Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Yates pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I'll get tested too. The more of us there are, the better the odds."

"Are you out of your mind? You and Jessica aren't even related. The chances of a match are next to nothing."

"Can't I at least try? What if I turn out to be a match? Plus, every compatibility test takes days. We can't just go one by one forever-does she really have that much time?"

Yates' reasoning gave Vince pause.

His mother's health was fragile there was no way he'd tell her about this, much less ask her to get tested for Jessica.

As for his father...

If only he were younger. It would be best if his father could be the match.

"Fine. Let's head to the hospital now."

Vince led the way downstairs, with Yates following. Vince drove, and Yates took the passenger seat.

"Hey, man, why don't you talk to Jessy and your folks and just set a date for the wedding? Let's make it official."

Vince shot him a look. "Not this again. Didn't I tell you not to call me 'brother-in- law'? I hate it. As for you and Jessy, I'm sure my parents will talk to yours and call the whole thing off. We're not about to force her into a marriage just to make someone else happy."

Yates kept his cool. "She'd be safest married to me."

"She's just as safe with the Zimmermans," Vince replied evenly.

"Come on. Be honest with yourself-how safe do you really think she is?"

Yates paused, then went on, "Timothy's going to cause trouble eventually. You guys won't get any peace. The only way to shut him down is for her to get married and end his fantasies. Besides, she doesn't remember her childhood now, but if she ever does, she might actually want to marry me. Speaking of which, why haven't you taken her to a doctor to find out why she can't remember anything from when she was a kid?"

"Isn't it normal for people to forget things from when they were five or six? Those memories fade, but it doesn't really matter. She's never brought it up anyway. If she wants to dig up her old memories, she'll say so. If she doesn't, I'm not about to push her."

Vince knew more about her past than most, and all he wanted was to let her have things her way.

Yates had been staying with the Zimmermans for two days now, but he hadn't gone out of his way to see Jessica or even talk to her.

Truth was, he had no idea how to start.

Watching from the sidelines all this

time, every time he thought of

he just felt like a completenoveldrama

jerk totally unworthy of even

speaking to her.

If only she could remember the past. If she remembered him, maybe he'd have a way to get close.

"What are you thinking about?" Vince glanced over, then turned back to the road.

Yates replied, "After everything Timothy's done to her, don't you want him to pay for it?"

"Of course I do. I'd like to kill him. But what good would that do me? I'm not a murderer."

"Killing him would just let him off the hook, and you'd waste the rest of your life behind bars. Not worth it."

Vince smirked. "Let me guess-you

want Jessy to marry you. Then, since we're all friends, Timothy

would have to see you two together

all the time. That would really cut

him to the bone, right?"

Yates pinched the bridge of his nose, raising an eyebrow. "Vince, do you have to

be so sharp?"

"Oh, please. Who's sharp-you or me? You and Timothy are always trying to set me up. If I didn't have my wits, I'd be running circles for you guys. Timothy's a pain, sure, but I'm not about to throw awaydessy's future just to get back at him. Her happiness is what matters."

"Man, I must have the worst luck in the world, ending up with a brother-in-law like you."

Too clever. Too damn clever.

No wonder Timothy never picked a fight with Vince growing up.

Even when Vince gave Timothy a hard time, Timothy almost never said a word.