Page 57 of A Heather Parker Original
“Ah…Heather.”Guilt smashed through him. Why hadn’t he just told her the truth back then…that he loved her? And he had. Probably since somewhere back when they’d first become friends. Though the words had never been said. If only he’d been truthful. The if-onlys flooded through him, crashed over him, mocked him.
“Ididn’t think it was a mistake.”Her eyes flashed in defiance.“Ithought that one night was so very right. I felt like all our years of being friends had fallen into place that night. That I was where I was supposed to be. But I woke up, and you were so sure that itwasn’t. That it had been a mistake.”She looked right at him.Intohim.“You crushed my heart with those words.”
And with her words right here, she crushedhisheart.“Heather…I…”He reached out and took her hands in his.“I’m so, so sorry. I’ve been blaming all of this on you. But if I would have told you the truth all those years ago, everything would have turned out differently. You could have to come to me. We could have made the decision together.”The enormity of his role in this whole mess crashed down on him. He’d been so cruel, so hard the last few weeks. Unwilling to listen to her to consider what she’d gone through. Unwilling to look past his anger. Embarrassment strangled him as he realized he’d made it all about him
Sadness lingered in her eyes.“We might have chosen to keep our son and tried to give him the life he deserved. Or maybe we still would have given him up for adoption. But you would have had a say in it.”Her voice cracked as she said the words.“So…do you forgive me?”
“I do,” he said, his own voice cracking with emotion. “I realize now that you did what you thought was best. What you thought you had to do. And I hope you’ll forgive me for saying sleeping with you was a mistake.”
“Because that one night brought us the best thing we could ever hope for, didn’t it? It gave us Blake.”There was an intensity in her eyes that he’d rarely seen.
He squeezed her hands.“That it did.”He released her hands and swept a lock of hair away from her face.“And, Heather?”
“Um?”
“I should have told you this years ago.”
“What’s that?”She searched his face.
“I should have told you…”He touched her cheek, and she smiled.“I should have told you that I love you. I have for…well…for forever. Since we were kids and best buddies. You have always been the only one for me.”
Her eyes widened and she let out a tiny gasp.“What did you say?”
“You heard me.”he grinned.“I said that I love you.”
“I thought that’s what you said, but I wanted to be certain.”She cocked her head to the side and a delighted grin spread across her lips.“That’s a very, very good thing to say to me.”
“It is?”
“Yes, it is. Because I love you, too, Jesse Brown. Always have, always will.”
He tugged her into his arms and kissed her. Right there where anyone and everyone could see. Because Heather Parker loved Jesse Brown. He didn’t think he’d ever heard a better piece of news.
Epilogue
The Parker women sat out on the point at Donna’s house, enjoying a pleasant summer evening. Barry was out of town on business and Aunt Donna had taken the opportunity to have all of them over for drinks and watching the sunset.
Heather leaned back in the chair, enjoying the company. She hadn’t stayed this long in Moonbeam since she’d left right after high school, and to her surprise, she was loving every minute of it. At least since she’d started working things out with Jesse.
“So, how goes the legal process with Blake?”Donna asked.
“It’s actually going better than we’d hoped. Blake’s aunt has no real desire to be his guardian, and Jesse got temporary guardianship. It will take a while to get everything sorted out.”
“And Jesse got Blake enrolled in school with Emily,”Livy added.“They start in a few weeks.”
“It’s so cool to have my cousin at my school.”Emily popped up from her chair.“I’ve been introducing him to all my friends. But Jeanie Francis has a crush on him, and she’s way not good enough for him.”
Heather laughed.“So, you’re Blake’s protector now, huh?”
“Hey, what’s a cousin for?”Emily paced a few steps, then sank back onto her chair with a grin.
“Yes, whateverisa cousin for?”Livy teased.
“A cousin is to knock some sense into someone. To insist they keep trying to make things right.”Heather smiled at Livy, glad for her cousin’s insistence that she keep trying to get Jesse to listen to her. They had a tentative truce going now. No, better than that. He’d said he loved her. She wasn’t sure where it would go from there, but for now, she was grateful for what she had. And she’d forever be grateful that Blake had come to Moonbeam searching for them.
“I’m so glad that you and Jesse are working things out,”Evelyn said.“He’s such a nice young man.”
“He is, Mom. He is,”Heather agreed.
“And things are going well between you and Austin?”Donna asked Livy.
“They are. He’s up visiting his family right now, but he’ll be back soon. He asked me to go with him, but things have been so busy at the cafe. I told him I’d go with him next time.”
“Things are going pretty well for all of us, aren’t they?”Donna raised her glass.“To the strength and resilience of the Parker women.”
Heather clinked her glass with all of them. Yet another Parker women toast. There was just something wonderful about being a Parker woman. Something magical. She was just sorry it had taken her so long to figure that out.“To the Parker women.”
