The Swap - Second Chances: Second Chances Read Online Free Page B

wanted what she couldn’t have, yet the legalities of it all said otherwise.
    Darnell nodded his head slowly. "You're right. And you're right that you have filled my head and my heart and preoccupied my dreams. It's been great having you here but it's been torture at home. It's not that I don't love Macy, because I do," Darnell said.
    "Exactly. And I love Will."
    "But you and I, we never had closure. I never got over it. I thought about you through the years and wondered about all the what ifs . The truth is I came back to Alabama to find you. But I ran into a dead end and I got caught up at college. I met Macy," Darnell said and shook his head slowly, looking off at a distant memory.
    "Where does this leave us now? Should I quit and walk away?" Jenna said.
    Darnell didn't want to lose her now even though it pained him to see her and not have her like he wanted. "Absolutely not. We're adults here, we can learn how to work together and go on with our lives. We can be friends just like we have been over the past couple of months."
    Jenna nodded, her hair falling softly about her shoulders. "Okay, good. I don't want to quit. I don't want to walk away. We can do this. We can be friends."
    "Perhaps we should get together more often with our spouses, like we did for the barbecue. Maybe that will help solidify our friendship if we make an attempt to get to know each other's spouses better," Darnell suggested.
    Jenna nodded. "I guess so. I'm sorry that we lost touch like we did. I guess once you left I tried to move on. At least I thought I had. Running into you here was a total surprise. It has thrown me for a loop. I'm sure we'll manage to be good friends." She nodded and smiled though in her heart she doubted it could be possible.
    "We will," Darnell said not thoroughly convinced either because he still had strong feelings for Jenna. He didn't want to admit he toyed with the idea of separating from Macy but Jenna's talk brought him back down from that. Macy didn't deserve that sort of thing and he needed to give his marriage the best shot possible, even if the love of his life sat across from him now.
    So the two parted that evening thinking they had done the best thing by first admitting to their feelings and secondly agreeing to make their respective marriages work. Jenna entered her home with a new resolve to focus on Will as Darnell did the same in his home with Macy. They just didn't realize how in sync they were with each other.
    For a while Jenna felt good about the conversation she and Darnell had because it helped to resolve some of the struggle within her mind and emotions. But perhaps the damage was already done because Will seemed a bit off to her even when she tried to make amends.
    For Darnell, Macy kept herself busy, busy enough not to be affected by his indifference. He hated how he had acted and didn't quite know how to pick up the pieces again. Still, he honored what he and Jenna had agreed and tried to make his marriage to Macy work.

Chapter Seven
    Jenna had been crying about the turmoil she felt over Darnell for months. She hadn't been convinced it to be the right thing because of the condition of her heart. Yet she wanted to follow through with the agreement to make her marriage work. So here she sat crying when she knew Will was away. Her raw emotions no one else witnessed.
    Instead of dealing with their marriage she had shut herself off from him, becoming a stranger. She couldn’t take his touch and longed for Darnell. She knew it wrong and that’s why she didn’t pursue Darnell. That’s why she stayed with Will, her husband. She had been bad with him though and she needed to try to make amends, somehow.
    When she heard Will come in she determined to make their marriage work. He had a bad day and thought it business as usual with his unresponsive wife. Because for months she seemed cold and uninterested in his advances. He had grown tired of her vagueness and moodiness she showed all the time now. He