Losing Him (Mitchell Family #8)(53)
I shook my head and she smacked the back of it. Realizing that it could ruin my haircut, I stayed still for her. “She isn’t doing this because I haven’t asked her to marry me.”
“Maybe not, but I think she needs to know you’re in the relationship for her and not because she needs you to be. Marriage may not even be on her radar, but I recall someone showing up at the barn in a wedding dress. She’s obviously considered it.”
“After the dress got ruined, I hardly think she wants to talk about a wedding. Maybe she’s pushing me away so she never has to wear a wedding dress again.” I didn’t know what made her do the things she did. I couldn’t read women’s minds.
Amy started to giggle. “You men are ridiculous.” She got out the clippers, but before she turned them on, she faced me again. “Are you willing to do whatever it takes to get Heather back?”
I held up my hands. “I guess. I mean, it’s what I want. Why?”
“I think I can help with that. It’s going to take me a couple of weeks, but I’m pretty sure I have a solution for you.” Her grin was driving me crazy, like she knew something that I didn’t. I felt like a kid who wanted to know what he was getting for Christmas.
“Can you at least give me a hint?”
Amy smirked and then got this ornery look on her face again. “The dress didn’t get totally ruined. When the accident first happened and they brought her into the ER, they gave Van a bag containing the wedding dress because it was so valuable. I don’t think it fit into those little cubby’s they keep for patients either. Anyway, Van suggested that I keep it and have it cleaned for when Heather got better. The cleaners got out all the blood, but there are a couple spots that need to be patched up. My step-mother can sew anything, so if you want, I can take it to her. If anything is going to get you on Heather’s good side, it’s going to be her priceless dress that her mother made for her.”
“I wondered what happened to it. I think after the accident she just assumed it got thrown away and ruined. Why didn’t you tell anybody? I’m sure she would want to know it still exists.”
“She was in no condition to worry about that. Honestly, I forgot about it until the cleaners called me to pick it up. It’s been sitting in my closet this whole time. I just never knew when I’d see her, or if she even wanted to see it again. I know if my mother made me something like that, I’d never want to lose it. I’d keep it forever knowing that a piece of her was at my wedding.”
“You’re a damn saint. You’re whole family is the nicest group of people I’ve ever met. I’m glad you found Conner. It’s a shame you ever had to be involved with Rick.” I felt horrible admitting that his blood ran through me. I wasn’t anything like that man.
“Jessie, you will never be like that man. I’ve seen you with Heather and Jacob. They adore you. Rick was a bad man. He never cared about anyone but himself. What kind of man abandons their kids and beats their wives?”
“A terrible one.” I had to change the subject because talking about him made my blood boil. Even though I felt embarrassed to ask, I did it anyway. “So, I’ll pay your step-mother to fix the dress, if you think it will work. Heather doesn’t think so, but I need to show her that I’m not with her because I feel sorry for her. I’m with her because it’s where I want to be.”
“You get your plan in order. The dress isn’t going to do the talking for you. Leave the dress to me. We have your number and will call when it’s ready. Maybe you could plan something special when you give it to her.” Amy smiled and turned me around to see my fresh haircut. Just like before, it looked great.
“Thanks!”
“No charge. Go learn how to express your feelings. I hate to see kids bouncing back and forth between parents. It breaks my heart.”
I started to walk away, but turned around and approached her. “One more favor. If you could not mention that we talked, it would be great.”
She motioned like she was sealing her lips and tossing away the key. “We never talked!”
On my way back from seeing Amy, I felt hopeful. Still, I didn’t know how to be around Heather until I had everything in order. This was going to be my last chance at winning her back. We were both tired of the back and forth. The problem was that I didn’t want her walking away, I wanted her with me.
There were several things that I had to do to ensure that I could convince her. I was going to have to tell my parents and get their blessing. Even without it, I knew my choice, but it would make things easier for Heather if they were all on board. I needed to make some financial decisions. In the meantime, I was risking losing Heather to this new life she was trying to start. While I was struggling to save our relationship, she may just fall in love with her new life and not want anything I had to offer her. The two weeks that Amy had asked me to wait may just end things for good.
I was petrified of that outcome.
I didn’t want to have visitation and custody rights for our son.
He shouldn’t have to live in two separate states.
I didn’t want to be without him and neither did Heather, which meant it would come to be a huge battle. For the sake of everything that I loved, I prayed that this plan of Amy’s was going to work. If loves wasn’t enough, I didn’t know what else to give Heather to prove my devotion to her.