A lot of strange things have happened to me for months now, but none is as strange as the words that just spilled out of Heather Blunt's mouth.

She dated my dad?

I laugh because it's funny. ''You can't be serious.'' Really, it's funny. How could she have dated my dad? As far as I'm concerned, my parents were married for the longest time.

She doesn't laugh with me, not even as much as crack a smile. My expression changes and I realize that she's actually serious.

''Wait, you're not kidding?''

''I'm as serious as a heart attack.''

''How?''

I'm curious. How did they meet and when did this relationship happen?

''Your father and I met ten years ago, I believe. I'm not sure about the exact date because it has been so long, but we met here in Bridgewood. Back then, before I married Dean, Jason's step-dad, I was a single mum who was living in and out of motels with a young son,'' she explains. ''We were barely scraping by and I was working odd jobs just to put food on the table. One night, while I was coming home from work, I was a waitress at the time, my car broke down. I didn't even have money at to fix it and Jason was all alone in the motel and I was hurrying to get to him.''

She gives me a whimsical smile. ''I was praying to whoever that was listening to send a saviour to help me because it was really late and the streets are not safe. Ten minutes later, I saw headlights and a car pulled up. It was your father. I explained my situation to him and he actually helped me fix it, even offered to take it to a mechanic in case something else happened to it.''

My dad was good at fixing cars. I remember during his pastime, he would remodel cars he retrieved from the scrapyard like an old Chevy or a beat up Civic.

''He was good ar fixing cars,'' I say tightly. But bad at a lot of things like honesty.

''After that incident, I coincidentally ran into him at my place of work. Like I said, I was a waitress and he was charming and flrty,'' she chuckles. ''He told me he was single and we exchanged numbers.''

Wonderful.

My face shows no hint of emotion. I just bob my head and wait for her to continue her tale. I don't know how exactly I'm supposed to feel right now. He was clearly married to my mum back then and he told her that he was single. That's the height of disrespect.

''After that, we began dating. I even introduced him to Jason at a point in time. I had no idea that he had a family.'' Her eyes ar full of regret as she tells her tale. ''There was a time when we were out on a date and his phone get buzzing. I asked him who it was as he said that it was no one. That raised my eyebrows a bit, but I let it slide. I should have known better.''

Tears slip from her eyes and she wipes them with the tissue on her lap. ''I found out three months into the relationship that he had a whole family, which was you, your mum and your sister. We were planning our future together, planned on moving to a different state entirely because I was head over heels in love with him and I got hit with that bombshell. How I found out? I was going through his phone and I saw a picture of his family. I confronted him about it but he lied. It wasn't until I threatened to call the police that he finally confessed that he had a family and he had been two-timing.''

What. The. Actual. Fuck?

''I felt so disgusted with myself,'' she confesses. ''Disgusted to have been going out with a married man without even realizing it. Moreso, I felt pained that I had caused his family so much harm without intending to. I was the other woman and I didn't even know it. I loved your father, it took a short amount of time, but I fell in love with him. Sadly, I let that love blind me.''

Grandma Maggie told me that the reason my dad left us was because he was seeing someone else. The pieces are finally falling into place.

Heather Blunt was that someone else.

She's the reason why he left a stupid note saying he was leaving.

''Say something, Melody,'' she pleads in between tears. ''Anything.''

What do I say?

''You're the reason why my dad left us,'' I whisper, still stunned. ''You're the reason why my parent's marriage turned to dust.''

''I'm sorry,'' she says again, still crying. ''I'm so sorry and I wish I could turn back the clock and take it all back. I wish I had never met him or at least, I wish I had never let him charm his way into my heart. I know I might have caused you all a lot of pain.''

Might? Mum would cry herself to sleep at night because she and dad were arguing. Over what? They never told me because I was ''too young to understand.'''

I'm older now and I understand. I see why they were arguing.

''You have to understand that I was lied to.'' Heather Blunt's eyes are red and puffy now. ''I was deceived too by a man I thought I loved. If I had known, I never would have ventured into the relationship. You have to believe me.''

''I don't know what to believe anymore.''

''I know it's a shock and I know that you didn't expect that the minute you came here.'' You think? ''I'm not a victim here and you may probably hate me right now, but my hope is that you forgive me. ''

''Have you heard from him?'' I haven't so much as heard a voicemail from my dad in ten years. I still leave messages, hoping that he'll reply but he never does. I don't even know why I do it, it hurts me every fucking time to leave that one minute message, almost at the verge of tears, but I still do it. I guess I'm waiting for some sort of miracle to happen.

For all I know, he could be dead.

''After I broke up with him, I didn't hear from him again. Then I met Dean and the rest is history. I'm sorry.''

''He disappeared from our lives around the time,'' I reveal. ''I haven't heard from him since then.''

She apologizes again and I feel the tears well up in my eyes. I want to hate her. I want to blame her for everything that went wrong with my family. I want to yell at her and scream because my family was ruined because of infidelity.

I want to do all these things, but I can't.

In a way, she's faultless. Love makes you do stupid things that you'll end up regretting later. Heather and I are alike. I loved Bob so much that I failrd to ignore the warning signs and she was the same. If we had both listened to our head and not our heart, we wouldn't be in the situations that we are in right now.

She wouldn't be tearfully apologizing to me and I wouldn't be scared for my life because a crazy person wants to kill me.

''I don't know what to say, Heather.'' I hear her sniff across from me and my heart nearly breaks. For me. For her. For my mum. For Sophie. A lot of people were hurt directly and it's all because of him. ''It's a lot to take in and I can't promise you forgiveness right now.''

It would take me a while to process all of this and the old wounds that I swore I healed are now re-opened.

She nods in understanding. ''I know and I'll continue to apologize because it was never my intention to hurt anyone.''

Heather seems like a genuine person. Nothing from her tale raised a red flag in my head and from the way she broke down, you could tell that she was keeping it one hundred.

We both stare at each other for what feels like hours without saying a word. I'm trying to process this new revelation and she is still pretty much feeling guilty for what happened ten years ago.

''My son likes you a lot,'' she notes. ''I can see the way his eyes sparkle when he looks at you.''

''I didn't realize that,'' I respond shyly.

''It's clear as day. He looks at you the way Dean looks at me. It's refreshing to see.''

Wow.''

''I know our pasts are intertwined, and not in a good way, but I like you, Melody. You're different from your father.'' I can never be like him. ''I hope you don't let this revelation hamper what you have with my son because I can tell that what you two have is something special.

We do have something special. He makes me feel special and I love the way he looks at me like I'm the only thing he sees.

''He's special,'' I say with a smile. ''And I like him a lot.''

''I can tell,'' she says with a small smile. ''He didn't have the easiest of childhoods, I was a teen mum, we didn't have a lot of money and in his early years, I didn't provide him stability. Often times it was difficult for us to have three square meals a day and I was struggling, but Jason was always my rock.'' I love the way her eyes sparkle when she talks about him. It reminds me of my mum. ''He may not be the easiest of person's to get along with.'' Boy, do I know. ''But he has a good heart. And you have a good heart too.''

''How can you be sure?'' I ask her. She doesn't really know me, so how can she tell?

''Because when two good hearts find each other, they create magic.''