Bruises of the Heart by J. J. Nite Read Free Book Online Page A

in return.
    "You remind me so much of your father. Your eyes are exactly like his, right down to the way they twinkle when you laugh. I so wish that you had been able to know him. He loved you so much, and it makes me sad that you will never know that for yourself. I guess I'm getting off track a little, huh?"
    "Maybe a little, but it's nice to hear, even if I've heard it before."
    "I've tried to make him real to you so that you would maybe have a little of him in your heart."
    I looked at this beautiful woman, my mom, and her whole body told of her internal struggle to find the right words. I reached across the smooth tabletop and took her hand in mine. She smiled at my silent show of support and gave my hand a little squeeze.
    "This might be hard for you to understand, but the love that Cole and I shared was so deep and all-encompassing. I've never really gotten over losing him. I've just learned how to move on. He was my first love and I never wanted anyone else, and I really don't think that I'm ever going to be ready to wade into the dating arena. I just don't think that there's anyone else out there for me. I had the privilege of falling in love with and marrying my soul mate, my best friend, and there is absolutely nothing that can top that."
    "Wow, I guess I didn't really understand that before — how connected the two of you were," I said.
    "I'm not sure that anyone really understood it at the time except for the two of us. From the outside it looked like two kids who were infatuated with one another. That's what my mother saw, and I think that's why, at first, she resisted my dating Cole. She wanted me to be more certain of who I was as a person before I started dating boys. She felt like she had missed out on a lot by becoming a parent so young and didn't want that to happen to me," she said.
    "Do you think that you missed out on anything by having me so young?" I asked after a minute.
    "No, I don't think that I missed out on anything. I got everything that I ever wanted — a man who loved me for who I was and not what I looked like, and a beautiful baby girl who has grown up into an even more beautiful young woman, far too quickly. The only thing that I wish was different is something that I have no control over, and that would be to still have your father here with us."
    She gave me a small smile and then got up and started clearing the table. I got up and helped her wash the dishes and put everything away. I thought about everything she had said and tried to apply it to my life. I wasn't sure Will was my soul mate, and if he wasn't, was there any point staying in the relationship?
    I was afraid our little talk had given me even more reason to doubt my commitment to Will. I also had those pesky questions swirling around in my head and I was finding it harder and harder to force them into a little box in the back of my mind. It was getting a lot more difficult to ignore that voice in my head since it had started to sound so much like Noah.
    I went to my room after helping Mom and tried to concentrate on my homework, but it just wasn't working. I still had too many questions floating around in my head.
    "Hey Mom, can I ask you something?" I asked, walking back into the living room.
    "Can't concentrate on your homework?" she asked, guessing correctly.
    "No, but how did you know?"
    "I can't seem to think about anything else but memories right now. What were you going to ask me?" She pulled her feet under her to make room for me on the couch.
    "Do you think that everyone has a soul mate? Like you had with Dad?" I asked hesitantly.
    "I think that everyone has someone. Whether it is something like I had, I hope so, because it was very special. I pray that you will find someone like that — someone supportive to a fault, never critical, and who shows a depth of kindness that I have never seen a match to. I think that your grandparents have that kind of love, both sets of them, whether you believe that or not.