Part II

FoundLove: U-Hauling & New Beginnings

Emma stood inside Maurice's office in front of his big mahogany wooden desk. Files and litigation papers were stacked neatly to a side and gold frames of his family sat perfectly upright. Under a gold cover sat a box of tissues. They were his version of bar nuts that he offered to his clients. Divorce law was one that dealt with a lot of unhappy endings and tears of sadness ripping lives apart, one dollar or trinket at a time.

Shelves to the side were stacked full of books ranging from political science, economics, and divorce law. Behind her was his Law Degree hanging in a perfectly set mat and frame. She felt like an intruder with her muddy boots tracking a trail of footprints on his beloved oriental red and blue rug. She couldn't recall the last time Maurice had asked her to come into the office. Most of her work was done from home, or out of office following her leeds.

"Emma take a seat." He said with that lawyer finesse. You know, the pretentious, 'I know I'm better than you' condescending tone. He sat back in his large brown chair with his hair combed over to the side with a little too much mousse. Perhaps it wasn't even real hair, could have been a really shitty toupee. Around his neck was a tie with the Florida Gators all over it. In the south, people obsessed over college football, a little too much. Especially, when you started incorporating it into business wear.

She made her way over to the two old worn leather seats that sat in front of his desk. Her body sank into the cushion and she tried to make herself comfortable. The seats were obviously worn out from one too many mourning wives or husbands taking a tissue from the gold box to wipe their tears and snot filled noses. She had to admit, the gold box was perfectly placed an arms length away from the chairs.

Emma hesitantly asked. "What's this about?" She crossed her legs as she waited for Maurice to talk. Her eyes saw the mud on her shoe again and she self-consciously dropped her foot back to the ground. She had walked through the grass in a hurry from the parking lot to the building. The heavy rain recently made the ground soggy and by default, muddy.

It wasn't like him to call her. Normally they communicated via email and it was usually short. This morning, however, she woke up at nine to a call. It was short and to the point. He told her to be in his office at ten. She rushed to get dressed and ready, had to speed through a few traffic lights and rolled stop a few stop signs to get there on time, which she hated.

"Look, I don't do this. I'm gonna cut right to the chase." He said, matter of factly. "You're work has been horseshit these last three months. I thought I made myself clear with the Albert Spencer case. You were on thin ice kid. I thought you taking a long vacation would help you get your head back in the game." He swallowed thickly and just stared at Emma with two disappointed eyes.

He picked up a file and slapped it on the middle of his desk causing her to jump. "Last week I told you I needed pictures and proof that this man was cheating." He held up a photo. "What did you do?" Maurice asked.

"I, I, uhm lost him in traffic." Emma said, starting to realize where this was going. She didn't lose the guy once, more like four times. She knew how bad it seemed. "I got into a really bad wreck the last time I followed someone at full speed. I was trying to be careful." She defended.

"Excuses Emma. All I hear are excuses!" He yelled. "You're costing me clients, which mean money. I pay good money to employ you and I expect results. Is that so hard to ask for?" He pounded his fist against the wood of his desk causing the frames to jump.

She watched as he opened the next folder. "What about this one? Huh? She should have been easy to catch. I gave you everything you needed to know." He showed her a picture of the woman, her first case back since her vacation. She had fucked that one up majorly. In fact, it was the worst she had ever done on a case.

"I, she, I blew my cover." Emma said with her head hung low. "She saw me following her a few days in a row and-" Maurice cut her off.

"And that's right, so I lost about five thousand dollars in lawyer fees and then had to pay you. Don't you see how I got the short end of the stick, Emma? It should have been you that did. You messed up big time." He huffed. "You're becoming a burden. So what do I do?" He spoke with his hands in the air. "I already gave you a warning months ago. Do I warn you again?" He asked as he moved the folders back to the neat stack.

"Truth is, I found someone else. They've been covering the same case as you. The kid is a genius and you'll be sad to know that he cracked the case with everything that I needed to know three days ago. You realize you had the same case and you've given me nothing to go on. The kid earned his keep, don't you think?" He said before going on again about her failures while on the job. It was endless, really and it didn't make things better for her, but maybe it did for him. Getting to rant on and on was probably what he needed to justify what was bound to come next.

Emma dejectedly looked down at the carpet on the floor. Her eyes danced around the different shapes and colors trying to distract herself. She should have known sooner or later that things would come to an end. All good things do. Her mind wasn't in the game anymore. He was right. Her mind wasn't even in Orlando, it was in Maine, with Regina. This past month was the hardest month transitioning from being around Regina twenty four seven, to minimal contact. It was pure Hell on her heart.

