She looked back one last time and gave me a weak smile as I heard the door open behind me. I spun around to see Ellie walking out.

“Mom?” Ellie barely got out.

Sharon didn’t hear Ellie, and she was just about to get into the car.

Ellie called out, “Mom!”

Sharon stopped and snapped her head up toward the house.

“Ellie,” Sharon said as she started to cry.

Ellie grabbed my hand before she started to walk us toward her mother. My heart was beating a mile a minute.

“Ellie,” Sharon said as tears were rolling down her face.

Lord, please don’t let her mother hurt her again. Please.

Chapter Thirty-Three

“Mom? Why?” I asked on the verge of tears.

My mother started to move toward me as she began crying harder.

I tried like hell to hold back the tears, but seeing my mother standing in front of me, crying…I finally allowed myself to let it go.

I must have missed when Jefferson had pulled up, but I could see him now out of the corner of my eye. He was standing near his truck with Ari. I glanced over toward Ari, who was holding on to Luke. She covered her mouth with her free hand as tears rolled down her face.

My mother stopped right in front of me as she began wiping away her tears. “Ellie, I have so much to say to you, and I don’t even know where to begin. I can only ask for your forgiveness. I was in the dark for so long, but I’ve been sober for a while now. I have a steady job, and I’m finally seeing the light. I need your forgiveness to help me stay in the light.”

“Mommy…please don’t ever hurt me again. I need you so much, Mom. Please don’t go.”

She took me in her arms as we both continued crying.

“I promise, baby…I promise to never hurt you again.”

When I looked over at Jefferson, I noticed he was wiping tears away from his face. Leaning over, Ari said something to him. She took his hand and led him over toward us.

“Um…” Jefferson tried to talk, but he had to clear his throat. “Mom?”

Mom turned around and sucked in a breath of air. Jefferson pulled both of us into his arms. After a few minutes, my mom started talking.

“I talked to Sue, and she told me about the babies, and I just…I’m so sorry. I just had to try and come see you. Come see both of you. I’ve been sober for over a year now, and I’m…” Her voice cracked as she looked between Jefferson and me. “I’m so sorry I hurt you both. I’d give anything to take it away.”

When I looked toward Ari, she was smiling and crying, and in her arms, Luke was just watching the whole show. I had to smile. He looked exactly like Jefferson, but he had one hundred percent of Ari’s personality.

“As God as my witness, I promise you both that I’ll never hurt or leave either one of you again. I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I swear to you, I will earn back your love with every ounce of energy I have in my body.”

Jefferson took a step away and smiled at our mom. “Mom…I have someone I’d like for you to meet,” Jefferson said as he reached out for Luke.

“Dada!” Luke laughed.

Mom gasped and started giggling as more tears rolled down her face. I couldn’t help but smile.

I glanced at my mother. I needed her more than I ever thought I did. My heart actually felt like it was finally healing.

Jefferson grinned so big. “Mom, any special name you want him to call you?”

She shook her head as she wiped away the tears. “Whatever he wants!” she said.

“Luke, can you say hi to your Gramma?”

Luke looked right at Mom. It was as if he were looking into her soul with how he was staring at her.

“Well, hello there, my sweet baby boy! You look exactly like your father.”

“I told you!” Ari said with a laugh.

Mom turned toward Ari and smiled. “Arianna, sweetheart, how are you?”

Ari let out a small chuckle. “I’m doing wonderful. Thank you, Mrs. Johnson.”

“Please, sweetheart, call me Sharon.”

Ari nodded. “Sharon, it is!”

“Does he really look like me, Mom?” Jefferson asked.

Sharon smiled and nodded. “Spitting image of when you were his age. He might be just a tad more handsome though.” She winked.

Jefferson threw his head back and laughed, and then he held Luke out toward our mother.

She looked shocked. “Are you sure?”

Jefferson nodded. “Everyone deserves a second chance,” he said as he looked at me and winked.

When my mother took Luke in her arms, I could tell she was fighting back the tears.

“I’m so happy to meet you, Luke.”

I walked up and kissed Luke on the cheek. “Luke, can you say Gramma?”

As Luke stared at her, he laughed, and then everyone began laughing with him.

Then, Luke said, “Mam.”

Everyone stopped.

“What did he just say?” Ari and Jefferson asked at the same time.

My mother started to giggle as she said, “Gramma.”

Luke laughed again. “Mam!”

My head snapped up at Jefferson. “Is he…”

Ari laughed as she started jumping up and down. “I knew he was going to be brilliant!”

My heart started pounding. “I think he’s trying to say it, Mom.”

“Mam!”

I looked over at Gunner and then back at my mother.

Is this all happening? Is my mother standing in front of me with Luke in her arms? Is she really sober…and happy?

“Jefferson, I think Luke heard you calling her mom, so he’s trying to do the same!” Ari said.

Jeff started laughing.

