t each other nicely. Neither of you seem to be able to find the right person. I’ve always wondered if you weren’t looking in the wrong places.”
This was an unexpected conversation. She wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to it. “Looking in the family is frowned on, Dad.”
“Oh, come on,” he muttered irritably. “You’re not related. You never even lived in the same house, really. It’s more like falling for the boy next door.”
“You don’t think it would be weird?”
“Your mother and I want to see you and Heath happy. If it turns out you’re happy together, then that’s the way it is.”
“What if it didn’t work out? It’s not like I can just change my number and pretend Heath doesn’t exist after we break up.”
Ken frowned and narrowed his eyes at her. “Do you always go into your relationships figuring out how you’ll handle it when they end? That’s not very optimistic.”
“No, but it’s practical. You’ve seen my track record.”
“I have. Your mother told me the last one didn’t end well.”
He didn’t know the half of it. “Why would dating Heath be any different? I mean, if he were even remotely interested, and I’m certain he’s not.”
Her father’s blue-gray eyes searched her face for a moment, then he leaned back against the pillows. “I remember when you were little and you came home from school one day all breathless with excitement. You climbed into my lap and whispered in my ear that you’d kissed a boy on the playground. You had Heath’s name doodled all over the inside of your unicorn notebook.”
“Dad, I was nine.”
“I know that. And I was twelve when I first kissed your mother at the junior high dance. I knew then that I was going to be with her for the rest of my life. I just had to convince her.”
“She wasn’t as keen on the idea?”
Ken shrugged. “She just needed a little persuading. Molly was beautiful, just like you are. She had her choice of boys in school. I just had to make sure she knew I was the best one. By our senior year in high school, I had won her over. I proposed that summer after we graduated and the rest is history.”
Julianne felt a touch of shame for not knowing that much about her parents’ early relationship. She had no idea they’d met so young and got engaged right out of school. They were married nearly ten years before they finally had her, so somehow, it hadn’t registered in her mind. “You were so young. How did you know you were making the right choice?”
“I loved your mother. It might not have been the easy choice to get married so young, but we made the most of it. On our wedding day, I promised your mother a fairy tale. Making good on that promise keeps me working at our marriage every day. There were hard times and times when we fought and times when we both thought it was a colossal mistake. But that’s when you’ve got to fight harder to keep what you want.”
Julianne’s mind went to the package of paperwork in her bag and she immediately felt guilty. The one thing she never did was fight for her relationship with Heath. She had wanted it, but at the same time, she didn’t think she could have it. Tommy had left her in shreds. It took a lot of years and a lot of counseling to get where she was now and, admittedly, that wasn’t even the healthiest of places. She was a relationship failure who had just slept with her husband for the first time in their eleven-year marriage.
Maybe if things had been different. Maybe if Heath’s parents hadn’t died. Or if Tommy hadn’t come to the farm. Maybe then they could have been happy together, the way her father envisioned.
“I’ll keep that in mind when I’m ready to get back in the saddle,” she said, trying not to sound too dismissive.
Ken smiled and patted her hand. “I’m an old man who’s only loved one woman his whole life. What do I know about relationships? Speaking of which—” he turned toward the door and grinned widely “—it’s time for my sponge bath.”
Julianne turned to look at the door and was relieved to find her mother there instead of a young nurse. “Well, you two have fun,” she laughed. “I’ll see you tomorrow at the house.”
She gave her mom a quick hug and made her way out of the hospital. Putting the top up on the convertible, she drove faster than usual, trying to put some miles between her and her father’s words.
He couldn’t be right about her relationship with Heath. If he knew everything that had happened, her father would realize that it just wasn’t meant to be. They would never be happy together and she had the divorce papers to prove it.
Julianne cruised back into town, rolling past Daisy’s Diner and the local bar, the Wet Hen. Just beyond them were the market and the tiny post office. No one was in line in front of her, so she was able to fill out the forms and get the paperwork overnighted back to her lawyer’s office.
It wasn’t until she handed over the envelope and the clerk tossed it into the back room that her father’s words echoed in her head and she felt a pang of regret. She hadn’t fought. She’d just ended it. A large part of her life had been spent with Heath as her husband. It wasn’t a traditional marriage by any stretch, but it had been a constant throughout the hectic ups and downs of her life.
“Ma’am?” the clerk asked. “Are you okay? Did you need something else?”
Julianne looked up at him. For a brief second, the words I changed my mind were on the tip of her tongue. He would fetch it back for her. She could wait. She wasn’t entirely certain that she wanted this.
But Heath did. He wanted his freedom, she could tell. She’d left him hanging for far, far too long. He deserved to find a woman who would love him and give him the life and family he desired. Maybe Miss Caribbean could give him that. That was what she’d intended when she broke it off with him originally. To give him that chance. She just hadn’t had the strength to cut the last tie and give up on them.
It was time, no matter what her dad said. “No,” she said with a smile and a shake of her head. “I’m fine. I was just trying to remember if I needed stamps, but I don’t. Thank you.”