Susan opened the box, and a half an hour later, Damien was finding that it wasn’t as hard as he had imagined to watch Jessica’s parents go through her personal possessions. Susan only teared up once, when she found a grade school report card, but for the most part, she and Fred smiled, laughed, reminisced about the items they pulled out.

They had healed. Damien could see it. They missed Jessica, they loved her, but they had accepted their loss and were prepared to focus on the good times.

He wanted to be able to do that, but he wasn’t there yet. Wasn’t sure he’d ever be.

“So, are you seeing anyone? Is there a special woman in your life?” Susan asked casually, her reading glasses perched on her nose.

“No.” He shook his head. There was no explaining his relationship with Mandy. He was her boss, her one-time lover, and he hoped her friend.

“I’m sorry to hear you say that,” she said quietly. “I’d hoped by now you would have moved on, found happiness.”

“No,” he said, because again it was the simplest answer.

“Cutting yourself off from family and friends—not being happy—that’s not what Jess would have wanted for you,” Susan said, stroking his arm.

That statement gave Damien pause. He ran his finger over the edge of Jessica’s yearbook, squeezing the tip of his finger between the pages until he felt pain. “You think so? Because I was never really sure what Jessica wanted.”

Fred gave a laugh. “Ain’t that the truth. Our Jess wasn’t easy to live with. She took after Susan that way.”

Susan smacked his leg. “Watch it.”

Damien didn’t think it was anything to laugh about, but for the first time ever he allowed himself to think that maybe all their problems hadn’t been his alone. Maybe no matter how much he loved her, it never would have been enough to make Jessica happy. They hadn’t been right for each other.

Maybe if she hadn’t died, they would have gone their separate ways.

Maybe none of that mattered because he was the one alive and she was dead, and hopefully Jessica was at peace.

“Well, I need to take off.” Damien stood up. “I haven’t even seen my parents yet.”

Then he had one more stop to make before he met up with George to sign the listing papers.

He had to visit the tattoo parlor.

Chapter 20

Mandy picked at her chicken Caesar salad and worried. Caroline stared at her as she wiped her lips on a napkin. “You’re really worked up over him. You’ve fallen for Demon Sharpton, haven’t you?”