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

for him weren't

Jessica

and I just arrived. Waiting for

her phone on silent and returned

she still wanted to

be scheduled for surgery. When that happened,

there'd be chemotherapy before surgery, recovery time after, maybe even more radiation. It would

As for Timothy's invitation-

planned on

too many times. She just

was afraid that if she went, she might never come

o'clock came. Jessica didn't

told himself

was stuck

fine if she was a

Six-thirty.

no sign of

in. "Mr. Lawson, the fireworks show is about to start. The Silverthread's winter fireworks are

ahead, let

No

The show went until

anyway. If

still get to see

Seven o'clock.

Still no Jessica.