Emma missed the small things, like bringing Regina coffee in bed in the mornings and getting to wake up to shower with her like they did over vacation. She couldn't sit next to Regina at dinner laughing about their day or even sit with her while she watched the news, or something as equally boring. It didn't matter though because Emma would endure anything so long as Regina was there by her side. Even when they got into fights, shit, Emma would trade anything just to be in a fight with Regina because what followed were usually heated make-up kisses. And those kisses often led to her making love to Regina in the ways she could never make happen a thousand miles away through a damned computer screen.

Sure, August occupied most of her free time. He was doing his best friend duties and would take her out to a movie. Just a few days prior, he had taken her bowling. Her parents visited just after the New Year. August and her father had really hit it off golfing together and so they made a day out of it, as a family. Her mother was better than she imagined. Leave it to Emma to be the only one to suck. She hit one too many balls into the woods and sand traps. She added another two hours to their game alone with her inability to golf. She appreciated her family and August, but it didn't feel right anymore.

Her keys slipped from her pocket on to the rug below her. A silver shinny key stared back at her and it reminded her that she had a choice. She could always just get up and leave. She could chose to go to Maine. Her life in Orlando was all that was holding her back. Her job clearly wasn't in the picture anymore, it was just August and her parents. She loved them all, but they could never give her what Regina could. They could never give her the love she desired.

"Emma, are you even listening to me?" Maurice's angry voice cut through her thoughts. "See this is exactly what I'm talking about. You're not even trying anymore." He yelled. "I've given you a inch and you've taken a mile kid. It's time to get your head outta your ass and start thinking for once." He stood from his desk chair and looked out over the window directly behind his desk. "I liked you Emma, but you don't belong here anymore, I think I'll be doing you a favor by letting you go. I'm taking you off payroll. You'll get your last check in the mail next Friday." He turned and added, "I mean no ill blood between us. I think you'll do great things wherever you end up next. If you need any recommendations I'll give you one if you don't give me any trouble." He turned and tossed his thin readers glasses on his table. "You may go now." He motioned to the door. Just like that it was all done. It was official, there was one less reason to stick around.

Emma reached down and picked up her key ring from the carpeted floor and cleared her dry throat. "Uhm, thanks for the opportunity." She managed to say before turning and leaving his office. Outside the door was a young blonde kid in his twenties sitting in a chair waiting. She was sure that he was her replacement and she laughed to herself, "He's all yours." She made a grand gesture towards the back office to the door that had thick black letters, Maurice French, Attorney at Law, on the door.

"I-" The newbie tried to say.

"Save it." Emma said before swinging open the front door of the office and entered the muggy hallway to the building. The old building probably had asbestos in the insulation and there was probably black mold lurking in the air vents. She shook her head and was thankful to never have to come here again, even though she didn't come into the office often. She made her way to the old wooden staircase at the end of the hall. Her eyes burned as tears started to swell up in her eyes. She was beyond embarrassed and honestly wanted to go home and crawl in bed with a bowl of Doritos and some Ben and Jerry's ice cream with Weezy and August.

Her phone started to ring and when Emma saw it was Regina. Her heart dropped. She didn't even know how to tell her that she just got fired from her job. It was too humiliating and she wasn't ready to admit that out loud yet. She wanted to get home first, take off all of her clothes and take a hot shower, and try and forget that she messed up. She needed to get her own humiliation out of her system and find any sense of pride she had left. She looked down at the ringing phone and almost hit 'ignore,' but stopped.

She didn't want to ignore the call. Regina deserved to have her at least answer just so she can tell her she'd call her back.

Emma answered and said, "Hey, I really can't talk right now." Her voice was shaky. "I'll call you later." She hung up before Regina had a chance to say a word and shoved her phone into her pocket. She'd regret that later. Regina wasn't someone you could just hang up on and not get in trouble for it. In fact, it wouldn't shock Emma if she called right back or shot her text saying something along the lines of 'Don't ever hang up on me again.' Maybe Regina would understand when Emma broke the news about her lack of job and she'd be less mad.

She didn't want Regina to know that she was a failure. In fact, this was the first time Emma ever really failed at anything. She was a good worker and a good student, back in the day. She never gave people problems, until now that is. It wasn't like she was doing it on purpose. She just had her mind focused on Regina and not her job. Who could blame her really? She had gone a lifetime afraid of never finding love and now that she had it, well it kind of turned her world upside down.

The phone in her pocket rang again. She was sure she was about to get a mouthful and Emma was close to ignoring it this time for real. She knew better though, she was quite literally whooped. So she answered, "Regina?"

