“About telling everyone about Dex?”
I froze. How were we so bad at keeping this secret? Were we really that obvious?
“Oh don’t look so shocked. I’m your mother. Did you really think you could have a man climb through your bedroom window and I wouldn’t notice?”
My cheeks flamed, because yes, it hadn’t occurred to me that anyone had known about the night Dex set up the picnic for me in the garden.
“Don’t look so scandalised, sweetheart. I’m happy for you. Dex seems like a lovely man and Jasper tells me that it’s not all lies, he actuallyisas good as he seems.”
I laughed then. Trust my mother to check up on him before raising any suspicions with me.
“Yes, we’re planning on telling everyone who hasn’t already guessed,” I admitted. “We’re doing it at dinner tonight. At the farm.”
“And you’re scared they’ll react badly?”
“No. I’m scared they’ll react too well.” I moved to sit on the bed beside her. “I’m scared they’ll be supportive and excited and try to help us figure out a way to make this work when we already know there isn’t one.”
Mom was quiet for a moment, just looking at me with those eyes that had seen me through every heartbreak, every triumph, every moment of my life.
“Is that what you want?” she asked finally. “For it to end?”
“What I want doesn’t matter. My life is in Blue Point Bay. My studio, Wren, everything I’ve built. And Dex’s life is here. His garage, his family, this whole world he’s part of.” I picked at the comforter. “There’s no compromise that doesn’t require one of us to give up everything we’ve worked for.”
“So you’re choosing to give up each other instead?”
Put like that, it sounded stupid. Cowardly.
“We’re being realistic.”
“Realistic.” Mom repeated the word like it tasted bitter. “Leigh, can I tell you something I’ve learned?”
“Do I have a choice?”
She smiled. “No. You’re getting my unsolicited maternal wisdom whether you like it or not.” She took my hand, squeezing gently. “When I was your age, I met Jasper. And I loved him. God, I loved him so much it scared me. But I was realistic too. He had a wife, a family, a life that didn’t include me. So I made the practical choice. I let him leave. I raised you alone. I built a life without him.”
“Mom...”
“And I don’t regret you. Not for a single second. You were the best thing that ever happened to me.” Her eyes were wet now. “But I do regret not fighting for him. I regret not giving him the chance to choose. I regret decades of what-ifs and maybes. I regret all the time we lost because I was too scared to believe love could be enough.”
“But you’re here now. With Jasper. You’re getting your second chance.”
“I am. And I’m grateful for it every single day.” She cupped my face, the way she used to when I was little and needed comfort. “But baby, you shouldn’t have to wait for a second chance. You shouldn’t have to lose someone you love just because the logistics are complicated.”
“It’s not just complicated. It’s impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible. Just difficult. And the question isn’t whether it’s difficult. The question is whether he’s worth it. Wren would understand, sweetheart. It was a tragic accident. She wouldn’t want you to put…”
“Mom! Don’t. You know things are hard for her, you know why.”
“Tell me he isn’t worth fighting for,” she demanded quietly.
Tears spilled over despite my best efforts. “He is. God, Mom, he’s worth everything.”
“Then maybe tell him that. Maybe tell the brothers that. Maybe stop deciding the ending before you’ve even tried the middle.”
Before I could respond, my phone buzzed. A text from Dex.
Ready for tonight? Picking you up at 5?
