Page 40 of Single Girl in the City
Only today, Ms. S was unable to make the trip. After last week’s hip surgery she was housebound, which was how Abi ended up with the enduring task of paying Mr.S a visit.
Armed with a beer and a letter that Ms. S had prepared, Abi had walked the three blocks to the cemetery. Her mission was simple—share a beer with Mr.S. She didn’t need to open the letter to know that the contents were private and personal, a love letter between two people who had found the real deal.
The whole ordeal made Abi feel like a fake. There she was at the cemetery to talk to a man she’d never met, take part in a cherished ceremony, yet she’d never made it to Jenny’s grave. The closest she’d come was sending a bouquet to Jenny’s parents the week of the funeral. Abi had been in the hospital when Jenny had been buried and she had promised herself that she’d go visit Jenny as soon as she was better.
And while Abi was up and walking, she didn’t feel better. Not one bit. Certainly not well enough to face her role in her best friend’s death. Which was why today was so hard.
Unsure what to do, she approached the grave site and looked up at the sky as if expecting to find some answers in the clouds. Answers? Not a one. Sheets of rain? There were plenty.
Uncertainty gripped her around the throat, leaving her a little shaky and off balance. Was she supposed to leave the letter on the headstone or sit in the wet grass and share a beer with a man she’d never met? And if the wish was to ensure that Mr.S wasn’t alone, then Abi would have to do some sharing of her own. And that scared her more than being surrounded by dead people.
“You’d know what to do,” she whispered to the heavens. Not only would Jenny know what to do, she’d have found a way to bring Ms. S to the cemetery. It wasn’t like Abi could balance the older woman on her handlebars and getting into a rideshare with her hip wasn’t an option.
Which left Abi all by her lonesome with no other choice than to pull up a piece of grass and share her week with a stranger.
Heart heavy, she took a step toward the headstone, only her brain must have misfired because she ended up moving backward. She tried again with the same results. On the third step she was about to admit defeat when she bumped into a strong, unwavering wall.
Even before she looked up, she knew who’d be looking back. Owen. They were front to back, thigh to thigh, and everything in between.
Oh boy.
She wasn’t sure if she was grateful for the company or embarrassed, because now he knew, that on top of everything else, she was a coward. She calculated just how fast she could run if she took off at a dead sprint, then remembered the half-marathon she’d spent hyperventilating behind the Mommy Marathon group and sighed.
She prepared herself for a tsunami of sexy and turned.Sweet baby Jesus,sexy didn’t cover it. He was big and wet and wearing nothing more than athletic shorts, a black T-shirt, and tattoos. Lots of muscles with strategically placed tattoos.
And a smile. A warm and encouraging smile. She considered all the things he could possibly say, but not a single scenario involved, “Nice coat.”
“Huh?”
Amusement danced in those big blue pools. “Nice coat.”
“Right.” She slid down the zipper. “I was meaning to return it.” She started to take it off when his hands covered hers, stilling them, then zipping her up tight.
“It looks better on you.” His gaze ran the length of her, which admittedly wasn’t very far since she barely reached his chest. “What are you doing standing in the rain?”
“Procrastinating. Apparently, it’s what I’m good at.”
His blue eyes were soft, his expression warm. “You could have asked for a ride.”
Well, if that didn’t make her heart gopitter-patter. “I’m still practicing my cycling skills. At this rate, I’ll be ready to do my first Iron Man by Christmas.”
“Or be inducted into the Good Samaritan Hall of Fame.”
Or the Big Fat Liars Club. “How did you know I was here?”
“I have my ways,” he said mysteriously. “Actually, it was the sign-up sheet at Sip Me. When you weren’t working this morning, I glanced at the list. Picked the one I thought would speak to you the most.”
She blinked in surprise. “And you found me?”
“I was stuck between either helping someone named Fred, who needed you to transport a case of lube across state lines, or helping Marcy, who wanted someone to laugh really loud from the front row at her stand-up routine, when your coworker told me where you went.”
“Mary,” Abi groaned. “I can’t believe she told you.”
“I can be very persuasive.”
Didn’t she know it.
“Am I right? Is this another Good Deed by Abi?”