"Don't hang up." Came a tearful voice. A few stunned seconds later she cried out, "Emma?"

Emma's heart busted from the seams. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong and she had hung up on Regina. She paused on the stairs for a second in shock from the distressed brunettes voice. "Regina, what's wrong?" Emma asked, fearful of what would come next. Screw that she lost her job, something horrible had happened and Regina needed her. She could feel it in her bones and she fucking hung up on her. She was really messing shit up today.

"Daddy. He...he… died." Regina's words were too much for Emma to hear. She found herself slowly sitting down on the dusty brown stairs. She dropped her keys off to the side and her head into her hands.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked as she felt hot tears running down her face.

She didn't understand how everything could all turn around. They were all just so happy a month ago. Everything felt perfect and now everything was crumbling apart. Emma sat there listening to Regina crying through the phone. She could hear her gasping for air and her wailing out, "Why?" Snivels of sadness echoed through the phone and broke Emma's heart even more. She just wanted to pull Regina into her arms and lay under the covers of a bed all day. She wanted their pain to go away.

The keys next to her reminded her again that she could just get up and leave. Regina promised her a home with her in Maine and there was even a job with the Portland Police Department if she wanted. There was nothing anchoring her in Florida anymore and all Emma wanted was to hold Regina so much closer to ease her pain.

"I'm here, Regina" She wiped her face. "I'm right here. I'm going to get the first flight out, okay? I'll be there soon. Just, can you wait for me?" Emma asked as she tried to stand. Her body felt like her soul had been sucked out of it. She lost her job and someone who was like a father to her all within an hours time.

Her head could barely fathom that Henry was dead. A kaleidoscope of images passed through her mind. There were so many good memories that she created with him in such a short time that she knew him. He had embarrassed her as if she were his own daughter and saved her from a moose attack all within two weeks. Not to mention the wise advice he had given to her multiple times. He was everything she wanted in a second father. Her dad was great, but having someone else? Well, that was, well, too good to be true. Henry was a good man. She learned to love him very quickly and saw so much of Regina in him.

Regina's torrent of howls weakened to a snivel, "I need you… Emma… It hurts. It hurts. Make it go away." She cried. "I don't understand. He was fine. He was fine and then mother called. He's...He's" She faltered through her words. The most collected, poised person Emma knew was falling apart. "He's dead." She said again. "My dad, Emma…" She whimpered sounds of sadness through the phone. "I'll never get to tell him I love him again." She cried herself to the point of choking.

"He knows, baby. He knows." Emma cooed. "Is someone with you?" Emma asked, softly.

"Jeff's here. I'm at...at the office." She cried. "He called Kat. She's coming."

Emma nodded. She didn't like Kathryn and it dawned on Emma, the last time she thought about Kat was the day the moose attacked her. Henry had asked for her to give her a second chance when she saw her next. Never did Emma think that the old man's death would be what brought them together again. She swallowed back a bitter metallic taste in her mouth and fresh tears sprang from her eyes. The world was a cruel place at times.

"I need to… I need to go home and get a bag packed and head to the airport, okay?" Emma asked. Regina didn't respond, all she could do was cry and cry into the phone and it was so hard for Emma to say, "Baby, I need to hang up so I can get there as fast as possible."

Her words caused Regina to cry harder. "Baby, I love you." Emma said, trying to help the other woman. "I'm coming, okay. I'll call you back as soon as I can. It's going to be okay, Regina. I'm coming." She said, almost as if she was trying to tell herself that it was okay. It wasn't though. None of this was okay. Losing someone was never okay, it was tragic, and heartbreaking.

Emma heard a barely audible, "I love you too." It was unmanageable, really, being a thousand miles away and not being able to comfort the person she loved so much. She wanted to take all of her pain away. It wasn't fair, Emma shook her head.

"I'll call soon." She repeated again. It took every ounce of strength she had to pull the phone away to hang up. She wiped the snot and tears from her face and left the muggy building for her car. She assumed it was early enough in the day to catch a flight out pretty easily.

She got into her car and pulled out her phone and called August.

"Sup blondie?" He asked, cheerfully.

"Hey, can you be at my apartment in a few minutes. I need a ride to the airport. Regina's father died and I need to get to her."

"Are you serious?" August asked immediately concerned. "What happened?"

"She didn't say. She was too distraught. Look, I need to get off the phone and call Delta to see if I can book over the phone. I'll see you in a few minutes." Emma said.

"Okay, drive safe." He said before hanging up.

Emma opened Google in her search browser and then searched for the contact number for Delta. After the annoying automatic operator asked a million and one stupid questions she was directed to a Delta assistant to book her flight.

