A Second Chance

7.

"Aunt Liz is my father's stepmother."

"Oh."

Harper sliced the potatoes as she added them to the tray before moving on to the pumpkin.

"Yeah. She never had any children. My grandfather was her third husband. My father was a young boy. My biological grandmother died when dad was a baby and granddad remarried so dad had a mother. But Liz never wanted to be called grandma or whatever. So Aunt Liz just stuck."

"How are you related to Ashlyn then?" Harper looked at me in curiosity.

"Ash is a distant relative. My grandfather's brothers granddaughter. We were close, growing up and so were our parents. Her parents and ours would take holidays and Ash and I would stay here, under the care of Aunt Liz. Then they got in to a car crash, returning home. My mother died instantly, Ashlyn's parents shortly afterwards. My father survived the crash, but succumbed to his injuries and died three weeks later.

Aunt Liz cared for us since. We grew up, finished school, did university. Ashlyn became a lawyer and a silent partner to the company I inherited."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for asking." Harper whispered as she looked at me horrified. "That is so awful and tragic."

"It happened over fifteen years ago, Harper."

"But still, that is just so sad." Harper told me, placing the tray in the oven and then wiped the bench down.

"What about you? You said you moved down here a little while ago. Where were you before here?"

Harper paused in her movements before she continued. "Three hours north east from here. In a little town." Then she continued to tell me about her home town, that her mother lives there still. Her friends.

"Do you miss it?" I asked her and Harper thought about it.

"For social reasons, yes. Other than that, no. I don't feel as judged here as I do there. All my friends know how much of an idiot Connor is yet they never said it to me. They just supported me when I needed it. They all knew deep down it was doomed from the start and I was warned, many times. But I don't have them looking at me, seeing how much I have failed. I don't need any more people telling me I have failed as a parent and a wife."

I frowned at her words. "Who is telling you that you have failed?" I felt angry towards that.

"I tell myself that all the time." Harper spoke softly.

"Well, I don't think that is true. You are a terrific mother and probably a terrific wife. Screw what your ex thinks. If he can't see that, then too bad for him, his lose. Besides, you do everything you can for Willow."

I saw how Harper blushed as she looked away. "Thank you, Ryan. I really needed to hear that."

*

Harper

"Thank you, Ryan. I really needed to hear that." I said softly to him, feeling embarrassed as well as proud. "How is Liz doing?" I asked, changing the topic.

"Um, yeah. The same." Ryan breathed out. "She has spent all day in bed and unfortunately, I think, this year might be it." Ryan frowned as he looked at me. "It's weird. We accept that with life, there is death, but we never accept death itself."

I placed my hand on top of Ryan's and gave him a small smile. "I know it's tough. Losing the people we love. You have had a tragic story on losing many people you've loved and still do. But they are all still with all of us. Maybe not in body, but their spirit we can keep alive if we choose to."