A/N: This is it, guys. Sorry it took a little while longer than I intended to post, but ending this story was difficult. I’ve never ended a story before, and I love these characters—even when they suck… so it was hard to end it.

I want to take this last opportunity to thank everyone who followed this story so patiently (and the ones who weren’t as patient, haha, I love you guys, too!) and all my amazing reviewers who made it worth my time. You guys all rock, and I’m going to miss giving you updates! I am indescribably grateful for all of the feedback you have given me, and I hope that you’ve enjoyed watching Nikki’s journey unfold!

I really, really wanted to write this in third person POV, but since the rest of the story was first person, I stuck with it. Originally, I had been playing with the idea of a full-blown sequel to this story, and that would have been third person, so I was going to make the epilogue third person too so it would lead us right into the new story. However, after much consideration, I’ve decided that this will be it—I think it’s time to put this story—and these characters— to rest.

I hope you all like the ending! It took me awhile to make my mind up about it…

“It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same…” -Wuthering Heights

My interview would begin any moment.

For months I had been thinking of this interview, and I would be lying if I denied being a little bit nervous.

I never thought the day would come when I would find myself sitting across from her in an interview, the offer of an amazing college scholarship looming between us. If all went according to plan, I could be working side by side with her five days a week, free to listen to her stories and imagine how different her life had been from mine.

It was the opportunity of an ambitious college student’s lifetime—not only would the recipient be awarded a $10,000 scholarship, but they would also be offered a paid internship at one of New York’s most successful publishing companies—a company that also had offices in Boston and London, and if the intern had enough talent, they might even land a permanent job within the company. As if internships in the publishing industry alone weren’t hard enough to come by, getting a paid internship and a scholarship was enough to make the trip to New York City for the interview worth it no matter what part of the country you were from.

There were three hopeful students who had been selected to come in for personal interviews, and whichever student impressed the CEO would be the winner of the scholarship, plus they were given the coveted internship. Whomever was lucky enough to be selected for that scholarship would be virtually getting a free pass into the competitive publishing industry.

Out of all the essays and applications that had been sent in from around the world, only three students were selected for interviews, and one of them would walk away with this golden ticket.

I was obviously a blessed individual.

I could afford to give one lucky college student this opportunity of a lifetime.

Smiling to myself, I wheeled my black leather computer chair around and picked up the essay of the girl I was about to interview, skimming over it for the millionth time.

My required essay that went along with the application for the Jamie Harmon Memorial Scholarship was on the classic novel Wuthering Heights, and the essay I held in my hands had been very well written, with a comfortable familiarity of Wuthering Heights that gave me the impression that the writer had read the book before, probably very many times.

As I glanced at the silver picture frame that sat on my desk with a picture of Heathcliff, my beloved Cavaliar King Charles Spaniel, I smiled wryly.

Of course it was my favorite book.

The large glass door to my office was opened slightly, and my receptionist peeked her head inside.

“Miss Harmon?” she said meekly.

Andrea was entirely too meek—she irritated me on a daily basis with her mousy little voice.

Forcing my unkind thoughts away, I merely looked at her, indicating she could go on.

Shifting a little nervously, I realized I was already contemplating finding her replacement when the words finally escaped her mouth like a whisper, “Your interview is here.”

Why was she so afraid of me?

Realizing I didn’t care, I raised my eyebrows impatiently and said, “Well, what are you waiting for? Send her in.”

Nodding vigorously, Andrea swiftly backed out of my office and back into the lobby.

I decided to stand up to greet her, and I stole a glance in my unsmudged window to check my hair. Without realizing it, I smoothed down my skirt and stood up a little straighter.

Then, catching myself, I shook my head, thinking it was silly that I wanted to impress her.

In no time at all, Andrea was approaching my door again and I waited, unintentionally holding my breath as I braced myself for the first time I would ever see her outside of a picture.

“Miss Harmon, this is Cassidy Noble—I believe you were waiting to interview her.”

