Page 52 of Wedding Season
“Go after her,” Mariella urged. “You need to talk this through before she leaves.”
“She’s too mad. I hurt her so badly. This is all my stupid, selfish fault.”
Mariella wanted to step forward and comfort the girl, but it wasn’t her place to inject herself into Heather’s relationship with her adoptive mother.
She had too much respect for Kay to take advantage of this moment. “Go after her. Talk to her,” she said again. “You’ll work it out.”
Heather didn’t look convinced, but with a shaky nod, she followed her mom.
“Are you okay?” Jasmin asked softly when they were alone again.
Mariella shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve been okay since I let strangers walk out of a hospital with my baby.” She reached out to trail a finger over Isabella’s soft head. “But not being okay is my normal, so I’ll manage.”
“Is that why you were so nice to me when I showed up pregnant looking for work?”
“You’re a great employee and a wonderful mother,” Mariella answered. “You deserve the chance I gave you.”
“I wish you would have had somebody like that in your life when you needed it.”
“No. You’ve met Heather. She’s wonderful. Her adoptive parents loved her and raised her into the person she is today. Who knows what would have happened otherwise? She’s had a great life with people who gave her every advantage. Even with help, I was sixteen and had no business raising a child.”
She wrapped her arms tightly around her middle like that would stop the pain she felt. “Kay is right. I have no business inserting myself into her life now.”
“She came here. She came to find you.”
“I should have turned her away. I should have pushed her back toward the family she knows and loves. The family that’s better for her than I could ever be.”
“Don’t you think she gets to decide that for herself?”
Mariella shrugged. “Only if she’s going to make the right decision.”
“I’m sorry, Mariella. Heather’s mom complimented the scent in the apartment, so we stopped in to look for a candle. I never would have brought her if...”
“I know.”
“Do you want me to stay? I’ll find somebody to help with Isabella and I can take over the front of the shop today. I don’t think you—”
“I’m fine,” Mariella promised. “In a lifetime full of low moments, this one barely even registers. Enjoy your day off and that sweet baby girl. I’ll see you here on Monday.”
Jasmin looked like she wanted to argue but nodded. “If you change your mind, text me. I’ll be right upstairs.”
Mariella smiled, but she knew she wouldn’t reach out. There were some things she simply had to get through on her own. The possibility of losing her daughter only weeks after finding her again fell into that category.
Luckily the store was busy for most of the day, so it was hard to wallow in self-pity for any long stretch. She did have time to check her phone over and over but there was no message from Heather. Not that she expected one. But hope was a wily mistress, and Mariella was all out of tricks for keeping her heart protected.
She shut the door late that afternoon as the final customer left the shop. Flipping the sign in the window to closed, she was about to lock up when a soft knock sounded. Her heart swooped and dived like a gull sailing over the ocean waves when she glanced out to see Alex standing on the other side.
She opened the door and could tell by the look on his face that he’d heard about Kay. “How did you find out?”
“Heather texted me. She’s taking a couple of days off to go back home with her family.”
“Everyone is leaving to be with their family.” Mariella laughed without humor. “Some of us don’t have those options. We don’t have a family.”
Alex didn’t argue. He simply wrapped his arms around her and drew her into his warm embrace. She didn’t try to fight it but went willingly.
She might not have family. She might be alone in the world, but she would take whatever comfort he could give her.
“How is your mom?”
