Page 39 of Falling into Place
Deborah Truman attended college in California, which is where she met Paul Martin. They fell madly in love, got married three months later, and Paul followed her back to Oklahoma so she could pursue her dream of starting a local news source dedicated to the people and community of her hometown. Anyone who met Deborah and Paul knew right away they were head-over-heels for each other, and theirs was truly a romance for the ages.
—Reverend Thornhill at Deborah Martin’s funeral
He shouldn’t have brought them up. Dead parents were probably off-limits for a first date, even a pretend first date with a girl he sort of knew in high school and was enjoying getting to know again as an adult.
He preferred not to talk about them at all, truth be told. While he was a master at discussing difficult topics with his patients (occasionally) and their families (often), he wasn’t so great at handling his own baggage. Lucky for him he’d gotten good at avoiding it.
But it just pissed him off, hearing that some dude was out there suggesting love was some unattainable fantasy or something that onlyexisted in movies. There were couples who experienced passionate, all-consuming love that transcended body and soul and drove a person to dedicate their entire life to making someone else happy.
He knew because he’d seen it.
Carly didn’t know what to say, that much was clear. Even though he hadn’t meant to make her uncomfortable, she had this sort of awkward, agonized look of remorse on her face. Thankfully the server came with alcohol in tow, and they placed their food order. But the interruption was short lived.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly when they were alone again.
He shook his head. “Don’t be. Those memories are the ones I love most. Instead of thinking about how I felt the moment I found out my mom was gone, or the way my dad nearly disappeared as a person after that, I prefer to think about the fact they still held hands wherever they went. The way my dad had to touch her any time she was close by, even if he was just passing her in the kitchen. He’d kiss her cheek or slide his fingers across her waist. Or if he wanted to get a rise out of us about how gross they were, he’d smack her right on the ass.”
Carly laughed a little at that, and he was glad. They were good memories.
“They weren’t so in love that they neglected us, but their relationship was a priority. They had regular date nights and took weekends away, just the two of them. They genuinely loved being in each other’s company, even after twenty-three years of marriage and three kids. The way my dad looked at her sometimes ... It was like he felt so much for her he didn’t know what to do with it.” So much he didn’t know how to live after she was gone.
He couldn’t meet her eyes, afraid he’d find discomfort or, worse, pity in her gaze. But the words she spoke were soft and genuine, and he glanced up.
“That’s so beautiful. You’re lucky to have had such a good example set for you.”
This was veering far, far away from small-talk territory, but ... “Did you not?”
Her gaze dropped to the table and she didn’t reply for a long moment.
Shit. Should have gone with his gut and kept quiet. “You don’t have to answer that.”
She shook her head. “No, it’s okay. I was just trying to think of a nice way to say my dad ran off when I was a baby and my mom loved gambling too much to ever make the effort again with another man, but there’s just not a nice way to say that. She hardly made the effort with me, so no, I didn’t have that kind of example.”
“Did Sasha know?” he said without thinking.Really? That’s what you’re going with? Next time try a simpleI’m sorryorThat sounds difficult.
But ... wow. This was completely new information. He’d never picked up even an inkling of that from her back in high school, which was especially shocking, given his sister was a major gossip and the worst at keeping secrets. How was it he’d known all about Trisha Hampton’s pregnancy scare and the dating history of every member of the student council, but not this?
“Yeah. Probably the only one that did, actually. I’m sure you don’t remember this, but I stayed with your family for an entire week during sophomore year because my mom blew all her money at the casino and we couldn’t afford groceries. Sasha saved me from seven days straight of packaged ramen noodles and frozen peas.”
No, he didn’t remember that. He’d been pretty focused on everything having to do with himself back then. What would he have done—if anything—had he known? “I’m so sorry, Carly.”
She smiled, but something about it didn’t feel genuine. “It wasn’t all bad. Sometimes she won big and took me out to celebrate. We’d dine at the finest restaurants and go shopping for an entire new wardrobe. I learned quickly to buy a few things in different sizes, so that if my body changed, I’d still have nice things to wear if she lost it all again.”
He was speechless. His stomach hurt for her and what that must have been like. No wonder she was so cautious about money.
Then her foot tapped his under the table. “She’s been clean for ten years now. She’s doing really well.”
He blew out a breath. “That’s good.”
She scratched the side of her nose. “So, I didn’t mean to unload all that on you. What were we even talking about?”
“You were trying to help me with small talk.”
“Right. That went well.”
He laughed. To get back on track, he tried to think of another good first-date topic of discussion. “So what do you like to do for fun?”
“Shop and watch movies. I love trying new restaurants, and if I so much as hear a whisper about bar trivia, I’ll be there.” She toyed with the straw in her cocktail glass. “This will make me sound like an old woman, but I also like to crochet.”