Forcing a casual smile, I tried to keep my once-over of this young woman brief and professional.

She was absolutely gorgeous. As Cassidy grinned at me, I could see the excitement in the sparkling blue eyes she had inherited from her father, and she absently reached up and tucked her long, beautiful mane of glossy dark brown hair behind her ear, shyly peeking at me in a way that immediately brought Derek’s image to my memory.

She had his teeth.

She had his lips.

She had his nose.

Without a doubt, she had his eyes.

But she had Katie’s hair, and Katie’s petite stature.

“Hello,” I said, on the surface seeming business-like and polite.

Cassidy extended her hand toward mine, and I took a step forward, shaking her hand. “Miss Harmon, words cannot express how honored I am to meet you.”

I smiled, thinking it ironic that I felt the same way about her.

Of course she didn’t know that. She didn’t know who I really was—to Cassidy, I was just a publishing industry mogul who could offer her one hell of a step up in her career.

“Have a seat,” I told her, taking my own seat behind my desk and turning my attention to her as Andrea left my office. “How are you liking New York?” I asked conversationally.

“Oh, it’s amazing,” Cassidy stated. “I’ve been here before, but there’s just nowhere like it—the energy in this city is… completely unique. The traffic… I could do without, but it’s worth it.”

“Agreed,” I said with a nod. “Did you have any trouble finding the place?”

“Not at all,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “Even this building is great—the architecture, the staircases, everything. I love it here.”

Smiling at her, I tried to remember the last time one of my smiles felt quite that genuine.

“So, Cassidy, tell me a little bit about yourself,” I said to her, despite already having a brief overview of all her academic information as well as her transcripts.

“Okay,” she said smiling at me and shifting in her seat as she crossed one leg over the other. “Well, as you know my name is Cassidy Noble. I’m going to be a junior this year, and I’m planning on transferring to NYU this semester if I get the scholarship, otherwise I… might have to reconsider. I currently have a 4.0 GPA, and I participate in volunteer activities as well as an active member of the honor society—“

Hoping she wouldn’t think I didn’t care, I held my hand up in gesture for her to stop, smiling one of my kindest smiles to alleviate the worry that her puzzled expression alluded to. “Honey, I have your transcripts, I know what school you go to, what grades you get, what honor societies you’re in—that you’re a member of two, by the way is very impressive—but I want to know about you personally. Tell me about yourself, what you like, what you want out of life, out of a career. Do you have a family? Tell me about your family, your boyfriend, that kind of thing. Help me get to know Cassidy Noble.”

For a split second she looked baffled, then an easy smile crossed her face and she began a new story, one much less prepared. “Okay. Well, I’m Cassidy Noble—my dad calls me Cassie, which drives my mother nuts, and everyone else just calls me Cassidy.”

That caused me to smile, which must have encouraged her. “I want to go into publishing because I love the written word. My personal preference is actually poetry, but my father pushed literature on me since I came out of the womb, so I suppose it’s only natural I would become a bookworm.”

“How so?” I asked, wondering when Derek became so interested in literature. I always had to drag him into bookstores.

Raising her perfectly shaped eyebrows, she repeated, “How did he push literature on me?” When I nodded, she smiled and went on. “Oh. Well, he just read to me all the time and he was always hauling me into bookstores. I remember when I was little I would want to get a doll or a tea set and he would tell me I had to wait for my birthday or Christmas, but then after the regular store he would haul me to this little bookstore that he just loved—he would spend hours in there if you let him—and I would find a book I liked and he would buy it, no questions asked. He didn’t read a lot of books himself, which I found kind of peculiar when I was young, but he did have a select few that he liked. Wuthering Heights is actually my father’s favorite book. He has read that book so many times that he could probably recite the whole thing without having to look at any of the pages. His favorite author is Nikki Reid—he has all of her books, and he reads and rereads those, too. It’s amusing, because he doesn’t read very much in terms of variety, but he reads every day.” Shaking her head, she said with a smile, “He’s strange.”

