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

when she was

maybe, her feelings for him weren't so

Jessica a

I just arrived. Waiting for

she put her phone on silent and

but she still wanted to finish

When that happened, she'd fall behind on

time after, maybe even more radiation. It would

As for Timothy's invitation-

hadn't planned on going, not

cried wolf too many times.

she was afraid that if she went, she

came. Jessica

told himself not

was stuck

fine if she was a

Six-thirty.

sign

fireworks show is about to start. The Silverthread's winter fireworks are

let them

No

The show went until

If

still get to see

Seven o'clock.

Still no Jessica.