger in the direction of the bathroom and Faye nodded her head in understanding.

When Paige returned from the bathroom, she entered the office and was about to take a seat in front of Faye’s desk, but Faye said, Paige, Aubrie and I were just talking about you. Paige grinned and knew that Faye wanted her to join the view of the call.

Oh, really? Paige questioned, as she looked at the screen that displayed Aubrie.

Hi, Aubrie, Paige began, how are you doing today?

Aubrie was a Black woman in her early fifties, who had long silky black hair with a strip of white that ran through the front left in front of her forehead. It was approximately ten years prior that she and Janice had joined forces with Faye Keller. Faye partnered with Aubrie and Janice when they lost their lease on the small building of their practice on the west side of Portland. Their landlord decided to sell to a buyer out of California who wanted to tear it down and develop it into condos.

Ever since then, Aubrie and Janice worked in the Keller Law Group building, a partnership that had skyrocketed the group’s business model as well as the client list. As their business grew, so did their reputation for professionalism and integrity.

Unfortunately, Janice Kemp had become ill and had taken a backseat to working with clients. She still consulted with the other partners, but she had been in the office less and less.

Paige got to know all three partners extremely well, and respected them immensely. When she first joined the firm, she remembered having a lengthy conversation with Janice Kemp, who wanted to know what Paige’s dreams and aspirations were as she genuinely wanted to get to know the lawyer that would be working for them.

Aubrie’s eyes glanced from Faye’s to Janice’s and then to Paige’s, a grin forming on her face.

So, the partners have been in negotiations with a developer in the city of Canyonville, and we just got the final contracts signed this morning. Paige could detect the subtle excitement in Aubrie’s voice.

Okay, Paige said, waiting for Aubrie to continue.

Keller Law Group will be opening a second office in Canyonville and I will be overseeing it, Aubrie had a look of pride glowing on her face.

That’s wonderful, declared Paige honestly, I’m really happy for you and the firm. Paige was thrilled for Aubrie for the opportunity to head up her own office, even though it was still part of the partnership.

Faye looked at Paige and added, Because of the new building, the partners have decided that you should help Aubrie in Canyonville and become lead attorney. We want you to help set up the office and build up the client base.

It took a few seconds for it to sink in. They wanted her to be lead attorney and work directly with the head partner of the new office.

Wow, Paige said as she paused to think about the implications.

Well, what do you say? Would you like to join forces with me in Canyonville? Aubrie asked with a touch of adventure.

Paige mentally calculated the distance in her head and figured that it was over three hours from Portland to Canyonville.

Would I have to move there? Paige asked as the question suddenly appeared in her mind.

No, at least not if you don’t want to, Aubrie answered, most of the work you can orchestrate from your office in Portland, at least for now. I figure that you can stay at a hotel for a couple of days during the week and then head back home.

Paige, Faye began, You must be aware of how the partners feel about you and your work. We have appreciated all your dedication and sacrifice. Faye placed her hand on Paige’s left arm, like a mother would do when having an important discussion with her daughter. If everything goes according to plan with the new office, Aubrie, Janice, and I are considering taking on more partners, two for this office and two for the new location. Faye paused to let her meaning take hold.

Paige’s eyes slightly widened with realization. Aubrie and Janice could see her reaction from the monitor and answered the question that Paige was about to ask. Yes, Paige, it’s you. We are considering making you a partner within the next year.

Of all the news that Paige predicted that she would be exposed to, never did she imagine that the words potential partnership would be among them. Ever since Paige began working for Faye, she had dreamed what it would be like to make partner with her firm. Paige truly enjoyed her job and loved all three of the partners. They had created a culture that was constructed with respect and kindness for all of their associates. When you worked for Keller Law Group, you felt like you had joined a family. However, Faye and the other two partners required results and didn’t let anyone take advantage of their compassion. They did have a business to run, after all.

Seriously? Paige questioned, as a moment of disbelief hijacked her vocal cords.

Yes, of course. There isn’t anyone at this office right now who we feel would make a better choice than you. So, what do you say? Faye said, waiting for Paige’s acceptance.

Yes, of course, Paige said, unable to hide her enthusiasm. Thank you so much for this opportunity.

