Chapter Four

Here is the last chapter of this story. The story was beta read by one person. Any mistakes made are mine and mine alone. I hope you enjoy!

Wow! Amanda thought to herself as she sat on Lee's couch. Of all the things Amanda had expected Joe to say, that he was engaged, and the engagement was now called off, was not one of them. And to add to that, she hadn't anticipated him saying he wished he'd pushed more for his marriage with her, for them to have tried again. Well, it wouldn't have mattered because by then, it was too late. Besides the fact that she had changed and had outside interests, she and Lee had begun to grow closer. She didn't say any of this to Joe, of course, but said instead, "But, you apparently thought enough to ask Carrie to marry you, so doesn't that mean you love her? And that you just got sidetracked by the announcement of my engagement?"

Joe looked up at Amanda thoughtfully. "That's the thing, Amanda; I don't think that I do love her. I think I'm still in love with you."

Oh my gosh!

"Joe got engaged and then they broke up?" Lee asked as they finished up some pie and coffee while he listened to Amanda; recap her conversation with Joe from the day before.

"Yes."

"And, all because you told your news first?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "I suppose."

"What do you mean, you suppose?"

"It's complicated."

"Amanda, I still think Joe wants you back!"

"Well, I don't know that he does."

"What? How can you still think that after what you just told me?"

"Hear me out on this, would you, please?" When Lee didn't say anything, Amanda continued. "You know the story about the grass being greener on the other side, theory?"

"Yes, but what does that have to do with Joe?"

"He only thinks he's in love with me because I'm not available anymore. If I were available, he wouldn't want me." Lee looked at her in disbelief. "Okay, Lee, maybe he would if I was willing, but he isn't in love with me."

"But what about all that business about thinking he should have pushed harder to get you back?"

"It's all talk; he's in love with the idea of being in love with me. There's a difference."

"Hmpf! So—" Lee softened his tone. "How did you two leave things?"

"I gave him something to think about; we'll just have to wait and see if or what he decides to do with my advice."

"Amanda?"

Amanda pushed her plate away. "You know what? I think that's enough talking about Joe right now," Amanda said, giving Lee a seductive grin.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Lee asked, with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

Amanda wrapped her arms around Lee's neck and pulled him close and whispered something in his ear.

"I agree, that is a much better topic to talk about."

"Hmm, Hmm!" Amanda murmured as her lips met Lee's in a passionate kiss.

***SMK***

A few days later, after his conversation with Amanda, Joe stood outside Carrie's apartment building with flowers in one hand and chocolate in the other. He'd been sitting outside in his car for quite a while, contemplating whether or not he should ring the bell. He knew for a fact that Carrie was home. Her car was parked in front of her apartment building, up ahead, just a few feet from his car.

With Amanda's help, he now knew that it was Carrie that he wanted. He was going to call but thought that he had a better chance of seeing her if he surprised her, so here he was, trying to get up enough nerve to ring the bell. Joe was afraid of her answer, and he couldn't blame her if she said no, but he had to try. As he tried to work up his nerve, Amanda's words replayed in his mind.

Joe, I know that you think that you are in love with me, but you know that's not the truth. You may still have feelings for me, love even, but that is different than being in love with me. Just think back and remember the reasons we got a divorce and when you finish, sit down and take a hard look at why you wanted to marry Carrie in the first place and then go and talk to her. But if you can't come up with reasons to try again with her, move on. I did.

After giving what Amanda had to say some serious thought, Joe finally decided that he knew what he wanted. But now that he was here, did he have the nerve to try?

***SMK***

Carrie was sitting on the couch, drinking a glass of wine and watching Cheers when the doorbell rang. A glance at the clock confirmed the time as 7:15. Now, who in the world could that be? She thought to herself as she quickly got off the couch and went to the intercom. A commercial was on, and her program would be back on any moment and she didn't want to miss anything. It would be months before it went into reruns.

"Who is it?"