"Hi, I need to book a flight to Portland International Jetport. Do you have anything around noon"

Her only option was a flight at noon or four.

"What date will you be returning." The woman asked over the phone.

"There will be no return flight." Emma said. She wasn't sure when, or if she'd be coming home anytime soon. Regina needed her most now and she planned on being there for her.

"Alright so I have you leaving at twelve arriving in Portland at four with a one hour layover in Charlotte, North Carolina."

"Okay." Emma said before giving her credit card information. She hung up the phone, flight now booked and drove as fast as possible back to her apartment.

August was waiting outside for her when she arrived. She stumbled out of her car in a rush to get her bags packed.

"Emma would you slow down?" August said following hot on her heels.

"I can't she needs me. I need to hurry up." Emma said as tears fell down her cheeks.

"You'll get there. Just take a breather and tell me what you need me to do?" He said, calmly.

She huffed out a big breath of air. "I don't get it. How can everything go to shit so fast? I lost my job August. I lost Henry and I just…"

"You lost your job?" He repeated slowly piecing together Emma's morning.

She shook her head and said, "I… I booked a one way ticket. I don't want to come back. I, there's nothing here for me anymore." She cried harder.

"What are you going to do about your apartment, you're not thinking rationally!" He argued.

"Just call my mom to come pack stuff up to ship to me and give everything else to Goodwill." Emma didn't care. She just needed to be in Maine, away from this place that had stopped being her home a while ago.

August clenched his jaw. Emma could see him wanting to ask more questions and yet all he said was, "Okay." He motioned to her bedroom and asked, "What do we need to pack for you?"

It didn't feel real. You know, it felt like a blur. Emma always assumed she'd have some sort of cook-out or farewell party before leaving. She never imagined she'd leave like this. She didn't know when she'd be back to visit, but this was the last time she'd be in this apartment with all of her things. She looked at everything in her room and closed her eyes. She tried to remember everything about the room. She remembered all the times August and her had laid in bed watching movies or baseball games together. There were times her mother had visited and played in her soft hair on their 'mother daughter' days and painted their nails. Then, there was Regina and their first time. She couldn't ever let herself forget the first time she let Regina touch her, or their how they made love. There was so much trust between them. This room held secrets and memories that she never wanted to lose. It was hard to let go of it all.

In this apartment alone, her and August probably drank a total of two thousand beers in the two years that she lived here. On her dresser sat a picture of her mom and dad. She had no idea when she'd visit them again either, but it wouldn't be just some day trip to the golf course in Orlando. Everything was going to be different the moment she walked out of her front door. It was surreal.

"Okay I think that's it." Emma said as she slammed her luggage shut. She followed August from her room and just as she went to close her door, she paused and soaked in the way the sheets were twisted and how the curtains had a sheer layer of dust on them. There was clutter on her dresser of God knows what, but it was all her's and now a part of her past.

"Come on, we need to get you to that airport!" August put his hand on the bridge her back and guided her to the front door. She handed him the keys and said, "Will you take care of the place till my mom can get up here to go through everything."

"You have my scouts honor." He smiled.

"Please, we both know you never were a boy scout." Emma poked fun. A smile crossed her face for the first time that day.

It was when they got to the airport that Emma realized that she forgot about Weezy. She broke out into another fit of tears before she forced August to promise he'd care for the cat while she was gone.

"Jesus, Emma, I promise. l'll make sure he's okay." He grabbed her into a bear hug and squeezed her tight. "I love you like a sis. It's going to be fine, I promise. Call me when you get to Maine." He said before pushing her out of his arms and in the direction of the sliding doors.

It felt like the longest commute in the world. The taxi from the airport was probably the worst part. The first car she got into refused to drive her to Westbrook claiming it was too far. The second driver spoke zero English and got lost several times enroute to Regina's home.

When she got there the door flung open and it wasn't Regina. Instead, she was met with her favorite person, Kathryn.

"Hey." Emma said tentatively.

Kathryn motioned, "She's in her room." She stood back and let Emma enter. "She won't let me or Jeff up there. She's been waiting for you." Kathryn said carefully.

Emma sat her luggage down in the entryway and took off the red peacoat that belonged to Regina. "Thanks. I'm…" Emma pointed towards the staircase. "Going to go up there to check on her. Where's Cora?"

"She's in Providence the wake and funeral are the day after tomorrow." She said.

Emma nodded solemnly. "Uhm, I tried asking her, but you know she was too upset. How…" Emma searched for the right words, but none came to the forefront of her mind. "How…" She tried again.

