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“Well? What did he want?” she asked.
“He said he wants us to be friends.”
“Good man. Is that what you want?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Well, then, you can’t sleep with him. Because you can’t have a friends-with-benefits type of relationship.”
“I know. He told me to call him if I ever need anything.”
“Is he coming to the wedding?” She bit down on her bottom lip. “Because I just assumed he was.”
“I don’t know. Did you invite him?”
“I thought you already did.” She frowned.
“We never really talked about it.”
Rolling her eyes, she sighed. “Give me his number. I’ll ask him. After all, he is the one who got us that wonderful room. He should be there.”
“I agree,” I spoke and then rattled off his number to her.
Drew calling and wanting to still be friends meant a lot to me. Maybe we could be more once I discovered who I was. But for now, friends were what we had to remain, even though I missed him like crazy. I couldn’t use him to fulfill my own needs. It wasn’t fair to him. Truly loving someone before you love yourself wasn’t an option. No exceptions.
“He said he’d love to come.” Kristen grinned.
A small smile crossed my lips. “Good. I’m happy he can make it.”
* * *
Kristen and my father met later that night. Noah wasn’t thrilled, but he put on a happy face for Kristen because this was what she wanted. I stood there and watched my father cry as he hugged her, and the two of them sat down on the couch and talked for a few hours. It made me wonder if Kristen wouldn’t have wanted to meet him if she wasn't dying.
“I have to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to get mad at me,” I spoke.
“What?”
“If you weren’t dying, would you have wanted to meet Dad?”
“Yes. I still would have wanted to meet him.”
“Why?” I asked in confusion.
“Because I’m strong enough to know that people make mistakes. There’s not one person on the face of this Earth that hasn’t made a mistake or two in their life. It’s not healthy to hold grudges. My mother always taught me that. Believe it or not, she forgave him a long time ago.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I wish you could have met her. She was the most beautiful person you’d ever meet. She was so full of wisdom and knowledge.”
“No wonder Dad stayed with her for over a year.”
“She told me that she couldn’t hate him because he gave her the most precious gift anyone could ever give someone: me.”
Tears started to fill my eyes. “Didn’t she ever meet anyone else?”
“She dated a lot. But she said no one could ever fill the shoes that were Dad’s.”
I reached over and placed my hand on hers as we both sat there, letting the tears fall freely down our cheeks.
