Page 121 of Eight Years Gone

Her smile faded as she stared at the date at the top of the page, realizing she only had one entry left.

It was tempting to wait until tonight when she could read her mother’s final thoughts in the privacy of her own home, but the first sentence caught her attention.

It’s amazing how your world can change in an instant. Everything is one way one minute, and then it’s entirely different.

I’ve long since kissed Logan and Gracie goodnight—something so normal and comforting. I made them a taco bar for dinner tonight with all their favorite fixings.

More often than not, I can hardly breathe, but it felt vital to give them this last happy day before hard conversations will need to be had. I’m still trying to process that nothing will be the same after today.

It’s still shocking that everything about this morning was so ordinary. Stopping off at the grocery store isn’t supposed to ruin your life as you know it.

Grace has been talking about making the triple chocolate cake she saw online for days now. Since today was Bea’s day off, I thought it would be fun for the kids and me to tackle the project together. Logan isn’t much for baking these days but is certainly up for eating.

I’d only needed two things: cocoa powder and vanilla. When I walked down the baking aisle, I accidentally bumped into the woman in front of me.

When she turned, I was surprised to see that it was Jessica.

I’d expected a friendly conversation since we hadn’t spoken in a couple of years, but she only blinked as she stared at me.

And then I saw him in the cart—the blond little boy who looked to be about two, flipping through the pages of a cardboard dinosaur book.

I asked who the cutie was sitting in the back.

She told me he was her son.

I lost my breath when he glanced up, sending me a smile. He looked so much like Logan had at that age. He looked so much like Steve.

I don’t know if I said anything else. I can’t remember walking away from my cart, but somehow, I was in the car, driving toward the orthopedic center.

I interrupted Steve’s meeting to tell my husband I saw Jessica with her little boy at the store. I mentioned that the child in her cart looked just like Logan.

Steve closed his eyes and shook his head. All he said was, “I’m so sorry, Rose.”

There were a million things to say and nothing left to say as we stared at each other. After that, I left.

Steve’s smart enough to know that he shouldn’t bother coming home.

I don’t know how I’ll make it through the next couple of days, but after this wedding comes and goes, I’m packing up the kids. We’re going home to Preston Valley.

Grace rushed to her feet, pressing her hand to her chest as her heart beat too quickly.

“He cheated,” she whispered, sinking back to her chair as her world started to crumble again.

“No,” she said, shaking her head, hurriedly flipping through the mostly empty volume, looking for more words—for some other explanation. But her mother died the next night so nothing else was there.

She stared at her mother’s handwriting, taking several deep breaths, still trying to believe what she’d just read.

It couldn’t be true. It had to be a mistake. Her mom and dad had been happy. Their marriage had been strong—

“Grace, your order’s ready,” Kelly said, standing next to her with the teas in a carton and the cookies in a bag.

Grace put the journal away as she stood, forcing a smile as she took the to-go items. “Thanks.”

“I called your name a couple of times, but you didn’t hear me.”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I was lost in my thoughts.”

“Don’t worry about it. Have a good rest of your day.”

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