Let Me Love You Again (An Echoes of the Heart Novel Book 2) by Anna DeStefano

Author:Anna DeStefano [DeStefano, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2015-04-28T05:00:00+00:00

“My name is Oliver,” he announced to the room that evening. “And I’m an alcoholic and an addict.”

After talking with his mom over the phone, taking care of Teddy all day, then visiting his dad at the hospital while his sister spelled Oliver again at home instead of getting her afternoon off, he’d officially hit the wall.

Joe’s spirits were still high, though the angio had sapped even more of his energy. And now he was due back in surgery—later that night if Kask could line up a surgical team and an OR. There hadn’t been enough improvement in Joe’s latest tests. Bypass was his best shot at recovery now. And Travis had taken one look at Oliver leaving their dad’s CICU room and agreed to be at the house tonight—because Oliver had needed to be here.

“Hello, Oliver,” replied the AA group gathered in a strip mall just outside the Chandlerville city limits.

Everyone met his gaze, patiently waiting for him to continue. Everyone, except for Selena.

She’d zipped through the doors at the last minute, after he’d caught sight of her barreling into the parking lot practically on two wheels. She’d parked her excuse for a car as far away from the meeting space as possible. He’d considered slipping out the back door and sparing her knowing he’d been there at all.

Except he’d been waiting to speak first, once the opening business of the meeting concluded. He was there to work his program. To cling to his commitment to stay clean. Selena, presumably, was dealing with her own sobriety in an equally responsible way. And she didn’t need him to look out for her anymore. She’d made that clear enough. Now she had her coffee and was sitting at the back of the room, making eye contact with no one. Not since she’d heard his voice and realized he was there.

“I’m only in town for a visit,” he continued. “My father’s having health problems that got a lot worse today. My family needs my help more than ever. Plus there’s a lot more going on than my dad possibly . . . dying.” Oliver clenched his fists. “I’m not coping with things nearly as well as I should be. And the last time I felt this way and didn’t take care of it by working my program, I found myself at the bottom of a bottle of pills, wondering if I’d screwed up everything that was important to me for the second time in my life.”

Selena looked up, the honesty he might never have been able to give her one-on-one connecting them across a roomful of strangers.

“Alcohol,” Oliver continued, “was how I destroyed my best shot at a normal childhood. I haven’t had a drink since I was nineteen. I’ve made something of myself. I had everything in my life exactly the way I wanted it. Then two years ago I chose taking prescription drugs over dealing with things that most days I still don’t want to deal with. I relapsed. Hard. I thought I’d fully recovered from that.

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