Losing Him (Mitchell Family #8)(17)

“I can’t live here. I mean, I think it’s amazing that you three came to say goodbye to my mother, but I know how this town feels about me. You don’t have to be nice to me. I know I don’t deserve it.” I didn’t get it. What wasn’t she telling me that she’d done? I knew sleeping with people could be construed as awful, but she hadn’t been with that many guys, not that I knew of.

“Heather, this town doesn’t hate you. The things that happened were years ago. I certainly owe my life to you.” Amy replied. She seemed like a nice girl. From what I’d seen, she’d been busy since she’d married Conner. It appeared that they had a slew of kids running around.

“You know why I can’t come back. I can’t run into them.” Heather was obviously holding something back from me.

“The twins are turning six. It’s been a while. I know you won’t ever be friends, but I’m sure you can manage to live in the same town without there being a problem.” Van seemed like she was trying her hardest to make Heather feel better.

She smiled, but shook her head. “I’d never take Jacob away from his grandparents, anyway. Jessie’s home and business are where we live now. We’re happy there.”

“We don’t even live with Daddy,” Jacob interrupted.

I could tell that it made Heather feel horrible, so I put my arm around her. “We’re still a family, buddy. You know that.”

Heather tried to change the subject, not realizing that it was going to cause us to be at a loss for words. “I’m sorry. Jessie, this is Amy. I forgot that you’ve never met.”

Amy’s eyes got real big as she looked at me. I shook my head, trying to convince her to not say anything about me coming to them. I didn’t want Heather to know I was snooping around. Thankfully, the little lady reached out and shook my hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Krista has told me nice things about you.”

“Same here!”

This meeting thing needed to happen, because I wasn’t about keeping secrets like Heather. It was bothering me, having to pretend and sneak around behind her back. Like it or not, the future with my family depended on the truth.

Chapter 9


Heather


I was in awe. The outpouring of support for my mother’s life was downright amazing. I never expected so many people to have been touched by her acts of kindness. It made me more envious of the person that I needed to be.

The most shocking part was seeing Amy, Conner and Van there. I had to remember that they were there for my mother, not me. Van had been so thoughtful, like she always was, when it came to comforting me. I don’t know how I would have been able to find the courage to say goodbye without her there. In all the years I’d been jealous of her, I never considered that it was her nature that made everyone fall in love with her. She was always worried about the people around her, putting herself second.

I didn’t expect us to ever be friends, but it made me smile knowing that if we passed on the road, she wouldn’t be cussing me out. In fact, so many people were kind to me during the service. I appreciated it, even if it were all a show to keep the peace at such a sad time.

Jessie socialized with the Mitchell family while I made my rounds thanking the people that had attended. Jacob, being the only child there, was getting bored and anxious. I knew he was going to start bouncing off the walls at any moment. He’d asked to go outside and play over ten times.

I think, for the most part, I was running on autopilot. With the events of the day overwhelming me, I knew I was going to break down again later, after it all sank in. One good thing was that I had Jessie with me. For some reason, knowing that he was by my side made everything a little easier.

I was still pretty confused with his actions earlier in the shower, but who was I to complain about being able to be close to him like that again. It had been a while and I hadn’t realized just how much I missed that intimate touch.

He was the perfect guy; grounded, responsible, caring. It was all great except for the fact that I had tainted his reputation. Being with me was what his parents feared. They wanted him with a perfect career woman, who waited until her thirties to conceive their planned child

Jessie helped clean the hall up before we left to head back to my mother’s. Jacob complained the whole way that he was hungry, bored and wanted to go home. He was officially over the events necessary to bury and say goodbye to his grandmother. I felt mad, but tried to understand that he was only five. He just wasn’t old enough to understand the complexity of the situation.

I don’t know what I expected when we pulled up at my moms. Maybe I thought it was all a dream and she was going to come walking out to greet us. Whatever the case, I just sat there, staring at the front door that wasn’t going to open.

Jessie climbed out and stuck his head back in. “Heather, are you coming?”

I don’t know why I put him on the spot, but that’s exactly what I did. “Tell me you love me, Jess.”

He took his head out for a second and shook it. “I’m not playing this game with you tonight. It’s been a long day and we’re all tired.”

It made me mad that he couldn’t even say those simple words to me. “Are you going to sleep in my bed tonight?”

“Dammit, Heather. Just come in whenever the hell you feel like it. I’m not doing this with you.”