Read Online Change by Keeley Smith - Free Book Online

brought the chocolate with her so she had something to do
with her hands, and also to dislodge the rock in her
throat.
    She pulled her
lip into her mouth and looked at Ayden as she came to a stop in
front of him. “Can I sit?”
    “ Of course,”
he whispered.
    She sat and
suddenly realised she didn’t know what to say. She fumbled with her
hands until her brain kicked into action.
    “ I’ve been
distant lately, and I’m sorry for that.” Ayden started the
conversation which helped her.
    “ No, Ayden,
you’ve had every right to be distant. What happened to...mum
was...” She stopped. Choking on her words. “I’m sorry I wasn’t
there with you, after everything...”
    As tears
filled his eyes, she could do nothing to stop her own sliding down
her cheeks.
    “ I’m sorry,”
Ayden murmured. “I just wish... I know we can’t turn back the time,
but God, I wish I had more time with her.
    Laura was an
amazing, kind and beautiful woman.” He stopped and wiped the tears
that fell down his cheeks. “I will always miss the child that I
never got to meet, but you have to know; the months I was with your
mother, you were a daughter to me. You still are, and I know you
are our High Priestess, but to me you are my daughter. A daughter
to the woman I love and a sister to her unborn sibling and my
child. I miss her dearly, every second of everyday, but do you know
what gets me thorough it all?”
    She could only
shake her head in reply. The tears had taken away her ability to
speak.
    “ You. I focus
on you, because she loved you dearly, as do I. I want to be here
for me but also for your mother. I let her down in the weeks after
her death by not being there for you, and that stops now. Your
mother wanted to live her life to the fullest. She wanted good
things for you. So we will live and enjoy life for your
mother.”
    His hand
lifted to wipe away her tears. He wiped his wet hand on his jeans
and pulled a face. She laughed as a sob escaped her mouth, making
her sound deranged. “I’ve missed you. I knew that she loved you,
I’ve never seen her act that way with a man before you. You were
good for my mum. As much as I wouldn’t want to admit it at the
time, you were the perfect couple. I saw that too late, and I'm
sorry.”
    “ Thank you,
Cora. It’s never too late to say the things that mean so much. Go
back to Jack. He’s good for you, I can see that now too. I don’t
want to fight anymore, not about the things that don’t matter. I
don’t have it in me. I can see that he feels a great deal for you,
and I just want to make sure he has the right intentions. That he
isn’t going to hurt you.”
    “ Something a
father would do, I get that” she added.
    “ Yeah, I can
see that he means no harm.”
    She smiled and
gave his hand a squeeze. He kissed it as she stood and headed back
up the coach towards Jack.
    All eyes were
on Cora, letting her know her whole coven had been listening into
their conversation. She gave each of her coven members a small nod
and smile, and they continued with their tasks. Ember picked up her
book. Clay was sat doing something on his phone. You could see he
missed Clio’s company. They had been best friends, and now he
didn’t have that. Again, she felt guilt join the mess of emotions
swirling in her gut. Cora hadn’t been able to save Clio
either.
    Eli returned
his attention to his laptop, and Tabitha continued scrawling on the
paper. Jack looked at her, the smile on his face making her insides
squirm. The ache in her chest had become less intense now she was
talking with Ayden again. Cora knew that the ache would always be
there, that it would never go. She knew that she could learn to
live with it. Bit by painful bit.
    Cora would
live her life to the fullest. Life goes on, no matter what. It was
the nature of things. The dead were dead, they couldn’t live life
anymore. Therefore, the living had to make the most of their lives
and live for those that couldn’t.

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