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Part 2

Chance

Anticipating what the woman is attempting to do, Chance Hunter slams on his brakes, stopping within an inch of her slender form. Jumping out of the car, he runs to her. He briefly meets her intense gaze before catching her in his arms as her eyes slip shut and she passes out. Walking around to the passenger side, he gently places her in the seat, and then gets in and drives off.

Chance glances over at the woman every few seconds. Even with its gaunt appearance, he has never seen a more beautiful face. For weeks now, he has watched the woman from afar, wanting to help her but not knowing how.

And with each passing day, the guilt he has harbored is magnified. It had been his ex wife, Barbara, in the truck with the woman's husband. And though he had been saddened by her death, his loss was nothing compared to the woman's. Her husband had been unfaithful, true, but he took something from her that was both precious and priceless, something that can never be replaced.

A week after the accident, Chance stopped by to see her and offer his condolences, stunned to find she had left, evicted from her home after losing her child. Indeed, she'd lost everything.

Chance knows what it is like to lose so much. It has been years, but it still makes him angry to think about what his ex wife had done. Barbara failed to inform him before they were married that she had undergone a hysterectomy months before the wedding because she didn't want children, concerned that pregnancy would 'mess up' her body. It had been one of the most selfish things Chance had ever seen someone do. Upon discovering this, he'd quickly filed for a divorce, losing a chunk of his accounting firm in the process, as well as his home. Selling the rest of his shares, he invested his money and started over.

Over the past year, he never stopped thinking about the woman in the seat next to him. He had longed to know what happened to her. He'd never met her, but he recognized her from a faded photograph found crumpled in the glove compartment of her husband's truck.

Then, last month on the way home, he had driven through the homeless section of Orlando and spotted her sitting on a bench in front of the shelter. He had desperately wanted to go to her, but he didn't want to frighten her away. So every day he has watched her from a parking lot down the street. This morning he'd finally decided to go to her, not knowing how timely his decision would be.

Pressing a gentle hand against the woman's cheek, he marvels at the intensity of his feelings. In a matter of weeks, he has fallen in love with this beautiful lost soul. Never has anything like this ever happened to him, not even with his ex wife. And now that the woman he adores is in his car close to him, he allows himself for the first time ever, to speak her name.

"Cosset."