Aubrie clapped her hands together, as if to signal the closing of a lawyer’s final argument in a courtroom, and turned her full attention to Paige. That’s great to hear, Paige. I will be in Canyonville all the way through next week, but I would like you to drive out this Friday morning for a meeting with the lead contractor scheduled in the afternoon. It was originally planned for Monday of next week, but his wife is going in for knee surgery on that day, so he asked if we could reschedule for this Friday.

Paige didn’t skip a beat, Yes, of course, I will be there. As the words exited her mouth, Paige was already mentally rearranging her schedule to accommodate this new turn of events.

Great, Aubrie smiled, I’ll see you in a few days. I’ll send you information throughout the week and will be in constant contact. This is going to be fun.

Yes, ma’am, Paige said, looking at her watch. If you will excuse me, I am due on a conference call now with the Smith Proposal.

Faye waved her hands in the air, allowing Paige to be dismissed as if Paige was a student staying after school to talk to the teacher and she was going to be late for the bus. Yes, please, go back to work and do what you do best. We will talk more about it later.

As Paige was about to cross the threshold of the office door, she turned around to Faye and the image of Aubrie and said, Thanks again; I won’t let you down.

"What is… it?" Lexie questioned Paige as she walked into her office. She could tell by Paige’s expression that something had happened.

It was only a minute before the conference call so Paige told Lexie that she would tell her after the call. Lexie was professional enough not to pry at this moment but was still curious all the same.

Lexie dialed the call from the speakerphone on her desk and then said, Please hold for Paige Bennett, and then transferred the call to Paige’s office. Lexie picked up her tablet and quietly took her seat in front of Paige’s desk and remained at the ready, in case Paige needed anything from her during the call.

During the conference call, Lexie noticed something different with the way Paige conducted herself. It was like she had a renewed vigor, an increased self-awareness of her abilities. It was like her confidence had been in the passenger’s seat of a lead racecar, but now she was the one driving.

When the call ended, Lexie stood up and said, Great job, boss. You really knocked this call out of the park. She was about to retreat to her office but then she remembered that Paige was supposed to tell her something.

After a few silent moments, Lexie blinked at Paige and asked, Well? What’s going on?

Even though the door was closed, Paige subconsciously lowered her voice as if revealing confidential information. You’re not going to believe this, but Keller Law Group is opening another office in Canyonville and Aubrie is going to head it up. Faye called me to her office while she was video chatting with Aubrie and they asked me to help her with the start-up.

That’s amazing, Lexie said, grinning with the positivity of the news. What does that mean for you?

Paige took a step closer to Lexie and stated, If all goes well, they are going to consider making me a partner within the year.

Sweet, Paige, Lexie said as the corners of her mouth curved up to form a huge smile. You totally deserve it; you are one of the hardest working attorneys at this firm.

Well, I don’t know about that, Paige began before Lexie politely interrupted her.

No, seriously, you are, Lexie added. Do you know that before you hired me, and I was interning here, I noticed right away that you were the best one here? When you hired me, I called my mom almost crying because I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to get the chance to work directly for you.

Paige could tell that Lexie’s words were spoken with the sincerity of her true feelings, not just because she was trying to get brownie points with the boss.

Before Paige could reply to Lexie’s words of encouragement, Faye knocked on the office door. Lexie immediately turned in the direction of the door and opened it for Faye.

Hello, Mrs. Keller, Lexie said, holding the door open, please come in. Lexie snuck a grin toward Paige and then exited the office for her own cubicle. Before Lexie was totally gone from view, Paige called out to her and said, Thanks, Lexie, for everything.

Faye sat down on the couch that was to the left of the desk and asked Paige to join her there. The two of them spent the next hour going over some of the logistics of what the next couple of months would look like for Paige. Faye wanted to make sure that Paige would have everything she needed to sustain her current caseload as well as supporting Aubrie in a town that was over three hours away.

When Faye left Paige’s office, Lexie waited for several seconds until Faye rounded the corner and went into her office. She quickly got up from her desk and went into Paige’s office.

"Canyonville is about 203 miles away from Portland and it’s about three hours away. Not too bad driving, but it is still a haul. It has a population