Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Chapter 4

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.

would remarry, find some perfectly healthy woman to be Henry's

with cancer, these were the first things she worried about-afraid

day he

now, maybe none of that mattered

nothing but a source of

was better not

light

exhausted body

in the wrong last

could

gust of air

He was a stickler for cleanliness, and Jessica always kept the house spotless. It was

His sharp features hardened with a chill. Normally, as soon as his car pulled into

closed the door behind him, strode

"Yes, sir. You're home."

"Where's Jessica?"

hesitated. "She's not in

Mabel didn't know where she was,

of paper, Timothy told her, "After breakfast,

"Of course."

his phone

the number you have dialed is currently

house. He'd taken her to the hospital-she'd been

the way, he realized he hadn't been back for days—and his attitude last night hadn't 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

understand―Jessica wasn't taking care of the house, her phone was off, and

off his tie,

always went shopping when