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That sounds familiar. Regret seems to be my favorite word, because I sure feel it a whole lot.

“But he said that you were the most important thing in the world to him. He said that you were meant for great things.”

A tear falls onto my lap, creating a round dark spot on my silk dress. Dad was good at subtly telling you that he loved you, but what Sean is telling me doesn’t even sound like my dad. He never voiced his feelings like that.

“Hmm,” I mumble.

We sit in silence for a while longer as the sun disappears behind the trees. I’ve never felt so safe while being completely heartbroken. Sean has truly been my saving grace.

The stubble across his jaw is a bit longer than usual, the moles on his left cheek have almost disappeared.

“Sean,” I say, waiting for him to look at me.

His head slowly bends down to meet my eyes.

“I love you,” I say.

His eyebrows move upward slightly, and his eyes glisten. His lips part as he is clearly surprised by my words.

We aren’t quite used to using them yet.

“I love you too,” he finally says.

Slowly leaning into me, his lips press gently against mine, wrapping his hands in my hair. He releases me, placing his forehead against mine.

“We were always meant to be together, Bee. I know it now more than ever. Your dad knew it too.”

“He said that?”

“He said that he was happy to see you with a real man. Someone who can build you back up after all you’ve been through. I thought he was referring to what you went through with Graham. Now I think he might have meant himself.”

I kiss him again, gathering into his arms as he holds onto me snugly.

The way he kisses me isn’t the same as it used to be. He is more patient, taking his time like he knows he has a lifetime to have my lips. Life works in weird ways, creating a beautiful memory on this rooftop from such a horrid day.

My dad told me he wanted me to be happy—that I shouldn’t let Sean go. But I also can’t picture going on without him here anymore.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” Sean stares into my eyes, concerned.

I sniffle. “Oh, you know, just today. How hard it is to say goodbye. I’ve had to do a lot of them in my life, but it’s never been a forever thing.”

Sean nods his head in agreement. “When my grandpa died, he told me his biggest achievement was winning my grandma back.”

“What happened between them?” I ask.

“They got into a big fight. To this day we still don’t know what it was about. After they got back together, they agreed they’d never speak of it again. All was forgiven, so they forgot about it. But they were separated for six years.”

That’s a long time.

Sean rubs the top of my thumb as he continues, “Six years of being miserable without each other. Until one day he just decided that he had to have her back.” He laughs. “He went running into her office in the middle of a work day, and after serenading her, all she asked him was what took him so long. My point of this, Bee, is you went back to your dad—after all that time, something brought you back to him. You were meant to be with him in his last few months.”

I smile, nodding my head. He never fails at making me feel better.

“This is difficult now, but in a year you’re going to look back at how lucky you were to have reconciled,” he says.

“I just never knew how badly it could hurt,” I mutter, resting my head on his shoulder.

Sean stays silent for a minute, pulling me in and holding me tight. “Trust me, things will be looking up very soon,” he eventually says.