Page 109 of Someone to Remember
“Rory hated the combination. He’d say, ‘One or the other, Kins. One or the other.’”
“That’s the stuff I’ve missed the most,” he says. “The things that were unique to us, the language only we spoke, the inside jokes, theSeinfeldquotes.”
I lean in a little closer. “‘I’ll tell you what… There’s fifty bucks in it for you if you do it.’”
He stares at me, looking a bit stunned. “You speakSeinfeld.”
“Fluently.”
“Wow. We might require a second date to fully process this discovery.”
Hearing this was an official date makes me giddy, and I refuse to shut up about it. “I’d be down with that.”
“Let’s make it happen. Soon.”
Twenty-Five
Iris
Holiday-wedding madness begins on Tuesday afternoon, with the much-anticipated arrival of Mimi and Stan from Florida. The kids are out of their minds with excitement to see the couple who’ve become extra grandparents to them since Gage joined our family.
Our relationship with the parents of my future husband’s late wife is one of the true blessings in this strange widow life. And of course they come with Thanksgiving gifts for the kids, who are delighted to discover that’s a thing.
Mimi hugs me like we’ve known each other for decades rather than a year. “Oh, my sweet girl, I’ve been wanting to hug you for days now. I’m so very sorry about your dear friend’s loss.”
I immediately tear up at her kind condolences. “Thank you. It’s been a lot, to say the least. But I’m glad you’re here, and we can start shopping and cooking.”
“I have good news on that front.” Mimi is positively beaming with excitement. “With Gage’s blessing, Stan and Iarranged everything, and dinner will be delivered on Thursday morning.”
“What? Oh my God. For real?”
“Yes, ma’am. I hope this comes as good news. We figured we could sacrifice some of the family recipes for this one year to make it easy on ourselves after a rough couple of weeks and with the wedding this weekend.”
I hug her tightly. “You figured absolutely right. Thank you so much. I really don’t have to do anything?”
“Not one thing, except it might be fun to make some pies with the kids.”
“Let’s do that. For sure.”
Eleanor and Carter arrive on Tuesday night, and the house is filled with the happy noise of kids playing, laughing and screaming the way they do when they’re excited.
On Wednesday, with the kids out of school for the holiday, we spend the day baking, making an absolute disastrous mess of the kitchen and decompressing from the strain of the last two weeks.
Everything is better when Mimi and Stan are here, and I enjoy catching up with Eleanor, who’s become such a great friend despite the circumstances that brought us together.
“I was so sorry to hear about your friend’s husband,” she says as we enjoy a late afternoon glass of wine before the Wild Widows meeting tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone and to hearing their updates. I especially want to know how the rest of Wynter and Adrian’s time away was.
“Thank you. It was a rough loss.”
“I’ll make myself scarce when your friends arrive.”
“Oh, please don’t. Despite what brought us together, we’re a good time had by all. I want you to meet them.”
“I’d love to.”
I’m so glad that Wynter and Adrian are the first to arrive. I immediately notice the new freckles on her nose from being in the sun, as well as the smile on her cute face, which is a hugerelief. “How was the trip?” I ask as I hug them both and note they’re each carrying large tote bags.
“It was outstanding,” Adrian says. “Just what we needed.”
