Keeping London (The Flawed Heart Series Book 2) by Ellie Wade Page A

strength on their journey. I was in that group. I waved and blew kisses with a strained smile as the military procession pulled away.
    Long after the busses were out of sight, my hand continued to move back and forth in front of me, the pained smile frozen to my face. Eventually, I dropped it. Sighing, I gave Maggie a quick hug, and I left.
    Now, I’m sitting, cross-legged, on my couch, where I’ve been sitting for the better part of the day, feeling numb.
    It’s been mere hours since I’ve seen Loïc, yet the gravity of a year of longing is weighing down on my heart, causing a pain I’ve never known.
    I know that I’m not the first to see their soldier off on deployment. I realize that countless wives have said good-bye to their husbands, the fathers of their children. This pain isn’t exclusive to me, but it aches as if it is.
    I ignored the impending sorrow that the enormity of this reality was sure to bring for so long, not wanting to spend a second of my time left with Loïc feeling down. But it’s here now, and I must face the next year without him. I just don’t know what to do with myself or how to make this hollowness in my chest go away.
    My cell vibrates next to my leg. My hand springs for it, causing it to fumble in my grasp. I take a calming breath and hold the phone steady. Loïc’s name flashes across the screen along with one of my favorite pictures of the two of us.
    I quickly swipe the screen to answer. “Hey.” My voice sounds relatively okay, not hinting to the internal mess that I am.
    “Hey, babe. Miss me yet?”
    “Very much,” I answer honestly. “Did you just get there?”
    The busses took the guys to a National Guard base in Columbus, Ohio, where they will leave from tomorrow.
    “A few hours ago. We’ve been debriefing and getting everything ready to leave tomorrow. We’re done for the rest of the night though.”
    “Oh, that’s good. What are you gonna do?”
    “I’m going to go out with Sarah and Cooper, maybe dinner and bowling or something low-key.”
    There’s a buzzing in my ears from all the blood rushing to my head. I didn’t hear everything Loïc just said, seeing that I kind of blanked out after I heard the word Sarah . I’m pretty sure, if one’s head could explode from fury, my brain matter would already be decorating these walls.
    “Sarah?” I say as steadily as possible.
    “Oh, yeah. She drove up here for the day to surprise me. She wanted to say good-bye in person.”
    Oh, I bet she did.
    “I didn’t realize that you could have visitors tonight. I would have flown down to spend the evening with you.” My lip quivers, and I have to stop the impending waterworks.
    “It’s okay, babe. It’s not really common practice to have visitors here. Sarah just showed up, and it kinda all worked out because we finished up early.”
    I sigh into the phone, at a loss for what to say.
    “I miss you, too, London,” Loïc says sweetly.
    “Yeah? Like, a lot?”
    “An insane amount.”
    A small smile spreads across my face. “I miss you like crazy, too.”
    “Remember, everything will be okay…right?” he says, trying to reassure me.
    “I know.”
    “All right, well, we’re heading out. I’ll call you tomorrow morning before we leave.”
    “Okay, I love you.”
    “I love you, too,” he says before the line goes dead.
    I hold my cell phone in my lap and just stare at it. I’m so lost already, and my journey has barely begun. How will I ever find my way?
    I raise my head when I hear Paige enter the living room. She’s just getting back from work.
    Placing her leather laptop bag on the chair, she looks to me with a worried expression. “Are you okay?”
    I shake my head, biting my lip to stop it from trembling.
    “Do you want to talk about it?”
    I shrug, my eyes filling with unshed tears.
    “Do you know what we need?” The question is rhetorical, so she continues, “We need a good old-fashioned cry session. I’m talking about snot-dripping,