Page 35 of Summer Weddings
Robin grinned. “She should run a dating service. I can’t tell you the number of times she’s matched me up with someone, or tried to, anyway.”
“But you’re a comfortable person to be around. I could sense that right away.”
“Thank you. I…wasn’t sure what to expect, either. Angela’s raved about you for weeks, wanting to get the two of us together.” Robin glanced from the menu to her companion, then back again. She felt the same misgivings every time she agreed to one of these arranged dates.
“I’ve been divorced six months now,” Frank volunteered, “but after fourteen years of married life, I don’t think I’ll ever get accustomed to dating again.”
Robin found herself agreeing. “I know what you mean. It all seems so awkward, doesn’t it? When Lenny and I were dating, I was in high school, and there was so little to worry about. We knew what we wanted and knew what we had to do to get there.”
Frank sent her a smile. “Now that we’re older and—” he paused “—I hesitate to use the wordwiser… .”
“More sophisticated?”
“Right, more sophisticated,” Frank repeated. His hand closed around the water glass. “Life seems so complicated now. I’ve been out of the swing of things for so long… .”
The waitress came for their order then, and from that point on the evening went smoothly. The feeling of kinship she felt with Frank astonished Robin. He was obviously at ease with her, too. Before she knew it, Robin found herself telling him about Cole.
“He sounds like the kind of guy most women would leap off a bridge to meet.”
Robin nodded. “He’s wonderful to Jeff, too.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“His wife and son.”
Frank’s mouth sagged open. “He’s married?”
“Was,” she rushed to explain. “From what I understand, his wife left him and sometime later his son died.”
“That’s tough,” Frank said, picking up his coffee. “But that was years ago, wasn’t it?”
“I…don’t know. Cole’s never told me these things himself. In fact, he’s never mentioned either his wife or his son.”
“He’snevermentioned them?”
“Never,” she confirmed. “I heard it from a neighbor.”
“That’s what’s bothering you, isn’t it?”
The question was sobering. Subconsciously, from the moment Robin had learned of Cole’s loss, she’d been waiting for him to tell her. Waiting for him to trust her enough.
Frank and Robin lingered over coffee, chatting about politics and the economy and a number of other stimulating topics. But the question about Cole refused to fade from her mind.
They parted outside the restaurant and Frank kissed her cheek, but they were both well aware they wouldn’t be seeing each other again. Their time together had been a brief respite. It had helped Frank deal with his loneliness and helped Robin understand what was troubling her about Cole.
The first thing Robin noticed when she pulled into her driveway was that Cole’s house was dark. Dark and silent. Lonely. So much of her life had been like that—before she’d met him.
She needed to talk to him. She wanted to ask about his phone call. She wanted to ask about his wife and the son he’d lost. But the timing was all wrong.
For a long moment Robin sat alone in her car, feeling both sad and disappointed.
Heather greeted her with a smile and a finger pressed to her lips. “Both kids were exhausted. They fell asleep in the living room almost as soon as we got back.”
After Jeff’s busy day, she could hardly believe he’d lasted through the movie. “I hope he wasn’t cranky.”
“Not in the least,” Heather assured her.
Robin yawned, completely exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to escape to her room and sleep until noon the following day.
