Rowan

Chapter 2 | James

Her brown hair tumbled over her shoulders in waves, and she was tapping a beat on the edge of the table with her pencil.

Her face was scrunched up in concentration, and he almost smiled at her expression.

He'd seen her in the cafe several times that week, and began to wonder if she showed up every day. He wasn't very fond of the loudness of the college hangout, but from the look on her face, she wasn't either. It seemed that maybe they had something in common.

She jotted down a few things on the sketchbook propped against her mug and then shoved everything in a backpack, taking the empty cup over to the dish tray. A moment later she was gone.

He grumbled under his breath. He didn't know what he was thinking. He hadn't gone to the bustling cafe to socialize.

Still, though. He'd thought about talking to her, but the timing never seemed right. And did people ever really do that, anyways? He just didn't know anymore.

He ran a hand over his face. What the hell was he doing there?

Students were beginning to fill the small building, so he quickly downed the rest of his coffee and made his escape.

•••

He found himself slumped against his kitchen counter later that night with his phone resting against his ear.

It was Mark, his attorney. He'd found out after the divorce that Ada was pregnant, and the discovery opened up a whole new chapter in the war that seemed to be raging around him. He knew it wasn't his child, and this didn't just infuriate him. It absolutely tore him apart.

"I know it may seem like a tragedy," the man said, his voice sounding nasally over the small speaker, "But trust me, you're lucky it's not your child. You don't want to experience the kind of heartache that creates. Especially being that she would have the upper hand in this case – the judges tend to get a little uneasy about a father who serves overseas. Children need a constant in their lives."

The words were cutting, though he saw the truth behind them. Perhaps if he'd been around more, they'd still be together.

"Don't beat yourself up over things," Mark said. "I'll be in touch in a few days. Hang in there."

The phone landed on the counter with a dull thud.

Images of Ada had begun to infiltrate his guard and he rubbed his eyes tiredly. He'd returned from serving overseas to find her happily tangled up with another man—metaphorically, thank God. As far as he was concerned, the only blessing in the whole damn thing was that he hadn't been forced to actually see them together.

And to think they were going to start a family.

How difficult was it to forget about one unfaithful woman? She clearly hadn't loved him, and yet he couldn't seem to get her memory out of his system.

Like poison, she had infiltrated his system and he wasn't sure if he would ever be the same.

She'd taken his heart and soul, and he'd been too far away to stop her.