Losing Him (Mitchell Family #8)(28)

“It’s bad luck for you to see me in it anyway.” She tried to smile through her sobbing.

I leaned over and touched her arm. “I appreciate that you’re considering that I’d be the groom. I think you should keep it nice. Maybe we could use it on a rainy day when there isn’t anything else to do.”

She took it as a joke, which was good since I meant it that way. She shoved my side. “You’re lucky I like you so much.”

“Maybe you can remind me how much you like me, a little later?”

She smiled. “Maybe I will.”

Heather took her time putting the dress back in the box, after she’d pulled it out and admired its detail. Her mother really was a talented seamstress. The woman took care of people at the hospital and then came home and made things. It seemed liked a boring life. Maybe she liked the fact that Heather kept her on her toes.

We spent the rest of the afternoon going through boxes. It was tedious, but when it as all said done, we’d made good progress.

The lawyer showed up right before we started to cook dinner. He had called and said that he’d be late, so we just stayed in the attic longer. Jacob had acquired a bunch of new toys to play with. He stayed in the living room setting up little cars and tracks.

Once Heather and the lawyer were sitting down, I joined Jacob. Her mother’s affairs weren’t my business and I didn’t want her to feel like I was intruding. It was something that she needed to handle on her own.

I’d no sooner sat down with my son when he started getting curious. “Daddy, how come you slept in bed with Mommy?”

“Because I wanted to.” I readjusted something he had set up.

“Why?”

Of course he would ask that. “Isn’t it okay if I want to hug Mommy and sleep next to her?”

“Yes.”

“Mommy and I talked about it. We want to be a family and be together again. Is that okay with you?”

He put down his car and looked at me. “Does that mean we can live together and you don’t have to pick me up anymore? I don’t like leaving Mommy alone. It makes me sad.”

I hadn’t thought about our living arrangements yet. This decision of mine was unexpected. “We can talk about it. Would you like that?”

“Yeah. Just make sure you don’t leave my toys.”

Of course, he would mention his most prized possessions. The kid didn’t have a clue about relationships. This was just another reminder.

After playing cars for over an hour, I saw Heather walking the lawyer out. She didn’t look happy and I could tell that he must not have given her good news. Once she shut the door, I waited for her to approach before asking questions. “You alright?”

“It wasn’t good.” She shook her head and walked toward the kitchen. “Apparently, she had to cash in her retirement to cover my brother’s attorney costs. She spent forty thousand dollars and he still was found guilty. That should be a crime in itself. They robbed her!”

I couldn’t believe it. “Wow. She’s his mother. That’s what parents do.”

“I know.” She let me hug her. “I just hate that she worked so hard and lost it all. I guess it doesn’t matter since she wouldn’t have been around to spend it. It wasn’t like I was counting on getting rich. I was just hoping that I could put something away for Jacob.”

“If we live together, than we can afford to start saving for him.”

“I’m not moving in with you just for that. I never asked you to change your life around because things got hard for me. Besides, my mother had life insurance. It will pay for her funeral and then leave a little I can put into savings.”

“What about the house?”

“She took out a loan on the house. I have no idea what it was for, but now she has a mortgage of fifty grand. I can’t pay it, so I have to put the house on the market.”

I knew that the house was a big memory of her mother. Giving it up would be difficult. Heather wasn’t just saying goodbye to her mother. She was saying goodbye to everything.

I hugged her in my arms. “We can do whatever you want to do. If you want to keep the house, I can help you make the payments. If you live with me, you will be able to afford the mortgage here. You don’t have to lose everything, babe.”

She looked up at me, with those blue tear-filled eyes. “Are you sure?”

I kissed her on the lips. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Chapter 15


Heather


It was all too good to be true. I knew it and it was just a matter of time before he did too. Then there was the dress. I had no idea that my mother had planned on making me a dress for my ‘someday’ wedding. It was shocking and upsetting at the same time.

Since I had so much on my plate, it was necessary to take one day at a time. As much as I would have liked to think that my happily ever after was really going to happen, I knew it was far-fetched.

The sad part was that I wanted to be with Jessie more than anything. Still, he was a live wire, sitting and waiting for me to f*ck up. It was the same story, but always a different day.

Jacob made out like it was Christmas from the toys we found in the attic. He was set up with cars and army men. For the rest of the evening he played with his newfound toys, quietly. Even Jessie played a little bit with him, reminding himself that he was once a kid too.