Chapter 2

Carol crouched down onto the floor next to the bed and tugged out a cardboard box. She picked out the old photo album with the flower pattern and the lace that was hand sewn by her great grandmother years before she was born. Her grandmother, given only sons, had passed it to Carol's mother upon her parents' marriage, who had given it to her. It was still in pretty good shape considering all the years it had been flipped through and stuffed with memories.

It was filled with pictures she'd treasure forever, pictures of people she barely knew without reading the names her great-grandmother had lovingly written on the back. Her great-great-grandparents, uncles and aunts long gone before she was born, her own father as a baby. Her eyes glittered with tears when she came to photos of her parents' wedding, photos of one of the happiest days of their lives. And then, of course, there were pictures of her, their only child, their pride and joy. Photos of her in embarrassing outfits with a big, cheesy grin on her face. Pictures from countless birthdays and Christmases, pictures sitting on Grandma's deck sipping lemonade in the summer time. Pictures of her first date with a kid named Tobin who was nice enough and ended up with a shiner courtesy of Shane Walsh. He'd moved away shortly after that, and she'd spent the rest of high school turning down Shane's countless propositions.

Her parents had passed away in a car wreck her senior year, and she'd spent the rest of the school year living on her grandmother's farm. It had been the summer before she'd started taking classes at the community college that she'd met Ed. Within three months, she'd transferred to Jacksonville with Ed and left the rest of her life behind.

The thought of it hit her hard, and she couldn't bite back the sob that gave way to tears. There were so many photos of her with her grandmother over the years. She'd kept her head above water after she lost her parents. She'd kept her going, made sure she'd eaten right, kept her busy, kept her going. And then Ed had come along and whisked her away from all of that, and now, as she sat on the carpet of this cramped bedroom in this cramped apartment, she knew it wasn't worth it. She felt it in her bones. She loved Sophia, loved being a mother, but she could be a mother anywhere. And the best moments of her life, her best memories had taken place on that farm.

"What's that you're lookin' at?" Carol looked over her shoulder to see Ed leaning against the door frame.

"Old pictures," she said softly, turning back to look at the book unfolded in her lap. "Just thinking about my grandmother."

"Oh," he said quietly. "Hey, uh, I thought maybe we could go grab somethin' to eat at that diner in town. You hungry?"

"Oh," Carol said softly, "I could eat, but Sophia's just gone down for a nap. We could eat here." Her voice was light. Hopeful. Maybe this could all turn around after all.

"I'll order in. You up for pizza or Chinese?"

"Uh, pizza, I guess," Carol said with a shrug. She chewed her lip for a moment, and she could hear the rustle of Ed's pants as he turned to leave. "Ed?"

"Yeah?"

"Hey, um, I got a call today from Georgia."

"Hmm," he grunted, stepping into the bathroom. She heard the toilet seat clatter against the porcelain back followed by the sound of him urinating. She cringed and put the photo album away, standing and brushing her dusty hands on her pant legs. When Ed stepped back out of the bathroom, stuffing himself back into his pants, she sighed.

"Aren't you gonna ask who called?"

"Who'd be calling you from Georgia?"

"It was some guy named Daryl. He's been taking care of Grandma's place."

"Yeah? What's he want?"

"Well, I guess it took some time for them to sort through everything. But they found her will. Um, Ed, I guess Grandma left the farmhouse to me."

"Why the hell would she do something like that?" Ed snorted. "What're you gonna do with a place in Georgia when we live here?"

"Well, I thought maybe we could take the weekend, drive down and see the place. Maybe we can clean it up and…"

"You ain't thinking of moving back there?"

"Well, I thought maybe with Sophia and everything, maybe it wouldn't hurt to check it out. I had so much fun there when I was a kid, and…"

"You serious? Carol, I'm workin' my ass off tryin' to make a career for myself, and you want me to just pack up everything and move back home. Why? Ain't this place good enough for ya?"

"Well, the house is paid for, Ed, and the taxes are paid up for a couple years. It might help us save some money, and…" She sighed and shook her head. "It was just a thought. What do you expect me to do with the place?"

"Hell, we can sell it. Maybe use the money to get a bigger place here." His voice went soft then. "Honey, I wanna get you and Sophia out of this apartment. And I will. But this is our home now. I'm close to passing the bar. I'm close. We leave now, that puts me back at square one." Carol frowned and turned to walk out to the kitchen. Ed followed behind her. "Now, darlin' don't walk away mad."

"I'm not mad. Just disappointed." She contemplated telling him she had a little cash saved back, that she'd secretly been working to help pay the bills, that whatever she hadn't used to help pay them had gone straight into a cash box at the back of their closet. She had a good chunk of change in there, and it would certainly help them start a new life, but Ed seemed set against it. He really wanted to stay in Florida. Ed was a city kid, so she supposed it made sense. Still, it more than aggravated her that he wouldn't even consider trying something different. Then again, she also didn't want to be selfish. Ed was trying to build a career for himself. If they were going to have a marriage, compromises would have to be made. She only wondered how many of those compromises would be hers to make.

