Page 6 of My Mistake To Make

‘You… what?’ He pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. ‘What is all this, Cara? The hair, the new clothes, the face jewelry?’

I stepped a little closer and actually saw his whole body tense up, and that’s when it happened. That’s when I realized that this man who’d had a hold over me for five years had never bothered to consider my needs, never taken me away for romantic weekends, and hadn’t asked me to move in. He let me go to rock concerts alone, not even offering to drive me there or pick me up. He had never said he loved me in five years of a relationship. I had wasted five years of the life I’ve always been so protective of on this man. Not another day, Jamie McAllister. You don’t get another day.

‘I just. I wanted to show you that I can be more spontaneous.’

‘Fuck, Cara. You did all this for me? I told you I was moving on.’

‘No, I did it for me. This is all stuff I wanted to do but was too worried about doing. It’s all the stuff I was scared to do because I knew you’d make fun of me, probably tell me to take it out, change it back,’ I admitted, my shoulders dropping and my spine straightening. ‘You and I were a mistake. We wereconvenient for each other, and we became a habit for each other when we should never have made it past a few weeks if that. We were together for years, and that’s on me, but I made a mistake staying with you. Life is too short for plans and spreadsheets and meat-free Monday,every singleMonday.’ Oh my god, who am I? ‘I’m leaving, Jamie, me. I am the one walking away with my new clothes, my face jewelry, and my bloody fantastic hair. I wish you well, I really do, but now I’m going to let you watch the best thing that will ever happen to you walk away.’

I turned and headed back down the path toward my car. I didn’t need to see his face. I didn’t need to be in his presence for even a second longer. We had always been a mistake, and now it was over… and I’d survived.

Goodbye, Darling Girl

Cara

One Month Ago

The sale of myhouse completed, and I had a lovely chunk of money sitting in the bank and nothing to spend it on. I was soready to make something of my life—start living it, but now that I had the resources to do it, I had no idea where to start.

‘Dinner’s ready, darling,’ Dad called from outside the door of my childhood bedroom, and I pulled myself up from the bed.

‘Okay, Dad,’ I called out, then made my way to the bathroom.

I washed my hands and headed downstairs. I could hear Dad pottering about in the kitchen, and as much as I wanted to figure out my next step, being home was nice. It was comforting.

I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, the only hours-old buttercup tattoo behind my ear now on display.

Dad huffed out a laugh, and I tilted my head to look at him.

‘What’s funny?’

‘Your whole life, you’ve looked longingly at other people your own age but were always too worried to step outside the little box you put yourself in. A lot of that’s on me—your mum too. That wholemistakenonsense and me trying to raise a teenage girl alone. I didn’t push you because I was scared that I wouldn’t know what to do if you were out there doing crazy stuff and chasing after boys. I was happy that you wanted to stay home and stay safe. But now I see that wasn’t fair, and I’m sorry for that. It was a shock at first, but I love the hair, the piercing, and now the wee little tattoo. I actually think they fit perfectly with the girl I know you to be. All those rock concerts are finally rubbing off on you, and well, having you home is nice too.’

I grinned and reached out to hold his hand over the table.

‘Aww, Dad.’

‘Anyway, dig in before it…’ The phone ringing cut him off mid-sentence, and I stood.

‘I’ll get it.’

‘Hello,’ I answered the phone on the wall with a smile. The novelty of a corded, wall-mounted landline when everyone else I knew only used mobiles now always tickled me.

‘Um, I’m looking for Cara McKenzie.’

The American accent caused me to freeze for a moment as my blood rushed past my ears.

‘This is Cara.’

The exhale on the other end of the phone raised the hairs on my neck.

‘Cara, my name is Ellis Morgan and my wife is Roberta Reynolds.’ I swallowed hard but didn’t speak. ‘She passed away yesterday.’ I leaned against the wall, and still, no words would come. ‘Your grandmother wanted me to call you. She wanted to make sure you knew. And she also asked me to forward you a letter. If you can give me an email address, I can get that sent across to you.’

‘I, um…’

‘I know this is a shock.’

‘I never even spoke to her.’

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