“Not this weekend,” Charlee took her phone as Gwen handed it back.

Explaining quickly, Charlee tried changing the subject. She knew it was as easy as bringing her mom back to the hotel and having them meet quickly, but it would be a fast hello and goodbye in the lobby, and Charlee wanted their meeting to be a little longer.

Moving on to other things, their conversation had already veered on the tense side when Gwen told her about Ted making more of an effort to see her step-brother, Ryan. Was that supposed to impress Charlee that the man was making an “effort” to spend time with his son, when nothing or no one was stopping him except himself?

But nothing brought the conversation to a faster screeching halt than Gwen’s sudden and very blunt account. “I ran into Danny this week at the Chili House.”

Charlee stared at Gwen, not sure why she felt the need share this with her now. Then Gwen reached into the paper bag she’d walked in with and pulled out an envelope with Charlee’s name written on it.

“When I ran into him, I mentioned you would be in town this weekend and that I was keeping my fingers crossed I’d get to see you.” She held the envelope out to Charlee. “He came by last night and asked me to please give this to you if I saw you.”

Staring at the envelope, Charlee gulped hard, refusing to reach out for it. “I don’t want it.”

“Charlee, honey, he said he still feels terrible and that he really needs you to read this. I saw it in his eyes. He really is sorry. I haven’t read it, but I think maybe if you could understand why things happened the way they did it might give you some closure.”

“I have closure.” Charlee said almost through her teeth. “I’ve had it since I left, and I do even more now that I have Hector. I don’t need to relive that part of my life again.”

She really didn’t, especially not after having just relived the whole damn thing just this past week when she told Hector about it. She was so over it now. The last thing she needed was to hear why Danny had chosen her to invite to that party. She knew why. He’d be a sure win if he brought the freak. But she wasn’t that person anymore. Even with all her faults and weaknesses, Hector loved her unconditionally. That’s all she needed.

“I really think—”

“I said no.”

Gwen lifted her hands in the air. “Okay, okay.” she conceded. “Have it your way.” Slipping the envelope back in the bag, her mom pulled out what looked like a scrap book instead. “I haven’t had the heart to change anything in your bedroom since you left. But I did go through some of the old poems and photos you had on your corkboard, and I put this together for you.” She smiled, handing the scrapbook over to Charlee.

This Charlee took happily. She opened it to the first page to a picture of her and her late nana—the woman responsible for introducing Charlee to the world of chess. Immediately, she felt overwhelmed with emotion.

“I was gonna say,” Gwen said as Charlee glanced up at her and saw that her eyes were just as dampened with tears as Charlee’s felt. “You might wanna wait until you’re home to go through that. You’re gonna need a box of tissues and a little privacy. I know I did as I put it together.”

Deciding her mom was right, she glanced back at the photo one last time before closing the scrap book. With no room for it on the table, Gwen placed it back in the bag until they were done with lunch.

She walked her mom back to her car and hugged her tight. “Will you be home for Thanksgiving?”

Charlee shook her head. She’d warned her mother when she left she may not come back for a very long time. And even though she’d been ready to run home more than once, it was only to hide away from the entire world in her room like a hermit again, not because it was a place she yearned to return to. For now, she’d keep the thought to herself, but Charlee had no desire to step foot in the town of Heron’s Nest ever again unless she wasn’t forced to. “But maybe you could come out to California,” Charlee offered, “if not for Thanksgiving maybe Christmas. You can meet Hector then.”

Her mom smiled, understanding, and handed Charlee the bag with the scrapbook. They said their final goodbyes, and Charlee walked away with a strange lump in her throat. Knowing she’d be seeing Hector soon, she forced herself to snap out of her weird mood.

The rest of the weekend was as amazing as she imagined it would be. Their night and the next morning were as passionate as always. They did finally sleep soundly for a several hours Saturday night, and it was probably the best night’s sleep Charlee had ever had.

Sunday afternoon, when they were packing up their things, Charlee pulled the scrapbook out. “What’s that?” Hector looked at it curiously.

“A scrap book Gwen made me.” He looked at her strangely. “My mom,” she explained. “She was a single teen mom when I was born and still lived at home. We lived with my grandparents for the first eight years of my life. Everyone around me addressed her by her name, so I did too, and no one ever corrected me.” Charlee turned back to the scrapbook. “Anyway, she said I should wait ’til I’m home with a box of tissues and some privacy to look through it. But I think I’ll be okay,” she sat on the bed.

“You want some privacy? I can go check us out while you look through it.”

Shaking her head quickly, she patted the bed. “No, I’ve no secrets, and there’s nothing in my past I’m hiding from you. Besides,” she smiled as he sat down next to her, “I doubt she’d put anything bad in here.”