Page 139 of Only Fate

“River has such a big mouth,” I grumble. “So much for twin secrets.”

She sits next to me, stealing some of my blanket. “He was worried about you.”

I pick at a loose strand in the blanket. “Sometimes, I wish people would worry about me less.”

“As your mother, I promise you, that’ll never happen. The same with your father.”

I fluff a throw pillow and prop it behind my back. “Will you tell me Dad’s and your love story again? It’s my favorite.”

I need something uplifting tonight.

My brain needs a break from its constant anxiety about what’ll happen tomorrow.

I feel a knot forming in my belly, just thinking about it.

She laughs, her face brightening, as if she’s already reliving the memory. “I swear, your father should’ve never told you that as a bedtime story.”

“Why? It’s my favorite fairy tale.”

“I hope someday, your favorite fairy tale will be yours when you get your happily ever after.”

My shoulders slump. “If that ever happens.”

“It will, honey,” she says with absolute certainty.

“It seems my Prince Charming preferred to hurt me.” I shut my eyes, wishing I believed her words.

“I’m so sorry.” Her voice is heartfelt, but there’s still a dose of sadness. “It’s hard, giving someone your heart and them not cherishing it like they should. But if Ethan’s death taught us anything, it’s that time shouldn’t be taken for granted. We can’t take temporary anger as our final decision without giving a chance of forgiveness.”

I relax against the couch, lowering my chin so my eyes don’t meet hers. “Who said I gave Adrian my heart?”

“Oh, I know my daughter,” she says around a laugh.

“Love sucks.” I throw my head back.

“Sometimes, yes. But it tends to correct itself.”

“Like you and Dad.”

“Like me and your dad.”

“Now, let me hear my favorite fairy tale.”

She gives me what I want and recites their love story. It’s been my favorite since I was a kid. Like she said, my dad would use it as his fairy tale at night.

Whenever she tells me, she takes painful pauses, keeping some details from me. Their love story wasn’t easy either.

She and my father went to high school together here in Blue Beech and were complete opposites. He was the popular bad boy, and she was the studious daughter of the town’s preacher. They became best friends after he attempted to bribe her to write a paper. After that, they were inseparable. They attended the same college, but from the way my mom’s voice drops when she talks about it, I know something traumatic happened to her there. She dropped out and moved home, but neither of my parents will ever tell me why.

It took them a while before they got together, but she said once they admitted their feelings to each other, their love took off from there. My dad says my mom saved him, while she says the opposite.

I long for a love like that.

A love that, even with flaws, is beautiful.

It might even be compared with perfection.

I pull myself up to sit on my knees and lean forward to hug her when she’s finished.

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