I was still glowing from her detailed account of Derek’s literary ventures, but the glow intensified when I picked up the fondness in her tone as she spoke of him.

“But he successfully passed the interest to me, and since I was a toddler there are pictures of me carrying books around the house talking about once upon a time and happily ever after.”

“That’s adorable,” I told her.

“Thank you,” she replied. “Then, as I got older I began to see what kind of job I could do that had to do with books. Working at a bookstore I wouldn’t have made enough money, being a librarian doesn’t fit my personality, I briefly considered teaching, but in the end I thought publishing—actually finding new books and making them available to the people—was what I wanted to do.”

“A very good choice,” I said with a nod, smiling wryly.

“As far as my personal life… I do not have a boyfriend anymore.”

I detected a blush as she said that, but I decided I was still interested. “Anymore?”

Her blush deepened and she said, “Well, I had a boyfriend from high school… we actually dated for three years—we took some breaks, but overall it was basically three years—and… then when I decided to move to New York and transfer it just seemed like the time to make the change. It was really hard to let go, but… we were going in different directions, and I was afraid that I might follow him down his path—which I don’t even like—instead of following my own. As much as I loved him, I have to love myself more.”

I could only stare at her, thinking that if she had a different physical appearance she could undoubtedly pass for my daughter with Derek.

“That… probably sounds bad,” she said, appearing flustered.

“No,” I said quickly. “Not at all. You are absolutely correct. I admire that you had the strength to walk away from someone you loved to do what’s best for you—a lot of people can’t do that, and it’s something I’ve had to do in my life, so… it definitely didn’t sound bad.”

“Sometimes I’m not so sure I made the right decision,” she admitted almost reluctantly. “I loved him. I imagined having a family with him. But… he changed after high school. He was a jock and he had a football scholarship to his school, but he just partied it away. He lost his scholarship and couldn’t afford to go to that school anymore, and I couldn’t stand watching it—I am a very ambitious person, it has been bred into me from birth and it was just… a waste. Plus he wasn’t always very nice to me—not in a nit-picky way, but… I had to go away for a convention in Dallas with my honor society, and it was a really great opportunity to be chosen to go, but it meant leaving home for five days. While I was gone I really missed Eric—my boyfriend—and when I got back I called him and I was like, ‘Did you miss me?’ and I just remember him laughing at me and saying, ‘Not really.’ I took it as a joke, but it wasn’t funny at all. It hurt my feelings. And then I wanted to see him that night because I had been out of town and he told me he couldn’t, he was going out with his friends.” Shrugging, she moved along. “Anyway, it wasn’t always bad, but we did have to break up, so I’m trying to keep busy and not think about that.”

Nodding, I advised, “Just make sure you remember to deal with it sometime.”

“Other than that… I don’t know. Between working part-time at the library, studying my butt off and trying to have something of a social life, there wasn’t time for very much else.”

“Well, what about your family? How do they feel about you moving to New York?”

She smiled and rolled her eyes lightly. “My mother hates it. My little sister is jealous. My father said I’m only allowed to move here if I call him every single night and tell him everything that happened every day of my life.”

“It sounds like you’re close to your father,” I remarked.

“Very close,” she agreed. “My parents were kind of mismatched, so it’s no surprise that they divorced when I was 6. I was sent to live with my mother, but my father wasn’t satisfied so he fought for custody of me. My mom was being spiteful, so she wouldn’t just let me go stay with him even though it was my preference as well as his. But then she got pregnant by her new boyfriend, so when my little sister was born she let me go live with my dad. I lived with him… all of my life, actually. I still live with him.”

“Did he come with you to New York?” I asked, wondering how it was possible that the thought of that could still excite me.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “He wanted to, but I told him to save his vacation days so he could help me move here.”

I chuckled, despite feeling just a ghost of disappointment. “Good idea.”

