Page 25 of Someone to Remember
“Yeah. For sure. Knocked the wind out of me.”
“Me, too.”
I have no idea how long we’re there, on the floor of Xavier’s room, processing this news and battling utter despair for someone we barely know. We’ve both met Taylor—and Will—a few times at Iris’s house, but we don’t know her like we do the other widows in our close-knit group. It doesn’t matter, though. We understand what she’s going through… Well, sort of… We can’t know what it’s like to have it happentwicein one lifetime.
“I’ll… I’ll make some food for them,” I finally say after a long silence.
“That’d be good.”
“It feels insignificant.”
“What else can we do but show up and offer as much support as we can?”
“True. I just feel so…”
“Devastated.”
“Yeah, me, too.” He reaches over to take my hand. “It’s not going to happen to us.”
“Right.”
“No, really, Wynter. It won’t.”
My throat is so tight from the effort not to bawl my head off that all I can do is nod. I want so badly to believe he’s right, but we know better than most people that there’re simply no such guarantees.
I clear my throat. “What should I make for them?”
“Don’t her kids love that mac ’n’ cheese Iris makes?”
“They do. I’ll make that.”
“Save some for our boy. It’s his favorite, too.”
“I will.”
He stands and helps me up. “It always makes us feel better when we do something to help.”
I wrap my arms around him, which I never do when he’s sweaty, but what do I care about such things at a time like this?
He holds me close and kisses the top of my head. “We’re okay, baby. I swear. Everything is fine. Our friend is suffering, and we’ll be there for her, but we’re going to be all right.”
I cling to his assurances, because what else can I do? I don’t tell him that Jaden once said those very words to me and look at how that turned out.
Six
Lexi
Tom has planned a romantic day for us that began with breakfast at our favorite diner, followed by a long, leisurely drive into the mountains for a hike at Skyline Drive, which was one of my favorite places to go with my late husband, Jim. Tom knows that and has helped me to reclaim a spot I used to love by going there together to make new memories.
He’s thoughtful that way, incorporating Jim into the life we’re building together because he understands that Jim will always be part of us. That makes him the perfect partner for me, despite my lingering concerns about his heart condition.
I still can’t think about the evening I returned to the home we shared, at that time as platonic roommates in deep flirtation, to find him passed out on the floor of the living room in cardiac arrest, without wanting to run screaming from him.
But… since the incident, he’s changed everything, from his diet to his exercise program. He’s all but stopped drinking alcohol and is fanatical about watching his cholesterol and other risk factors.
There’s nothing he could do that he’s not doing, whichgives me comfort despite the anxiety that lingers long after something like that happens—especially after losing my first husband to ALS.
We’ve scored a beautiful late autumn day and other than some traffic due to others having the same idea Tom had, we have an enjoyable ride through still-colorful foliage. We’ve had an unusually chilly autumn this year, which has kept the leaves colorful longer than usual.