Gunner reached for my hand, and when I turned to him, he was looking back toward the house. I glanced over, and I saw Garrett sitting on the front porch, holding Alex. When Garrett gave me that knock-me-over smile of his, I started to laugh. He must have been watching this entire thing take place. After I nodded, he stood up and began walking toward us with my precious baby.

Jefferson, Ari, and my mom were laughing, still trying to get Luke to say Gramma instead of Mam.

When Garrett reached us, my mother looked at him and then Alex. As she started crying again, my heart broke all over.

She wasted all those years. She missed everything—my wedding, my pregnancy, and the birth of my child.

Jefferson reached for Luke, and I was shocked when Luke started crying.

“Mam!”

Jeff and Ari looked stunned.

“Wow, Sharon. That didn’t take long for him to fall for you!” Ari said with a giggle.

Mom smiled and kissed Luke on the cheek. “I’m going to meet your cousin, my sweet little man,” she said as she handed Luke to Jefferson.

Garrett smiled as my mom turned back to Alex. “Mrs. Johnson, it’s a real pleasure.”

“Mom, this is Garrett Mathews, Gunner’s grandfather. Garrett, this is my mom, Sharon,” I said.

My mother went to shake Garrett’s hand, but instead, he grabbed it and kissed the back. I watched as a blush crossed my mother’s cheeks.

I wonder if my father was ever romantic with her. Did he treat her like Gunner treats me? Or how Jack treats Grace? Did he love her like Garrett loves Emma?

“The pleasure is all mine. It’s an honor to meet you,” my mother said.

I took Alex from Garrett and kissed her on the forehead. As I glanced over to Gunner, I saw him smiling at me with tears in his eyes. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. His gaze held mine, and my heart swelled with so much love for him.

He’s my rock. He’s the air that I breathe. I don’t think I could have done this without knowing he would be right by my side.

I turned and faced my mom. The moment I saw her tears, I felt mine. I’m really going to do this. I’m going to open my heart to her and trust that she won’t break it. I glanced one more time at Gunner, and he nodded and winked at me.

“Mom…” I barely got it out. I had to clear my throat. “I’d like for you to meet our daughter. Her name is Alexandra Eryn Mathews. We call her Alex for short.”

My mother allowed her tears to fall like rain. She finally let out a deep breath as she looked me in the eyes. “She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen besides you, your brother, and Luke. Ellie, she’s…she’s…”

“Perfect?”

My mother laughed. “Yes! She’s perfect. How old is she?”

“Almost ten weeks old.” I smiled.

“May I?” my mother asked as she extended her arms.

“Yes! Of course.”

I placed my child into the arms of the woman who had hurt me more than I cared to even remember. At the same moment, the memories of all the times she’d loved me came flooding back into my mind.

I thought of a time when she had taken me shopping for an Easter dress.

As she was putting up my hair, she’d said, “Your eyes are the most magical things I’ve ever seen, Ellie.”

Another time, she had taken me to the park, and we’d chased one another for hours. Whenever she would catch me, she would laugh and tickle me.

At night, she would sometimes read me a love story about a prince who saved the princess from a terrible dream, and then they lived happily ever after.

Oh. My. God. Why didn’t I remember any of this until now? Why has my mind been filled with all the bad memories?

My mom had been talking to Alex, saying how beautiful she was, while I was lost in my memories.

“The story.”

My mother looked at me, confused. “You want me to tell her a story?” She laughed.

“No, Mom. I just remembered the story you used to tell me every night. It was the one about the prince who would come and save the princess from her terrible dream. She was trapped in a nightmare and wanted so badly to escape.”

My mom’s smile faded just a bit.

“Mom…that was you, wasn’t it?”

“Ellie, how do you even remember that? You were so little when I told you that story.”

I looked at Gunner. “Gunner, will you please take Alex for a bit?”

“Um…sure, babe.”

My mother handed Alex to Gunner and then glanced between Jefferson and me.

“Can the three of us go for a walk?” I asked Jefferson and my mom.

“Of course,” Jefferson and my mother said at the same time.

I watched as Gunner, Garrett, and Ari walked into the house. Ari turned back with a worried look. I smiled and nodded. She mouthed, I love you, to me and blew a kiss.

Jefferson put his arms out for my mom and me to take.

We walked a good quarter mile in complete silence.

“Mom, did Dad treat you good while he was with you?” I asked.

My mother stopped walking. She sighed as she looked over toward a tree. “Can we sit down, kids? I have a story to tell you. It’s one I should have told you years ago. Really, I should have told someone years ago.”

Jeff led us over to an oak tree where we all sat in a circle on the ground.

My mother took a deep breath and slowly let it out. “I was sixteen years old when I met your father. He swept me off my feet and promised me the world. Of course, it was easy to fall for him. He had your handsome looks, Jeff, and your breathtaking, beautiful blue eyes, Ellie.”