Nodding, she looked a little thoughtful. “So… school, family, relationships… I guess literature? As I mentioned, poetry is my favorite. Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot… they’re wonderful. Wuthering Heights is one of my favorites, but I guess it would have to be since it has been either read to me or read by me since I was a couple weeks old. Since my dad has loved the Nikki Reid books, I also felt compelled to check them out, see what all the fuss was about. I really liked them a lot; my only complaint is that she doesn’t write very many books. I mean, once you’ve read all six of her books twice… you wish you could read more.”

Smiling to myself, I was extremely pleased to hear that Derek had read the Nikki Reid books. Mike had clued me in to some things, but I didn’t know the little things.

“Tell me why you think you’ll be good for this job,” I said, deciding I should probably give her some questions I would have given any other scholarship prospect.

Smiling, she seemed to be happy for a question she had actually prepared for. “Well, I think I will be a great asset to your team because I am very dedicated to this dream—it’s all I want. In high school when people were concerned with cheerleading and dances, I was searching the Internet for curriculum for French literature courses and tracking book releases to see what type of marketing and promotional events worked best for book launches. I want to be responsible for making books readily available for people to read. And… as far as my company choices, you’re the one I want to work for because I think you’re an amazing role model for one thing, and you help people. This scholarship and offering a paid internship is amazing, and your programs for providing children’s books—I mean, you even opened an orphanage in Ukraine with your profits and published that children’s book about the little orphan with all proceeds going toward the children. You’re just… you’re what I want to be, and who better to learn from?”

With a bittersweet smile, I told her, “Aw, you’re incredibly similar to how I was at your age. I do want to tell you something though, and you might find this out on your own along the way anyway, but… all of this comes at a price.”

Cassidy just continued to look at me, her expression staying polite, but I could see a trace of confusion as if to say, ‘How could anyone with your life complain?’

So I explained.

“Honey, there’s a reason that the picture on my desk is a spaniel. Don’t get me wrong, I love my spaniel, and I love this life I’ve made for myself, but… it was a choice I had to make. You can be a working woman and have a family, sure, but… I could never have built all this if I wouldn’t have made certain sacrifices—this building would probably be a bank or apartments, those Ukrainian orphans would still live in the little white building with a big gaping hole in the floor, and most of the books I’ve published may have never reached readers. I love what I’ve spent my life building, but… I would never recommend you to do the same thing. You’re young, you’re beautiful, you’re intelligent—forget about your mismatched boyfriend and find someone who loves and appreciates you for all of that. Buy a house outside of the city. Get married. Have kids. Watch them grow up. You can spend your life building a business the way that I did, but when it comes down to it… I don’t have a daughter to send off to college, to tell her she better call me every night because I’m going to miss her so much. When I go home, I go alone. I chose this life, but… don’t write off the other one. Especially you—you don’t have to. This internship is your way in—if you want to go to the top in this business, you can do that within this company and then you can take advantage of life and do what we couldn’t—have your cake and eat it. Have a family and success.”

Cassidy chuckled, and said, “I am flattered, but with all due respect, you hardly have one foot in the grave. You are pretty beautiful yourself, and you’re enormously successful—any guy would be lucky to even go for drinks with you. It’s not too late, if you want to have your cake and eat it too, get yourself a fork.”

I grin at her, and I know that I’m going to enjoy having her around me.

For a moment, I feel a little bad that the odds were tilted so extremely in her favor, but then I remind myself that I intentionally only selected candidates from within the city so that they at least wouldn’t have to travel to waste their time. I would just have to keep their interview short and let them down easily. Really, the only way Cassidy Noble wouldn’t have gotten the job would have been if she turned out to be exactly like Katie and I would have hated her.

For the rest of the interview I asked her business related questions, thinking there will be plenty of time to get to know her. I ask if she’s willing to travel. When she enthuses that she would be more than willing to, I invite her to a conference that I have to attend.

“In June there will be a conference in Aspen, and I would like to bring you along if you're interested. One great way to give you an advantage in this competitive business is to become a part of the publishing scene—you need your face to be seen, you need to be recognized.”

