Page 8 of The Bachelor's Dilemma

“Do you work nearby?” he asked.

“At the UN. I’m a translator. German.”

And lucky to get such a well-paying job after her husband’s death. They’d planned on her staying home with the baby, not having a day care provider and a neighbor being with their child all day. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out that way.

“And your husband?”

She took a deep breath. The shock of loss still startled her.

“He died a year ago. He was an attorney.”

Anna sought Zack. He laughed as he slid down the slide, chased by two friends. She smiled at his happiness. Too often he lapsed into sulking with his father gone. He and Tom had enjoyed a special bond by the time Zack turned three.

“Sorry to hear about your loss. Cute kid you have.”

“I’m so grateful for Zack. He kept me going when Tom died.”

Anna watched her son. She didn’t want him to forget Tom, so she had photographs all around the apartment. She told him stories about Tom as a boy. And about how they had met and got married. She wanted Tom to be a part of his life, even though Zack’s memories would fade over time. She wondered even now if he had any actual memories, or just the stories she told about his daddy and the pictures he saw every day.

Sometimes Anna couldn’t remember a detail or two. She’d panic and search in her mind. She never wanted to forget anything about the man she’d loved so much.

“Do you have a child here?” Anna asked, looking at all the children.

There had to be twenty of all ages, from toddlers with their mothers nearby to children aged seven or eight who played while their mothers chatted.

“No. I merely wanted a place to sit in the sun and read the paper. It was only after I was here a while that children started arriving. The playground’s quite a draw, isn’t it?”

“It’s the closest playground in this area. With all the apartments around here, you know there’re lots of kids,” she explained. “We come as often as we can. It’s a great way for Zack to play with friends and get fresh air and sunshine. Probably not so appealing to people who want to also enjoy the fresh air but not have all the noise.”

Myles shrugged.

“It suits me. I know very little about children. I live in a world of men in a harsh environment. No grass where I’ve been the last eighteen months. This is like an oasis.”

“Where have you been?”

“In a small country in the Arabian desert. We were building a dam across a river. The lake behind it will give irrigation to hundreds of acres for agricultural purposes.”

“Did someone protest?”

“No.”

He looked puzzled.

“You said you are recovering from a landmine explosion,” Anna said.

“Oh, that. I was temporarily assigned to another site our company is handling, closer to a war zone. That’s where the mine was.”

“Anyone else hurt?”

“Unfortunately, one worker killed, but no one else injured.”

“That’s awful.”

“It’s amazing how life can change in an instant,” he said. “Or end as quickly.”

She nodded. “That’s what happened to me. One minute my husband was alive and on his way home from work, the next dead when a drunk driver ran a red light and killed him. No warning. No time for goodbyes.”

He glanced at her, but she watched Zack. The aching grief was never far away.

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