Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this story. I hope you guys will forgive me. Here's the new chapter, I hope it's worth the wait.

Chapter Two

The pungent aroma of coffee filled the small apartment. Ruthie sipped the hot brew from her favorite cup; a burnt orange latte mug. Her eyes scanned the empty laptop page.

Completely blank, the page seemed to mock her. She'd been on a roll the past few days, but now- the day before the big meeting with her editors about whether or not her new book was a good idea- she was stuck.

It wasn't like Ruthie didn't know what to write about. Far from it actually. There were so many ideas flooding her brain that Ruthie had trouble sorting them to where they made sense.

The phone rang, breaking through the swarm of thoughts buzzing around in her mind. She reached for the cordless phone absentmindedly.

"Hello?" She said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hey babe." Ruthie tensed slightly.

"Mac, hey." She fidgeted on the couch and sat the laptop down on the coffee table in front of her.

"I just got back in town and thought we could get together." Mac said. Ruthie's mind was reeling.

"I thought we broke up two weeks ago." She said sternly. Even though she'd dumped him, Mac had continued to call, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Yeah, we did." Was it just her imagination, or was he…laughing.

"And that break up still stands." Ruthie was quickly growing annoyed.

"You're serious?" The laughing had stopped.

"Yes, I am."

"But I thought that that was just one of those things we do, you know. Where you pretend to be mad about something I did then I buy you flowers and take you out somewhere nice and everything's fine again."

"You cheated on me, Mac!" She cried, shocked that he was acting like he'd been the one to get hurt.

"I told you that was a mistake." He argued.

"I don't want to hear it." Ruthie shook her head. "I'm tired of your excuses, Mac. We're finished and that's final. So stop calling me." She hung up, not giving him a chance to say anything more.

With a sigh, she leaned back in to the couch, letting it conform to her body. She ran a hand through her hair. The thoughts and emotions that had been flooding over her seeped away slowly. A tremendous weight seemed to have lifted off her shoulders and Ruthie felt a thousand pounds lighter.

Feeling suddenly very tired, she lied down on the couch and closed her eyes. Fighting and standing her ground always seemed to drain her of energy.

La Cucaracha interrupted the light sleep that she had fallen into. She reached for her cell phone blindly- her eyes still closed- and clicked it on.

"Mac, I told you, stop calling me." She said.

"Ruthie?" It was her mom, and she sounded like she'd been crying. Ruthie was instantly awake.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

"You need to come home."

"Why? What's going on?" She was worried now. Her mom sounded so distant.

"It's your dad," Annie's voice became choked with tears. "He…Ruthie, he died this morning."

Sunlight filtered through the leaves and cast warm sunshine upon the tree-lined street. The road snaked in front of Ruthie, the twists and turns as familiar as the back of her hands.

The house loomed large in front of her. The home of her childhood, the place where every milestone in her life had either happened or been celebrated.

Ruthie pulled up alongside the curb. Cutting the engine, she closed her eyes and allowed a single, solitary tear to roll down her cheek.

Dead. The word was like an avalanche; falling over her, suffocating her. Her father couldn't be dead. He was still in his mid-fifties. That was too young to die. Wasn't it?

Eric Camden was larger than life, larger than death. Nothing could touch him. He was the rock of the community, the minister, the guy that everybody came to for help. He couldn't be dead.

Wiping the tear away, Ruthie climbed out of the car and walked up the familiar steps to the front door.

She hadn't been home in a year. Guilt overwhelmed her. Maybe if she had been home more often, if she had helped out more when she knew that her dad's health was starting to go down hill. The "what ifs" flooded her, burying her beneath their weight. Another tear escaped, unbidden. Ruthie shook her head. Her dad would want her to be strong. He wouldn't want her to mourn his death, but rather celebrate the life he now led in Heaven.

But that was so much easier said than done.

Trembling slightly, Ruthie reached out and twisted the doorknob. The door swung open easily and she walked inside, the two bags she'd brought with her bumping gently against her legs.

"Hello?" She called, her voice echoing through the house. "Is anybody home?"

The only reply was Happy, their dog, running down the stairs to greet her with an exuberant bark.

"Hey girl." Ruthie knelt down and patted the dog's head. "Where is everybody?" Happy simply wagged her tail in response.

It had been awhile since he'd last visited the Camdens, and he hated that his latest visit had to be under such circumstances.

Martin pulled up in front of the house where he had lived, being treated like one of the family, for almost two years. Even after his father had come home from Iraq, the Camden's house still felt like more of a home than the house his dad had bought upon his return.

Climbing out of his car, Martin noticed a cherry red Mustang sitting in front of the house already. Glancing at it curiously, Martin headed up towards the house, ready to see the people who had been like his family.

He nearly ran into a stooped figure when he walked inside.

"Oh, I'm sorr…" His words were cut off when the figure stood and turned to face him. "Ruthie?" Her face split in a grin when her eyes caught his.

"Martin," she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight, "I'm so glad to see you."

Pulling away, he studied her. She'd changed some in the time that she had been in LA. She had grown up.

The last time Martin had seen her was her college graduation, just before she and Mac- who had once been his best friend- had decided to move out to Los Angeles to get jobs. Mac with the baseball team, Ruthie with a publishing house that was housed there.

The change in Ruthie wasn't exactly physical. Her hair was still the same dark brown curls that Martin loved. Her smile could still brighten his day. When she was sixteen she'd hit a growth spirit and had gotten a few inches taller and had…ahem…matured quite a bit. So any major outward changes had already happened to Ruthie.

No, they were more inward. She seemed so much more adult like. Like she had seen, and maybe done, things that had slowly eroded away the innocence that had once been wrapped around her like a blanket.

"How have you been?" She asked. The light in her eyes, the one that had once given so much life to her face, had disappeared.

"Good," he said, nodding slowly. "I'm working as an architect at a firm in Washington right now."

"That's great." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"What's up with you?" He asked, wanting to know what was happening between her and Mac.

Martin had to admit, no matter what he said or how he denied it Mac dating Ruthie had been what really caused the split in their friendship.

"I'm working on a new book right now. Or I was." She shook her head. "I don't know anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"It was supposed to be kind of like my memoirs, but I don't know anymore." Martin could see the tears threatening to spill over her eyes.

"Oh." He looked down at his feet, suddenly very uncomfortable. The memory of Eric Camden's death came crashing down upon him, ruining the good mood that had overtaken Martin at the sight of Ruthie.

"I'm real sorry about your dad." He said, wishing that he didn't sound so lame.

"It's okay." Ruthie tried to smile, but she seemed unable to do so. "It was his time I guess." She took a deep, shuddering breath, obviously fighting against tears.

Without thinking, Martin wrapped his arms around her, drawing her close. His touch must have set something off inside of Ruthie, because a second later she was sobbing loudly into his shoulder.

So? What did y'all think? Was this chapter worth the wait? Please review and tell me what you thought. I don't know how long it will be before the next chapter comes out, but I'm hoping it won't take nearly as long as it did for this chapter.