For a split second she registered shock and then she said, “Does that mean… I mean when you say you would like to bring me…”

I smile, realizing I just delivered that without pretending she was only being considered for the position. Then I decide just to tell her—to see her excitement for myself and save her the two days of jumping every time her phone rings.

“If I were you I’d tell your dad to schedule that vacation.”

“Oh my God!” she exclaims, nearly jumping as she clasped her hands together. “Thank you so much, I am going to be the best intern you’ve ever had, you are going to be so glad that you picked me! Thank you so much, I can’t even think of adequate words to describe—you’ve literally made one of my dreams come true just now!”

“The first of many, I hope,” I tell her with a little wink.

She beams at me, and she has no idea how sincerely I mean what I just said.

“Oh my gosh, I have to go call my dad. Thank you so much! I would hug you right now if I thought it might be appropriate, but I am just… I can’t even process thoughts, I’m so happy.”

“Well, good. I think you’re going to be excellent for this position, Cassidy.”

“Oh, I will. I promise, I’m going to work my butt off here.”

“Are you waiting until the start of the new semester to move to the city or are you moving in sooner?”

Her eyes widen slightly and I get the impression that she isn’t completely sure, but then she says, “Whenever you need me. If you need me this week, I will be here this week.”

“Well, it’s up to you. Normally I start interns at the start of the semester, but if you wanted to start sooner so that you’re already familiar with everything by the time you have to start at NYU I would be completely amenable to the idea of you starting as soon as you get settled in. Not to mention the conference… I mean, it’s not required, I could fly you in from any airport, but…”

I see excitement flare up in her eyes and she decides, “No, I’m definitely moving in as soon as possible. I have to call my dad and see how soon he can get the vacation time off to drive my stuff in, but… as soon as he can get here, I’m going to be here.”

“Great. Listen, whenever you get your dad here give me a call, let me know, I’ll get you two some reservations and you can go out to dinner on me, show him around our great city.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Cassidy said, shaking her head. “I appreciate the offer, really…”

“Nonsense,” I said, shaking my head decisively. “I’ll send you to my favorite restaurant. In fact, you said he likes Nikki Reid’s work, correct?”

“After Wuthering Heights she’s his favorite.”

With a nod, I told Cassidy, “I have her last unpublished novel, I’d be glad to let him read it.”

Her eyes widen, and you would think it was the best day of her life—which, up to that point, it probably was. “Oh my gosh, he will love that! Thank you so much.”

“No problem.”

“I have to tell him,” she said, shaking her head. “What was it called?”

With an ironic smile, I walk over to my bookshelf and pull a book out from the shelf containing my other “Nikki Reid” books, then I tell her, “The Path Not Taken.”

As she looks at the cover with the pseudonym scrawled across the bottom and the picture of a little digital camera—old fashioned to her—and a graduation cap, I wonder for a split second if somehow she’s already heard of our story without my name, if somehow showing her the book will give away my little secret.

But as she finishes reading the back of the book no recognition registers on her face, and I note that my secret is safe for at least a little while longer.

And then, briefly, I wonder if her father is equally clueless about Nikki Reid’s identity.

I decide to find out, but first things first, I have to send Cassidy on her way.

She is still excited as she practically floats out of my office, beaming with happiness and overflowing with gratitude for this opportunity I’ve given her.

I smile, because she doesn’t even know the half of it yet. It is adorable to me how she thinks she just got her foot in the door, because in my mind I can already see her running the company that I built in about 10 years. Since I did make the sacrifices, she would never have to. I may not have ever had the chance to have a daughter with Derek myself, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make sure his daughter had every opportunity we were never given.

With Cassidy gone, I walk over and thumb through my Nikki Reid books from my office bookshelf, then I pick one of them up and go over to my desk, taking a seat in my chair and dialing an old, familiar number.

Three rings and I wonder if he’s home.

“Hello?” his tired voice answers on a sigh, as if he’s inconvenienced.

I smile. “Hey, I wanted to ask you a question.”

