She held his gaze, regret mingling with sadness. “I asked your father to go to the store earlier that night, but he said he’d do it later. When you called, he decided to stop there first.”
The accident had happened a block from the store.
Colton stared with dawning comprehension. “Mom—”
“No, it’s okay. But you see? I’ve been there, too,” she said softly. “Lonely, isn’t it?”
He nodded and swallowed hard.
“If I’d had any idea you felt this way…it’s not your fault, Colton. You must believe that. And it wasn’t my fault, either.” She gripped his hands tighter, blinking the moisture from her eyes. “Things happen that we can’t control or explain. It took me a long time to realize that. All we can do is trust in God and live life each day. We have to cherish what we have in the here and now.”
But what do you do if she doesn’t want you?
Colton closed his eyes for a moment, willing the voice inside to shut up. This wasn’t about her.
“Are you lonely?” he finally asked his mom.
She smiled, a hint of sadness remaining in her eyes. “Sure, I miss what I had with your Dad. But he’s still there, you know, I see it in his eyes.”
The lump in his throat refused to budge. “I know. I see it sometimes, too.”
“We can’t change the past, and there’s no sense wasting time wishing we could. I do the best with what I have, and I’m content spending time each day with him, doing what I can to make him comfortable. We had twenty good years together, as a family, I’m thankful for that.”
Colton didn’t quite know what to say. He still felt bad for all his parents had lost, but the guilt wasn’t so heavy anymore. As his mom said, there was no way to change the past, only the future.
“You know, there is one thing I wish for,” his mom said with a hopeful smile.
“What’s that?” he asked, still contemplating how he felt about all he’d just learned.
“Grandchildren.”
Her tone was light, but just like that, Colton felt like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. He certainly hadn’t seen that coming.
And as with any slip of his guard, thoughts of Kendra immediately rushed forward. More specifically, memories of their conversation the morning after they’d made love.
It’d been three weeks—and she hadn’t called. Did she know yet? Would she call or would she just ‘take care of it?’
He sat up straighter.
His mom laughed and rose to hug him. “Don’t look so alarmed, I’m only teasing.”
He smiled weakly, wondering what she’d say if he told her she might already have her wish.
****
Joel listened to the phone ring on the other end, his free hand resting on Britt’s belly as she sat next to him on the couch. A faint kick from the baby made him grin. Th
ough he hadn’t known they were talking about the exact same thing, he’d meant it when he told Colton he’d been there himself.
Now, every single day, he counted the blessings in his life. In fact…he leaned over to kiss his wife just as Kendra picked up the phone in New York.
“Hey, Joel, I was going to call you tonight,” she said.
Something in her voice caught his attention. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. It’s just, well, I got some news today.” She took a deep breath. “The DNA tests results came back. Jack is my father.”
Joel closed his eyes at the emotion in her short statement. He didn’t realize he’d sought Britt’s hand until her warm fingers squeezed his. He opened his eyes to the concern in hers and gave her a brief smile as he asked Kendra, “That’s the result you hoped for, right?”