Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Before she left, Jessica still wanted to see Henry one last time.

After all, he was her own flesh and blood.-

He was only six-just a child, really. How could a mother possibly hold a grudge against her own son?

As she reached Henry's bedroom door, she heard his voice from inside.

"Miss Sheila, my mom is usually very polite. I don't know what happened today. I want to apologize for her. You're an adult, so please don't be mad at her, okay?"

He was too young to understand the tangled web of adult relationships. If Sheila really was Timothy's aunt, then by family standards, there was nothing wrong with what Henry said.

He was trying to defend her.

Jessica felt a bittersweet twinge of comfort.

She was about to push open the door when Henry continued, "Miss Sheila, thank you for being so understanding and not getting upset with my mom. I just wish my mom could talk as nicely as you do. Then I wouldn't have to worry about my classmates making fun of her for being mute."

...

"Yeah, there's a kid in my class whose mom limps, and everyone teases him all the time. I don't want to end up like that being laughed at, not able to hold my head up."

Jessica let go of the doorknob, her breath catching painfully in her chest.

The older Henry got, the less he could accept her shortcomings.

She had barely six months left to live...

When she was gone, Timothy would be Henry's only guardian.

some perfectly healthy woman to

cancer, these were the first things she worried about-afraid that a stepmother might mistreat

day he was born, she had carried

now, maybe none of

as nothing but a source

better not to see him

light

exhausted body through the front

been in the wrong last

allergy to the hotel bedding could have been explained easily-Jessica

opened the bedroom door, a gust of air fluttering a slip of

house spotless. It was strange to find a scrap of paper on the

Normally, as soon as his car

the door behind him, strode

"Yes, sir. You're home."

"Where's Jessica?"

not in

Mabel didn't know where

scrap of paper, Timothy told her, "After breakfast, make sure to tidy

"Of course."

pulled out his

sorry, the number you have dialed is

the hospital-she'd been in pain all night. She'd finally

helped. He'd even asked his assistant to wait in line for more than half an hour at Velvet Fork to buy Jessica her favorite pastries. Afraid they'd be cold by the time he got home,

taking care of the house, her phone was off, and now

he yanked off his tie, feeling