Goodbye, Mr. Regret

"Mom will be so happy when she finds out."

"I hope so."

Inside the folder were more stories about mothers and sons, along with scenes Henry had copied down after watching his mom's movies.

Timothy only had to glance through it to realize his son had finally understood his mistake.

He bent down and hugged Henry tightly. "Henry, I'm sorry. I should have guided you better. If I had, you wouldn't have made that mistake or upset Mom."

"Dad, it's not your fault. It was all me. I was embarrassed that Mom didn't know what to say, and I was vain. That's why all of this happened. It had nothing to do with you."

Timothy kissed Henry's forehead. "Come on, we're almost out of time. Let's get going."

He picked up the bouquet that Secretary Allen had arranged and took Henry's hand. Together, they left the hospital.

They arrived at the restaurant ten minutes early.

"Dad, the private room looks beautiful. Mom is going to love it, isn't she?"

The soft scent of pink roses filled the air.

Balloons and other decorations, all in shades of pink, created a gentle, welcoming atmosphere.

As far as Timothy could remember, Jessica had always liked pink.

She had, even as a little girl.

Some things a person loves just never really change.

Thinking of this, Timothy felt a rush of emotion—she used to be so much closer to

she

maybe, her feelings for him

Jessica a

just

message, she put her phone on silent and

she still wanted to finish her tasks as quickly

day now, she could be scheduled for surgery. When that happened, she'd fall behind on

there'd be chemotherapy before surgery, recovery time after, maybe even more

As for Timothy's invitation-

on going,

many times. She just didn't believe him

that if she went, she might never

came.

told himself

she was stuck

fine if she

Six-thirty.

sign

Lawson, the fireworks show is about to start. The Silverthread's winter fireworks are always at six-thirty sharp. They

let them

No

The show went until

If

still get to see

Seven o'clock.

Still no Jessica.