Carol put the last dish into the drainer and wiped her hands on a towel. Sophia was still sleeping, and she was thankful for the quiet, so when Ed turned the TV on to watch a game, she retreated back to the bedroom. She thought about getting the picture album back out, but instead, she looked through the rest of the box, finding trinkets she'd saved through the years such as a necklace her father had bought her on her thirteenth birthday.

Her diary, the last one she kept until she moved to Jacksonville, lay at the bottom of the box. She took it into her hands, opening it to the middle where a single red rose lay pressed between the pages, faded and dry now, she remembered the night Ed had given it to her. She'd never been a fan of red roses, but it had been the thought that counted. He'd been so charming, so sweet, and he'd quite literally swept her off of her feet when he'd taken her down to the lake. It was amazing what a couple of years could do to a man.

She peered over her shoulder and could just make out the view of the side of his face from where he sat in his recliner. Who was this man? What was she doing with him? Had she changed as much as he had? Were they just two people changing for the worst who had come together to make someone as wonderful as baby Sophia?

She gently ran her finger over the edge of one dry rose petal before putting the book away and shoving the box back under her bed.

She'd loved him once. She knew it. She never would have agreed to marry him if she hadn't loved him. But then the months passed and Sophia came along, and somehow they'd grown into different people. She'd become a mother, and he'd become a burdened man.

What was she waiting for?

"Honey?" She startled at his voice and turned to see him standing in the doorway. "Let's take the weekend. Go on down to Georgia and see what the place is all about." Carol gasped softly, standing and turning to Ed.

"Really?"

"Hell, it's worth a look, huh?" Carol sighed happily and moved to hug him. She felt his hands immediately slide down her back, and she knew what he was aiming for. She cringed. It wasn't the response a woman should probably have toward the man she was engaged to marry, but she couldn't help herself.

"It's late, Ed," she said softly. "We should get some sleep before Sophia wakes for a feeding."

"Can't spare a few minutes for me, is that it?"

"Ed," Carol groaned, pushing back on his shoulders when his grip tightened around her. "Please." The tone of her voice defeated him, and he let go of her.

"What's wrong with you? We ain't done it since before Sophia."

"I'm not ready," she lied. "I just need a little more time." Ed huffed heavily before pulling away from her and moving to the bed, giving up his pursuit for the night.

"Well, you know where to find me when you are."

Daryl peeked out the kitchen window as a bolt of lightning streaked across the night sky. He knew he should be heading back into town soon to his apartment down the block from Axel's Garage. He hadn't meant to stay longer than it took to fix the roof, but he'd noticed a leak in the downstairs bathroom sink, so he'd stayed to fix that, too.

As he stepped out of the kitchen to head to the front door, he paused to take notice of the pictures over the fireplace. He'd never really paid them much attention, only coming into the house to fix what needed to be fixed, never lingering more than a few minutes. But when he stopped and took a few minutes to look around, he noticed the beautiful brunette, smiling in high school pictures, her long curls framing her face and sometimes pulled back. There were many pictures of her, and one held a gold print in the corner that read Carol Mason with her graduation year inscribed under it.

A few photos down was what he assumed was a more recent photo of her, her hair trimmed short in a pixie cut that seemed to accentuate her gorgeous eyes. She wore a low-cut blue blouse that hung off of her shoulders, and her eyes seemed to look right into him. But there was less of a smile now, as if a piece of her had broken away. Still, she smiled, and it almost took his breath away.

She was beautiful. Those soulful blue eyes seemed to look right through him, and that smile….he'd never seen anyone with a smile like that, a smile that seemed to brighten her eyes and fill her whole face without effort, save for that last photo.

And then there it was, the warmth and love emanating from her eyes and her smile again as she sat up in a hospital bed with a little bundle in her arms. A man stood at her bedside looking somewhere between stunned and anxious, but she wasn't looking at him. She was only looking at her baby.

Lightning lit up the night sky once again, and he felt a shiver run down his spine. He shook his head, and cleared his throat, but still, his gaze was drawn to her photo. He'd never had this sort of reaction to a woman, let alone a damned picture. He certainly wasn't a virgin, but he'd never felt the need to just know someone before. It hit him like a wave, and he took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck as the hairs stood up.

"Get a damned grip." He could practically hear his brother's voice in his head. "It's just a damn picture. Ain't like she'd ever want nothin' to do with you." He snorted and pushed on the screen door, stepping out onto the porch as the smell of rain and mud clung heavily to the air. "Woman like that? No way in hell. She's a mom. Got herself a man. She'd never look at you twice."

Thunder rumbled over head, and the flash of lightning that followed almost instantly told him the storm was far from over. He settled down on the porch swing and lit another cigarette, taking in a long, slow drag before closing his eyes, leaning his head back and breathing out, letting the sound of the rain on the roof cloud his head and distract him from the haunting memory of those eyes that saw right into his soul.