Kathryn must have picked up on what she was trying to ask and answered. "Cora said that he had been sick for some time. He was too stubborn to go to the doctor and he couldn't stop himself from coughing. He got himself in a coughing fit and couldn't breathe and the ambulance didn't make it in time. She thinks there were some other underlying health concerns, but we don't know yet." She said, softly.

A few stray tears danced down Emma's cheeks and she nodded in understanding. "That's awful."

"It is, but right now you need to hold it together for Regina she's a mess and she needs you. Jeff and I are going to make some dinner for you both. I'm going to be staying in the guest room in case you both find yourself in need of anything." She said. "Oh and Emma, it's nice to see you again, despite the circumstances." She said with a tight smile.

Emma couldn't believe that the woman standing before her was the same woman she met a month ago. She guessed, in times of tragedy people really do set aside their differences.

"Thanks for being here Kathryn." She said.

"It's Kat." She shrugged. "I should have never asked you to call my Kathryn. No one calls me that, well except for my assistant, but that's different." She added.

The was a long pause between them before she motioned to the staircase, "Why don't you go to her. She needs you."

Emma knew that they had miles to go, but it felt good that at the end of the day, Kat was someone they could count on.

When Emma made it to Regina's bedroom, she knocked softly before entering. She didn't hear anything, so when she did peek open the door she noticed the brunette huddled under her big duvet.

Emma slipped her boots off and tip toed to the bed and moved the covers open and slid in next to Regina. The brunette rustled in the sheets and turned over. Her dark brown eyes were swollen red and all she said was, "You made it."

Emma caressed her puffy pink cheeks and said, "I did and I'm here to stay." She moved forward and kissed the lips she had longed for. "I'm not leaving you ever again, Regina."

That night they stayed in bed only getting up for water or to go to the bathroom. Kat had made them homemade soup and brought it to them in bed. There weren't many words passed back and forth except a few, I love yous and that was about it.

The next day was just as hard, except they had to drive down to Providence. The school had a memorial for Henry and they attended with Cora and Kat.

Regina's childhood home was just as nice as her home in Maine. Her bedroom had shelves full of equestrian ribbons and pictures from her high school years. The walls were lavender and she had a canopy above her bed. She could easily see Henry sitting on the edge of Regina's bed and animatedly telling her stories before bedtime.

It wasn't how Emma expected her first trip to Providence to be. She had looked forward to WaterFire on the river in the summer with Henry. He had talked about that with her when he invited her to visit.

The funeral was the day after that. Henry was cremated. They felt that spreading his ashes around to his favorite places would be more of what he would have wanted. The casket they buried was full of letters everyone wrote at the wake.

Cora had taken a long time writing hers. She cried a lot and Emma noticed the soggy blots of tears on it when she helped put it in an envelop. Cora had grabbed her hand tightly and said, "He just loved you Emma… Loved you so much." It was hard to not lose the little resolve she had left then.

But, it was when Regina asked Emma if she was writing a letter that she lost it. "Daddy would have wanted you to. He loved you." She said sweetly.

So Emma did.

Henry,

Way to pull a fast one on us all. I really don't know what to say, other than thank you for all the laughter and for passing on the wise words that you did with me. Also, for saving my life. I'll make sure to read the Moose Attack Survival Guide next time since you won't be there to protect me again.

I guess, I really want to thank you for Regina. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me and, well, if it weren't for you, I'd never have her. I never thought I was worthy of someone else's love till she came around. She's challenged me and made me see the beauty within myself that I was blind to for too long.

I planned to ask you someday if I could marry her. We do that in the south still, ya know. I'm sad I'll never get that chance. When that day comes though, I promise you that I'll forever love her till my dying day. I'll truly cherish the precious life you made possible. So thank you again. I only wish that I could have gotten to know you more. Rest in peace, Henry. You were like a dad to me.

Love,

Emma

She tried to be modest and block her face with her long blonde hair as she wiped the tears away. Like Cora and Regina, her letter had soggy places where tears had dropped.

She folded the letter till it had a sharp crease and tucked her words safely in the envelope. She dropped it in the casket and looked at the portrait that sat next to it. She could see so many similarities between him and Regina. She was thankful that she at least got to know the man who Regina called daddy. She was honored even.

She smiled at the picture before turning to hold Regina's hand. "You doing okay?" Emma asked.

"As okay as I can be." Regina said with a frown. "I'm glad you're here with me. I don't think I would have been able to come if you couldn't. I needed you more than ever."

Emma nodded, "I know. I'm not going anywhere." Emma promised as she pulled Regina into her arms.

It's sad, sometimes it takes an ending to one story before another can truly begin.