Page 62 of Once Upon A Second Chance
We sit in silence for a moment, the hum of the fridge the only sound besides Bijou’s snoring.
Then I grab the remote.
“Want to watch something stupid until our brains melt?”
“God, yes.”
I flip through the channels until I find90 Day Fiancéand settle in, half-curled against his side. The couple on screen is arguing about hot tubs and language barriers, and somewhere in the chaos of that ridiculous drama, I find my shoulders loosening.
Richard’s arm wraps around me, his fingers stroking a lazy rhythm against my back.
Outside, the world is still full of what-ifs and dangers and people who want to tear us down.
But in here, on this couch, with bad TV and a man who stayed—
I feel safe.
For now, that’s enough.
Chapter Thirteen
Richard
The quiet is worse than the noise.
Three days. No Travis. No Rebecca. No surprise visits, no slanderous social media posts, no whispered accusations in the hallway at work. Penny calls it progress.
I call it a setup.
Because silence like this isn’t peace. It’s a held breath before the scream.
I’ve been looking over my shoulder like I’m waiting for something to snap.
Penny tries to be hopeful—tells me maybe the worst is over, that maybe Rebecca’s pride got injured or she just got bored, and Travis finally crawled back into whatever grease-stained hole he slithered out of.
But she flinches when a delivery truck idles too long outside the clinic.
She still scans the parking lot before walking to her car.
We’re managing. Barely. Our shifts line up, our evenings are slow and full of bad TV and the occasional kiss that makes my hands shake.
I can feel it building—something deep in my chest that’s equal parts fury and helplessness. I want to protect her. Want to fix everything. But how do you fight something you can’t see?
That’s the thing about ghosts.
They only show up when they know you’ve let your guard down.
I’m not even inside the pharmacy when it starts.
The automatic doors open and I hear her—Rebecca—before I see her. Her voice echoes off the glossy tile floor and cheap seasonaldisplays.
“—I just kept it to myself all those years because I thought if I said it out loud, it would make itreal—”
I stop cold.
Every instinct in my body locks down.
The place is half-full.
