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“I finished it.”

She didn’t bother with the traditional welcome, but Traci wouldn’t mind. She knew the state Reagan had been in since returning from Fire Creek, and while she worried for her daughter, she allowed Reagan the space to deal with it as she needed to.

“And?” Traci asked her.

“I don’t. I mean it’s a rough draft, but my gut tells me it may be the best one yet.”

“I’m not surprised. You were inspired to write this one. I’ve never seen you so focused on work like you have been. How do you feel?”

The tears pricked her eyes, and as much as she wanted to pretend everything was fine, she couldn’t fool herself or her mother.

“Terrible.”

The tears flowed then, and Traci stayed silent, allowing her daughter to take however much time she needed to regain control over her emotions.

“I made the right choice. I know I did. Everything happened so fast, and nothing like that was meant to last. So why do I feel so…I don’t know exactly. But the feeling is terrible. How do I get back to normal?”

“Honey, your heart feels what it wants to feel, regardless of what your head decides is reasonable. When I feel in love with English, it was fast. Even knowing it wasn’t meant to last, I don’t regret any of the time we were together. We were happy at first, and that happiness gave us you.”

“I know. I understand nothing is guaranteed. I never entered into a relationship expecting anything more than what I had in the moment. But with Jackson…”

“There was more at stake. I saw the two of you together, Reagan. It reminds me of myself and-”

“Please don’t say of you and English. I don’t want to think about how much Jackson and English are alike. It makes it all worse.”

Traci sighed. “Stop interrupting me. I was going to say it reminds me of myself and Randall.”

“What do you mean?”

“The spark between me and your father was instantaneous, and it scared me. I was set on raising you, and nothing else mattered. Randall made me feel things I thought I’d never feel again after English. I didn’t introduce you to Randall for a while. For some reason, having you meet him made it all too real, and I wasn’t ready for that.”

Reagan had never heard this part of her parents’ story. Her tears stopped as she listened.

“Randall was always around. He gave me space, but he made sure I knew he was interested. He somehow arranged it where he and his partner would be at the hospital when my shift would end. He walked me to my car and waited until I pulled out of the parking lot. He never followed me, but he would cruise by the house to make sure I made it home safely. He did things like that until I started to believe I had been wrong not to trust him.”

“Jackson told me he would chase me if I ran. I haven’t seen him or heard from him.”

“You didn’t give him a reason to believe his attention was wanted either,” Traci pointed out.

“So what do I do now? I’m missing a man who was never mine.”

A knock pounded on the front door.

“Hold on, Momma. Someone’s here.”

Reagan walked on bare feet from her office to the living room. When she peered through the front window, she expected to see a delivery man bringing the latest package she’d ordered when she was lonely and shopping online to make herself feel better. Her visitor was no delivery man, but actually the last person she expected to see.

“He’s here.”

“Collect yourself, Reagan,” her mother advised. “This is the chance to say what you want to say. No matter what happens, be bold. Don’t let fear rob you of what could be the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Reagan stepped away from the window and moved further into the living room on the off chance she could be heard through the door. “Did you know he was coming?”

Another loud knock shook the door in its frame.

“Open the door, Reagan.” Traci ended the call.

Panic filled her body. How could she open the door? She was a mess. Her face was tear-stained, her eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was piled in a messy bun on top of her head. She wore no makeup. Her leggings had a hole in the thigh and white fuzz stuck to the black fabric. Her tunic was simple and oversized with a small grease stain on the spot covering her cleavage.