Branch One Hundred and Fifty Eight

"Ahhhh" Burke heard a scream from the kitchen.

He hurried out of the room to the kitchen where Emma was seated on the small dining table in the kitchen. Her phone was on the table and her hair was all over the place with tears in her eyes.

"What is it?" Burke asked worried as he walked in haste to her. "What is it?" he asked again which led to began a full-on sobbing.

She did not respond but cried as if her life depended on it.

"Why are you crying?" he asked again holding her close to him.

His eyes shifted to the phone on the table and saw a picture of Jessica and her husband smiling for the camera.

"How is it that I settled for you?" she asked in between sobs.

"How is it that I lost Jessica?" he asked in a murmur.

"What?" Emma asked when she caught a whiff of what she said.

"How is it that I lost Jessica to a jerk like him?" he repeated.

She was the one who assured him that Jessica would always be there for him. She assured him that she would forgive him even if he did not