“Oh, hi.” There’s a pause and I hear a door close, and I assume he went somewhere a little more private. “Did you… interview her yet?”

“I sure did,” I state. “She just left. And she told me all about her father’s literary tastes—Nikki Reid? Really? Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased, but… that wasn’t my expected demographic.”

He chuckles uncomfortably, “Why not?”

“Did you tell him?” I ask bluntly. “Why else would he have ever picked up one of those books?”

There’s a sigh, and then, “Well, I might have mentioned something about… how he should read one of them.”

“Mike, you damn sneak. You’re only supposed to be working for my side, remember?”

He chuckles and said, “Why shouldn’t he know how you really feel, Nikki?”

My smile dissipates then, and I say, “I’m not Nikki.”

Mike is silent for the longest few seconds, and then he says, “You know, Derek isn’t going to like seeing her go so far away.”

“Who said she got the job?” I ask teasingly.

He snorts. “Yeah, right.”

With a little shrug, I spin my chair so I can gaze out the window. “I’m too predictable, I suppose.”

“You forget that I’ve been in on this since she was in high school. There’s no one in this family less surprised that she got your scholarship.”

“Will he be surprised?” I ask, and Mike doesn’t need to ask who I mean.

“Probably not. At first he didn’t even want to encourage her to apply, because he was afraid you might hold a grudge and that would keep her from getting it.”

“A Harmon holding a grudge? Absurd.”

He laughs, and I find myself feeling glad that we can actually joke about it now.

“Yeah right,” he says dryly. “I once called your mother fat accidentally and she gave me hell about it for two weeks. Wouldn’t eat in front of me for a good month.”

“You’re lucky she didn’t clobber you,” I state.

“Anyway, you got me off track.”

“I tend to do that,” I admit unapologetically.

“What I was saying is that Derek isn’t going to like seeing his Cassie move so far away. I wouldn’t put it past him to discover a new desire to experience city life and try to move out that way just to be close to her.”

It’s stupid, but my heart skitters a little at the thought of Derek and I living in the same city.

“He will not,” I argue.

“I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s got nothing holding him here without Cassie. He never has.”

I don’t have anything to say back to that anymore, so I sit quietly on the phone as I gaze at the skyscraper across from my building and contemplate what Mike said.

“Well… if he did decide to move here you should let me know. I know everybody; I can get him a job if he has any trouble finding something.”

“Yeah, sure, that’s why you would want to know,” Mike says sarcastically.

I roll my eyes and say, “You’re getting too comfortable, informant.”

“Sorry boss,” he says mockingly.

I crack a smile and say, “Well, I should probably get off here and do some actual work. I think I have to meet with a potential writer.”

“Sounds important,” he said, sounding anything but impressed.

“Mm, yes,” I murmur, glancing at my schedule. “I read her manuscript and I’ve got to say, she might be my next bestseller.”

“Well, I’ll let you go do your important things then. I really do want to thank you though. Giving Cassie this chance… it means so much to her.”

I shrug it off, saying, “She deserved it.”

“She did,” he agreed, “but we both know why she got this job, and it wasn’t her essay.”

I smile. “There you go, getting too comfortable again.”

“Well, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I say simply. “And… thank you for trusting me. When I came to you seeking out information about Cassidy… if I were you, I might have been concerned that I was a Harmon woman hell-bent on revenge and I wouldn’t have told me anything.”

He was quiet for just a couple seconds, then he said, “It’s not revenge Harmon women really want though, is it?”

“No,” I agree quietly, thinking of my mother. “I think it’s always been something else.”

“Well… this is getting too… Oprah for me, so I think I’m going to go.”

Falling back into the role I’ve been playing since I began talking to Mike, I pretend to agree. “Oh, you’re right. Heaven forbid it might seem like we get along.”

“Mortal enemies?” he asked.

“Until the bitter end,” I said with a smile.

“Before I go, I just have one more thing to say,” Mike said.

Sighing, I said, “Go on.”

