We all have...that One, the one who got away. The one we fell for or simply were attracted to, but we never got our heart’s desire. That One, but not necessarily the One, at least not the first time around. That One who slips into our fantasies late at night when we’re feeling melancholy or nostalgic. Maybe we took a chance once upon a time and it simply didn’t work out. Maybe we never took the chance…and we wish we had. We all have the name of the one who got away tattooed on our heart, always with us, never forgotten. And sometimes, we get a second chance with that One.
There is something hopelessly romantic about the idea of connecting with a long-lost love. Note I said idea. In truth, reconnecting with someone from our past can be…awkward, at best. Of course, it does sometimes work out. I know of two couples who, under very different circumstances, reconnected long after their first meeting and rekindled their passion for each other. In the first case, the couple had dated off and on for years, never quite being on the same page until their paths diverged for a decade and then crossed again. Now they’re happily married and raising two children together. In the other case, the two people involved were always attracted to each other but were so very different they both knew they’d never be compatible. Years later, throwing caution to the wind, they took a chance and discovered it was their differences that made them work as a couple. The lesson here is that time has a way of working magic on our lives and our hearts and what might have once seemed foolhardy or even impossible can suddenly turn on a dime at some point in the future.
And so, dear reader, I present you with this luscious collection of second chance stories, about couples who have known each other, and sometimes loved each other, only to be separated by choice or fate. And in every case, something has brought them back together, either deliberately or by happenstance. More than any other anthology I’ve edited, this one is filled with longing—and hope. Here in these pages, you will find lovers discovering that the heart wants what it wants and is often willing to wait however long it takes to be fulfilled. So much longing, it will make your heart ache, but it isn’t unrequited and it doesn’t go unfulfilled.
Happy reading, and may the memories of your one who got away be fond. Who knows what the future holds…right?
Kristina Wright
Chesapeake, VA