Just To Have You Back Again

Prologue

Elizabeth Santiago was 22 years old when she met Alex Madrigal. He was 10 years her senior, but the age difference offered her the stability that has been missing from her life as long as she can remember. Her father died when she was only 3 years old. She witnessed how her mother worked multiple jobs just to put her through school and even just to put food on the table. When she was 10 years old, her mother remarried. If she had a choice, she would rather have her mother be single than be married to a womanizer like her stepfather. The only good thing to come from that relationship were her two younger brothers, Joshua and Caleb. Before long, her stepfather left their family for another woman.

Beth worked full time as she also went to college, but the pressure was too much and had to drop out. She found a job as a server for a catering company and that's where she met Alex. Alex's advertising company had hired the catering company she worked for for their company Christmas party. He saw her right away. Beth did not realize how striking in looks she was. She was not the prototypical beauty, but there was something about her that drew you in; like you wanted to keep looking at her because she got more beautiful the longer you looked. Alex stayed even after the party was over and waited for Beth to finish with her serving duties.

They hit it off right away, finding they had many things in common like a penchant for 80's hair band music, watching superhero movies, and eating kare kare. Not that Beth had much time or money for such "frivolous" things. Eventually, being a student full time and working full time took its toll. She had to drop one, and unfortunately, school was the casualty. Instead, she worked full time for the catering company and took odd jobs on nights and weekends to support her mother and two little brothers. She and Alex had been together for about a year when he proposed. She gladly accepted and planned for a wedding a year later.

A year later never came. Alex died from a freak car accident 6 months after his proposal. He was on his motorcycle when a drunk driver hit and ran. Beth was never the same after that. Her smiles never quite reached her eyes. She became reclusive. All she did was work.

But that's not where the story ends.

In fact, that is only where the story is beginning. She hasn't met Jacob Miller yet.