I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 40

Jason securely strapped Mia into her car seat in the back before walking around to the front of the car to say goodbye to Sophie.

"The business trip must have been exhausting. You look like you've lost some weight."

Sophie instinctively reached up to touch her face and laughed. "Skinny is in right now. Gwen and I are both trying to lose a few pounds."

Jason looked like he wanted to say something else, but ultimately just smiled and said, "Get some rest. Don't push yourself too hard."

Sophie watched as Jason started the car, waved goodbye to him and Mia, and began the long climb back up the stairs.

Five flights of stairs. Even she was a bit winded by the time she reached the top. She couldn't imagine how hard it was for her mother with her arthritis.

For the past few years, she had spent all her free time traveling, taking cooking classes, and doing yoga, yet it had never once occurred to her to come home and spend more time with her mother. She had been incredibly selfish.

Riddled with guilt, Sophie spent the evening carefully wrapping her mother's legs in hot towels.

"When did you get arthritis? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"It just started the last couple of years. When you get older, your parts start wearing out. A few aches and pains are perfectly normal," Sarah said, trying to reassure her.

"Mom, am I a terrible daughter?"

Sophie felt a mountain of regret but didn't know how to put it into words.

Sarah shook her head. She had regrets of her own.

"Sophie, have you resented me all these years?"

After a moment's hesitation, Sophie answered honestly, "When I was younger, I did."

But when she said 'younger,' she meant any time before she turned twenty-nine.

Before she found herself pregnant with nowhere else to turn, she had always believed her mother didn't love her.

Her mother had strictly forbidden her from talking to boys, going to her classmates' houses, or joining any after-school clubs. She had completely disregarded Sophie's feelings or pride, acting more like a dictator than a parent.

"I've been thinking a lot lately... wondering if my strictness when you were young is the reason you've struggled so much in your love life. Back in high school, there was that boy who had a crush on you. He was a good kid, but I chased him off."

Sarah let out a heavy sigh as she spoke.

"At the time, I was terrified you'd get distracted and ruin your chances of getting into a good college. But you made it to a big city, and things still haven't been easy for you."

Sophie remembered the boy. He was the guy from her math class.

She didn't know how to ride a bike back then, so she took the bus to and from school every day.

He would ride his bike alongside the bus, and when she got off, he would walk his bike next to her all the way back to her apartment building before finally leaving.

One time, the bus broke down halfway there, and the next one was nowhere in sight.

The boy offered to give her a ride on the back of his bike. Terrified of her mother's wrath if she got home late, Sophie agreed.

But when they reached her building, they ran right into Sarah, who had just gotten off work. Sarah immediately grabbed the boy and unleashed a vicious tirade.

"What do you think you're doing, you little delinquent? Stay away from my daughter. If she fails to get into college because of you, I will personally march down to your school and your parents' offices and ruin you. If I ever catch you bothering Sophie again, I'll break your legs!"

The boy tried repeatedly to explain the situation to Sarah, but she refused to listen, drowning him out with a barrage of curses. Several neighbors even opened their windows to watch the spectacle.

'Next time.' 'Someday.' Those tiny words sparked a faint, lingering warmth in Sophie's chest.

Everyone inherently craved a future.

"Your mom must be thrilled you're back, right?" Gavin replied almost instantly.

"She is, but every conversation inevitably loops back to her pressuring me to get married."

Sophie hit send before realizing how inappropriate that sounded. She quickly tapped 'Unsend.'

The screen showed *Gavin is typing...* but no message came through. After a while, a single line finally appeared: "Do you need me to step in as a shield? I'm on standby whenever you need me."

He had seen the deleted message after all.

He was clearly joking, but a wave of warmth still washed over Sophie's heart.

She joked back, "I'll let you know if I need backup. Your payment will be me treating you to local street food."

"I'll head over this weekend. A quick flight and I'll be there."

That afternoon, Gwen had texted Gavin to warn him about a very strong new competitor in town, and Gavin couldn't sit still anymore.

Back on the college track field all those years ago, he had watched her for two solid hours, purposely kicking his soccer ball right to her feet just to find an excuse to talk to her, only to freeze up and mumble, "Sorry."

If he had just been brave enough to confess his feelings and ask for her number back then, would their story be different now?

There were no time machines in life, and 'what ifs' didn't matter. But now that he had found her again, he absolutely refused to let her slip away.