Chapter 15

“It was Thanksgiving, and a huge snow storm had come through earlier in the day. Even though the heaviest was over, it was still snowing and the roads were very slippery and hazardous to drive on. Annie and I were out of town on business for our company, and Michael and our two kids were coming to see us and celebrate the holiday with us,” Andrea explained, taking a deep breath. “A semi jack-knifed in the road and my husband did not have time to stop or avoid it. He slammed right into it, and then three more cars ran into him. My husband and my son were killed instantly, and my daughter made it to the hospital before she died. Five other people were killed too.”

Andrea stopped talking and looked down at her hands, allowing the tissue she was holding to distract her. She felt Nick staring at her, but he didn’t say anything.

“I loved him more than I ever thought it was possible to love, and that’s why it feels so strange to have feelings for you. I feel like if I move on with my life, then I’m disregarding everything Michael and I shared. He was my home, my kids were my home, and now all of that is gone and I feel like I’m homeless,” she said sadly, looking into eyes.

Nick had no idea how she felt; he had no comprehension of her grief or desolation. What could he possibly say to comfort her? Selfishly though, he had more questions he wanted answers to. He didn’t want to seem uncaring, quite the opposite, he wanted to know as much as he could so he could try and understand her pain. “How old were they?” he asked gently, referring to her children.

“My son was the same age as Baylee. I think Leighanne and I were in labor at the same time actually, as weird as that sounds. My daughter was three months old,” she explained, tears filling her eyes. She walked over to her purse and took out her wallet. She pulled out a picture and carried it over to the couch. “This was our last family picture, it was going to be sent in our Christmas cards that year,” she told him as she handed him the picture. “We had it taken a week before the accident. I got them in the mail four weeks after the accident, and I was devastated.”

Nick looked at the picture, many different emotions flowing through him. “You were a beautiful family,” he said tenderly, wondering if he could make her as happy as she looked in that picture. He handed the picture back to, afraid to look her in the eyes. She noticed his evasiveness.

“Nick, what are you thinking? I know this is a lot to hear, and I’m sure I overwhelmed you. But please, I just shared all that with you, don’t hide anything from me,” she begged, hoping that she did not scare him off.

“I want to be your home,” he said quietly. She wasn’t sure if she heard him right.

“What?” she asked quietly, hoping she had heard him right.

“I want to be your home,” he said again, louder this time. “I don’t want you to be homeless. I want you to be with me, and I want to make you happy, and I want to give you all the things you had before and all the things you wanted and didn’t get, I want to be with you.” He rambled on and on. “I don’t know if I can make you happy, because you were clearly very happy before, but I want the chance to try.” He took her hands in his and looked into her green eyes. “Please, let me be your road back home.”

Andrea sat there, with an astonished look on her face, and for one of the only times in her entire life, she was speechless. The look on his face was more than she could imagine, she saw genuine sincerity and love, and his eyes were overflowing with compassion and deep, meaningful emotions even he could not explain. He wiped away the tear that was rolling down her cheek, and with his hand still on her face; he leaned in and kissed her. She did not pull away, and she did not stop him.