A Second Chance at Forever novel (Eleanor and Bernard)

Now, as she gazed down at the gaunt face before her, a face devoid of life's breath, tears streamed down uncontrollably, pattering madly on Chase's lifeless visage, failing to stir even the slightest ripple... He was gone, his life slipping away amidst bitter words that Sigrid swore she could never forgive, extinguished by the cold rejections she dealt him time and time again, snuffed out by the agony of her infidelity and the regret of never having made her his wife...

Sigrid, debilitated by grief, was pushed aside by the officers. As they draped the white sheet over him and wheeled him away, the closing of the van's door marked her collapse. She crouched on the ground, clutching her chilling body, watching the van disappear from her sight...

Just like Chase had vanished from her life, silently departing, leaving behind a love that spread through her memories like a relentless virus...

He had said that after the trial, there would be no more ties between them. It wasn't that he planned to let her go; he simply had no more time left...

The scent of blood she had smelled on the day of his court appearance wasn't from some decay in the restroom; it was the blood Chase had coughed up...

His emaciated silhouette wasn't due to overwork; it was the cancer eating at his stomach, preventing him from eating, that had whittled him down...

His kiss, wet with tears, wasn't borne of sorrow for her lack of forgiveness, but of his own heartache at having to leave her...

And after that kiss, when he lingered outside the door, waiting for her-it wasn't to create a chance encounter. He only wanted... just to be near her a little while longer before his life flickered out... Sigrid had wandered in search of a pure love, never looking back at Chase, who stood steadfast with an unwavering love, waiting for her...

Even at life's end, he had whispered 'I love you,' but he wasn't able to wait for her response before departing from this world...

Sigrid, like a child abandoned, crouched and wept long and hard. She followed the hearse to the crematorium, heedless of everything else... The McCall family would never sign off for a forsaken kin, so Chase's body lay in the crematorium's morgue, frozen stiff when Sigrid arrived.

Chase, unclothed and

sensation screaming the truth to Sigrid: the man who had loved her so fiercely was indeed dead. Bowing her head, she cradled Chase's

her, the heart that had longed for such an answer was stilled forever, never to flutter with

Chase had lived, he waited a lifetime without

regrets? Yes. He departed with sorrow,

this world, releasing

the torment of

regret? Not for Chase

was gone, leaving only Sigrid to bear the

atop him, crying until it seemed her tears might bring him back, until the crematorium staff, with soothing words, forcibly led

crematorium, knees to her chest, on the

was filled with memories of Chase doting on her, especially of the time he took

was that memory that made her love him with

she longed to

once did, but he

could do

her cheek