Priceless

Chapter 25: She Said Yes

Nessa felt her sister's gaze on her as they unloaded mums from the back of Kylie's SUV. She hoped she didn't look as ill on the outside as she felt on the inside.

"Are you sure you want Mom here for this?" Ruthie finally asked, causing Nessa to meet her eyes.

"No," she murmured. "But I need her to see I've moved on. Hopefully, someday, she will too."

Ruthie offered a lopsided smile, sad and sympathetic, but had no response.

Nessa took a deep breath before muttering, "Let's get this over with."

Ruthie nodded and turned away, waiting as Nessa shut the rear hatch before following her towards Joziah's headstone. Abby currently crouched next to Kelsey's grave, helping Kylie dig holes big enough for the mums.

Nessa weaved through the headstones, approaching the plots occupied by generations of Buchannons. Ruthie must have noticed, asking, "They let you put the headstone with their family?"

Nessa nodded as she glanced over her shoulder. "Dorrie insisted. I may not be official yet, but no one doubts that someday I will be a Buchannon."

Ruthie grinned. "Oh really? And why is that? I don't see any rings on your fingers."

Nessa rolled her eyes, saving her reply until she sat her flower and tools on the ground in front of Joziah's headstone. "Not yet. But there will be. Thane and I have discussed it. This is my home and my life. I don't want to be anywhere but here in Colorado, working on the ranch with him."

"I see," Ruthie drawled, sitting her flower next to Nessa's. She studied her sister for a moment, the smile on her face a little too amused.

Nessa wrinkled her brow, asking, "What? You look like you don't believe me."

"Oh, I believe you," Ruthie declared with raised eyebrows. Then she turned to the stone, changing the subject. "So, this is the headstone, huh?"

Nessa eyed her sister, trying to decide why she was acting so funny, but let it drop. "Yeah," she answered, turning her eyes to the stone as well. "This is it."

She hadn't wanted anything extravagant, though Thane had told her she could have whatever she wanted, no matter the cost. She'd chosen a simple flat headstone with a darker gray border around a lighter center. Etched into the stone were the picture of a child sitting on Jesus' lap and a verse from the book of Matthew that read, "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs." Above the verse were Joziah's name and the date of the abortion.

Ruthie turned to Nessa, her eyes damp, saying, "It's beautiful. Kinda hard to wrap my head around the idea that I would've been an aunt."

Though not intended to hurt, the words hit Nessa square in the chest, stealing her breath for a moment. She'd never considered that Ruthie and Caleb would feel anything for the child. She'd been so wrapped up in her shame, thinking that they all hated her for her choice to abort, that it never even crossed her mind they would mourn the lost chance to be an aunt or uncle.

With that realization came another – did her parents grieve the loss of a grandchild? Did some of her mom's animosity come from the fact that Nessa stole her chance to be a grandmother?

When she'd found out she was pregnant, those thoughts hadn't even crossed her mind. She knew how disappointed they would be and she feared raising a baby alone without support from anyone. She never got beyond that, had never gotten beyond her mother. She never took the time to consider what would happen long-term if she chose to keep it.