There was no answer. Some kid was playing a prank, maybe.

"Who is it?"

"It's Joe. Uh, can I come up?"

Carrie's fingers froze on the buzzer as her heart began beating more rapidly by the moment as she tried to wrap her head around the fact that Joe was actually downstairs ringing her bell, asking to come up.

"Carrie?"

Carrie hesitated another moment before finally hitting the buzzer. She made a quick glance in the nearby mirror then waited for Joe's knock on the door, then opened the door slightly, her face blank. Joe stood there with flowers and candy in tow.

"Hi, Carrie, I'm sorry that I didn't call-" Carrie was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, her blond hair pulled into a ponytail atop her head, slippers upon her feet. And she couldn't have looked lovelier.

"I wish that you had phoned first, too—but you are here now. What do you want?"

Carrie's harsh tone and words caused Joe to step back slightly. He couldn't exactly blame her. What did he think? That she'd been sitting around mooning over him or stuffing her face with Bon Bons?

Because he'd failed at one marriage, Joe had taken a lot of things into consideration before he actually proposed to Carrie. Although Joe would always love Amanda, he knew that he did love Carrie. And that it was time he moved on.

"Yes?" Carrie asked, reminding Joe that he hadn't yet answered her question.

"Would it be possible for us to go inside?" Joe asked, glancing down the hallway.

Carrie's look spoke volumes, yet she reluctantly stepped aside and allowed him to come in.

"These are for you," he said, attempting to hand the candy and flowers to her and seeing that she wasn't taking them, he placed them down on the table by the door instead.

"Joe, you really should've—"

"I know. I know, Carrie. Please hear me out," he began and kept going in a rush, still standing since she didn't offer him a seat. "I'm not here to ask you to take me back, or to ask you to marry me even." He went on at the look of surprise written on her face. "I know that I have hurt you too bad for that. I want to apologize for hurting you and try to explain myself to you. Will you give me a chance to explain?"

She hated to admit it, but he was still as handsome as ever, his hair and those eyes. "Alright!" Carrie nodded her head slightly, then sat down, gesturing for him to do the same.

"I haven't been the same without you. Even my children and the people at work kept asking me what was wrong. I have truly missed having you in my life."

"What about your ex-wife? Can you honestly tell me that if you had another chance with her, that you wouldn't go for it?" The image of his ex came to mind but she didn't say anything about it.

"Yes!"

"And why should I believe you now?"

Joe didn't dare tell her that talking to Amanda helped him to figure things out but said instead, "Because she and I both have changed; we are different people...I knew that before you and I started dating. You see, she and I had already talked about it. There is a part of me that will always love her. It's just that once, well, we don't need to go back over that." Joe stood and walked a little towards her but kept a few spaces between them. While we were apart, I thought about you all the time. I realized that I missed you and that I'm very much in love with you and want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"But Joe, how can you be so sure now?"

"I wasn't thinking straight before. Give me a chance and I'll prove that it is you that I want and that it's you that I need."

Looking at him, he seemed so sincere and so willing to give them another try; despite her best efforts at trying not to cry, tears began to shimmer in her eyes. "Oh, Joe!"

They both looked towards one another, uncertain about how to proceed. It took everything Joe had inside him, not to take her in his arms. But the hesitant look on her face, cautioned him to remain where he was.

Carrie, on her part, wanted to reach out towards Joe, but it was too soon. She forced herself to stay where she was.

"I imagine you need time. But if it's okay with you, I'd like to call you one day next week, just to see how you're doing. Then we can just take it from there."

Carrie nodded and stood as he walked towards the door and paused momentarily before leaving.

With a sigh of relief, Carrie sat down on the couch.

***SMK***

As Joe headed down the stairs, he fingered the ring in his pocket but then pulled his hand out as he continued towards the exit. At least this was a start.

That's all, folks!

The end for sure this time! :) LOL. I think.

As always, thank you for taking the time out to read! Very much appreciated.

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