“You and Derek are young yet—I know you’re not Cassidy’s age anymore, but you’re still young. You guys could still—“

“Goodbye, Mike,” I say, cutting him off and hanging up the phone, shaking my head with a small smile.

Still, as I looked at my personal copy of The Path Not Taken, my mood didn’t have the tinge of sadness that was typical of the one I usually had as I leafed through the book.

And then, sitting in my executive chair looking out the window of my skyscraper and feeling like I was on top of the world, I thought about Cassidy’s words to me—asking me why I couldn’t have my own cake and it too?

Shaking my head, I decided not to think about it anymore. After all, that whole life had been many years earlier. Yes, I was shaking everything up by digging Cassidy out of that godforsaken little hole of a town I had left so many years before, but any sort of business mogul is allowed certain eccentricities. Some people buy tigers, some get a lot of Botox and plastic surgery, some of them wear a pair of socks and then immediately throw them away after use.

I had no tigers, no Botox, and I washed my own socks—so wasn’t I entitled to just toying with people from my past if I felt like it? I wasn’t harming them or anything—quite the opposite, actually.

The door to my office opened slowly and that terrible meek woman that I needed to fire popped in, still looking like I terrified her as she informed me that my meeting had arrived.

I nod succinctly and tell her to send the author in, then—since I don’t feel like getting all the way up and going over to my bookshelf—I open up the bottom drawer of my desk and slide the book inside. The book pushes something else, and I notice that it has the glossy finish of a snapshot, so I lift the book and pull out the picture to smooth out the crinkles I just put there.

It was the picture Derek took of us on the day of our high school graduation—the last time I ever saw him in person. My mood dimmed ever so slightly as I looked at the picture, saw the girl that I had been turning her face away from the camera so there would be no evidence of her tears.

For a split second, I wondered how smart I really was to let Derek Noble back into my life—even if only through his daughter.

Then my sense of reason stepped in, reminding me that it had been a long time ago, we had been mere kids, and the circumstances had been very difficult. Even if we would have made the situation work, our lives would have both been a lot different.

Shoving the photograph back in the drawer, a feeling of contentment settled over me once more as everything Derek-related tumbled together in my mind—the picture, The Path Not Taken, what might have been if things worked out…

I repeated something to myself that I had said before, but never been quite as certain about as I was in that moment.

Even if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t have changed anything.

I would have still left him there at graduation.

If I got to choose all over again, I would still take the same path I had taken.

And I would have no regrets, because while I may not have had that domestic life complete with a loving husband and children, I had achieved something great and I had worked my ass off to do it.

Besides, like Cassidy said, my journey was still far from over.

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Dedications:

I know these typically come at the beginning of a story, but I think on fictionpress it’s more appropriate to wait until the end.

This story is dedicated in three parts.

I dedicate this story first and foremost to any girl who has ever or will ever find herself the position Nikki/Jamie was in—the one who loves with all her heart and loses anyway. (If you read this story BEFORE the situation, I hope that when you come across it you think ,”Hey wait, isn’t this how Nikki got crushed in Because of You?” and then you turn tail and run before you get hurt! I don’t care if it’s just a story—run!) Since I never delved into Katie’s side (because this story was written entirely in Nikki’s POV, obviously) you may not immediately recognize that typically (in life) Katie is the one people favor because she’s having the baby, so now they’re “family.” Nikki (and Jamie) is, in short, reduced to a wannabe homewrecker. I’ve never seen the story of the Nikki or the Jamie told. I wanted to shine some light on this…terrible, painful, atypical kind of love story. (I do like atypical.)Because despite how it all ended, despite who inevitably “won,” for Nikki, this was her love story.

It is also dedicated in large part to anyone who cared, even for a second, about any of my characters. I have loved being able to share them with you, to share this story, and I hope that –even if you weren’t hoping for this ending, because I know probably a few of you out there weren’t—you understand that at least in Nikki’s situation, this really was the best ending for her. It is pure hell to love someone when all the odds are against you.

Which brings me to my final dedication:

M.N.B.

This story would not have been possible without you.