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At least he hadn’t blabbed anything to Jay, who did seem genuinely concerned about his mother and was definitely trying to help her. Billy glanced up at the ceiling. Should he go up there and see if Bella was awake, or come back later when she was working the evening shift?
The floorboards creaked, and he made up his mind. If she was already up and about, he’d go and speak to her.
* * *
Bella yawned so hard she almost dislocated her jaw as she brushed her teeth in the bathroom. The apartment felt more like hers again since Jay had moved up the street, and secretly she quite liked it. After being widowed so young, and Jay being away in the military, she was comfortable in her own space and almost never felt lonely. She’d lived in Morgantown her whole life, knew everyone, and never felt like she had to be alone if she didn’t want to be.
She came out of the bathroom and glanced at the clock in the kitchen. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but her chair had proved too comfortable, and after finishing her sandwich she’d drifted off. . . .
There was a knock at the door, and she went to peer through the peephole, not wholly surprised to see Billy Morgan standing there.
“Hey.” He smiled at her when she opened the door. “Just wanted to see that you were okay.”
She held the door open. “Come on in.”
He hesitated, his Stetson in his hand. “I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You are not bothering me in the slightest.” She turned away. “Come in and at least let me make you a cup of coffee or something for all your hard work.”
He followed her inside, wiping his boots on the mat, and shut the door behind him. He took his time walking through to the eat-in kitchen, quietly assessing the place, which amused her greatly.
“When was the last time you came up here?” she asked him as she set the coffeemaker working.
He perched himself on one of the stools set against the countertop. “About thirty-five years ago, I think. I came to pick up Ron for a football game.” He smiled at her. “It looks a lot nicer than it did back then.”
“Ron’s parents weren’t much into decorating.” Bella smiled. “And there were five of them crammed into two rooms.”
“Yeah, it certainly felt quite small to me, having grown up an only child in a big old Victorian ranch house.”
“I’m surprised Ruth didn’t have a big family.”
Billy made a face. “She was young when she had me, and there were . . . complications. We both almost died, and my parents decided one kid was enough to carry on the family name.”
“That was a sensible decision, and Ruth sure made up for it with grandkids.”
To her surprise Billy didn’t look any happier. “Maybe we should’ve stopped at one as well.”
Bella stared at him. “You don’t really mean that? I’ve seen the pride you take in your family. You love them all.”
“Sure I do, but Annie . . .” He sighed. “She didn’t do so well.”
Bella held his gaze. “I knew Annie quite well, and I can tell you that we all asked her why you wouldn’t get the snip. She insisted she didn’t want you to do that or get her tubes tied.”
“I did offer several times,” Billy said. “I should’ve just gone ahead and done it anyway.”
“Hindsight is a marvelous thing,” Bella said softly. “We’ve all done things that we just wish we could go back and erase from our timelines.”
“Even you?” He studied her carefully. “I think you and Ron were the happiest couple I knew.”
“We were happy, but we still had our differences.” It was her turn to sigh. “I’ll never forgive myself for letting him drive off the night he died. He’d had a few beers after the football game and decided he’d go pick Jay up from practice. I told him I’d go, and then I got busy, and just let him do it anyway.” She looked down at the countertop. “He crashed into a wall on black ice and never got there.”
“That was hardly your fault,” Billy said gently.
“But it doesn’t matter, does it?” She pressed her fist to her heart. “In here I feel responsible, and I always will.”
