A Tough Moment

Chapter Forty Seven

"I told you already, I don't know where she's gone." Caleb sighed.

"Don't you think you should know if your girlfriend is in trouble?!" I rounded on him.

"We're not even dating anymore." he stated.

What...since when?" I frowned.

"Since I signed the paperwork." he admitted.

I frowned at him still not understanding what he was talking about.

"Didn't she tell you about that?" he asked.

"No, she didn't." I answered.

"What did you do?" I quickly added.

"I forged her signature on the divorce paperwork." he sighed.

"Why the hell would you do that?!" I exclaimed.

"Well you wanted them signed didn't you?!" he countered.

"Yeah, but that's not the point." I sighed.

"She probably needed some time to get her head around it, and then she would have signed them herself." I pointed out.

He scoffed and looked away from me.

"What?" I frowned.

"You have no idea how she feels do you?" he muttered.

"She doesn't open up to me anymore because we're not together." I stated, pointing out the obvious.

"Well she's still hopelessly in love with you, she cries herself to sleep virtually every night and she wakes up calling for you. She's been going around like a zombie, crying all the time, and even though it breaks my heart to admit it, she doesn't love me, I can see it in her eyes, I'm just a distraction." he said sadly.

"But I thought she was over me." I whispered, not quite able to believe what I was hearing.

"I don't think she ever will be, it'll always be you." he sighed.

I perched on the end of Emma's bed and pondered his words. How could I have spent the last few months having no idea how much turmoil Emma was actually in? All this time, I'd thought she was moving on and I was the only one struggling, but it simply wasn't the case. Suddenly everything that had gone on these last few months seemed pointless. The only reason that I'd left was to protect her, but as a result both of us were suffering, probably more so. She had been right all along, we should have stayed together and made the most of the time we had left.

"I think I've made a terrible mistake." I whispered.

"Welcome to my club." Caleb said, smiling slightly.

I frowned for a moment as I suddenly noticed a blue giftbox on the dressing table.

"What's that?" I asked Caleb.

He turned and followed my gaze.

"Oh apparently that's your Christmas present." he answered.

It didn't make sense to me that Emma had taken everything from this room and yet for some reason she'd left the box. Caleb watched me as I stood up and crossed the room, gently picking up the box.

As I opened it I gasped when I saw the contents. There were two beautiful lockets, one engraved with my initials and the other with Georgia's. As I looked along the box, I couldn't help but notice that there was a missing space, presumably that's where Emma's locket had once been. I slowly took out my locket and gazed at the beautiful family photographs inside. My heart stopped for a moment as I turned the locket over and saw that there was an engraving on the back that simply read: Together Forever

I stood staring at the locket for a while, desperately trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to spill out of my eyes. On impulse I took my mobile phone out of my pocket and called Emma, praying that she would pick up. I let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding when she answered.

"Hello." she answered quietly.

"Oh thank god, where are you?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter." she said quickly.

"What's going on...where's Leon?" I asked, bombarding her with questions.

"I'm going away for a while, I just need a break from things..and Leon's fine, he's with me." she told me.

"You can't take my son away from me!" I exclaimed.

"I'm not trying to do that, I just need some time out, I'll be back in a few weeks, and besides you have Georgia." she sighed.

I sighed and thought for a moment. As much as I hated the thought of being away from Leon, I knew that I had to allow her to do this. If Caleb was right and she was suffering as a result of my actions, then it seemed only fair that she be allowed some time to clear her head.

"Okay, just promise me you'll come back." I whispered.

"I don't know if I'll come back, but I promise I'll be in touch in a few weeks and we can work things out then." she stated honestly.

"Okay." I muttered, before quickly hanging up the phone, successfully resisting the urge to tell her that I love her.

Emma's POV

I smiled down at Leon as I carried him along the beach in his car seat. Being back in Florida I finally felt at home, even though the memories were still following me. I continued walking until I reached the other side of the cove.

"The last time I was here, me and your Daddy got married, in this very spot." I told Leon, who gurlgled in response.

I sighed and rummaged in my pocket, gently pulling out my wedding ring. I gazed down at it, before kissing it slowly and throwing it into the ocean.

"Time to move on." I stated.

AN: Okay guys, that's the end of the book, I hope you've enjoyed it. I do have another one planned that will follow on from this story. It'll be called A Tough Life and I'll hopefully be able to start it soon :)