‘Yes. I could never stay long. I was here to see Mum and to spend as much time with her as I could.’
Cressy nodded. She’d always known how close he was to his mother. Just like she’d also remember how he’d ended things between them. He’d made it clear there was no future for them and that he didn’t want her to wait.
‘Cressy, I’ve said it before but … I’m really sorry the way things turned out … between us.’
She shrugged, her face devoid of all expression. ‘There’s no need to apologise. You’ve already said enough. I get it … you left because you had things to do that you couldn’t do here.’
‘Cressy …’ He pressed his lips together to stop his secrets from breaking free. He’d made a deathbed promise to his mother to let the past go and to move forward. He nodded. ‘Thanks again for being there for Mum. See you tomorrow.’
‘No worries.’ She’d turned away before she’d even finished speaking.
He dug his hands deep in his jeans pockets. No matter how much he wanted to, he could no more call her back or say how good it was to see her than he could take her into his arms.
Without a backwards glance she slipped into the driver’s seat, started the ute engine and continued into the cemetery.
Denham bowed his head and made his way to his own ute. It wasn’t only his brave and gentle mother he’d come home to farewell. It was time to let the flicker of hope that he and Cressy could have a future together burn out. It was time to let both his dreams … and her … go. There could be no going back.
He made a point of not looking at his father’s or brother’s graves. The years away hadn’t achieved a thing. The pain hadn’t dulled. The guilt hadn’t diffused. His feelings for Cressy hadn’t dimmed.
He still had to let the one girl he could never forget walk away.
ISBN: 9781489297167
TITLE: UNDER CHRISTMAS STARS
First published in 2017 in the collection A VERY COUNTRY CHRISTMAS
Copyright © 2017 Alissa Callen
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