Page 50 of Someone to Remember
“Every day. I debate it over and over again, wondering why I still have it on when she’s been gone for a year and a half and what it’ll mean to take it off.”
I glance down at my stunning diamond solitaire and the matching band. “I love my rings so much. I hate the idea of not wearing them anymore.”
“Could you wear them on the other hand?”
“I’ve thought of that. I might switch them over at some point.”
“Feels fucking final to take the rings off, even to put them on the other hand, doesn’t it?”
“It really does, not that it hasn’t felt fucking final for a while now. Sometimes I still can’t believe it happened.”
He grimaces. “And we’ve got the fucking trial to look forward to.”
They’d both been notified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office that they could be called to testify.
“Fuck this shit.”
He laughs. “Fuck it to hell and back.”
We’re finishing our wine when I hear Josh stirring in the other room. I rush out to get him before he wakes Jack and Ella and bring him back to the kitchen, where Brad has dimmed the lights for us.
Josh has been fed and changed, so he’s just looking for some mommy snuggles that I happily give him.
“He’s a sweet little guy.”
“I’m so lucky to have gotten an easy baby after losing Spence. If he’d been Ella two-point-oh, I would’ve been losing it. She had colic and barely slept the first year.”
“Yikes.”
“It was rough, but I had help. Spence was great with her. He spent a lot of nights walking the floor with her so I could get some rest.”
“Drake was like that, too. I worked nights, so it was tough on Mary Alice.”
“What’s the latest on going back to work?”
He’s been on an extended leave of absence while he adjusted to single parenthood. “It’s on for the first of the year, and they’re moving me to days, so my schedule aligns with the kids’, but that means a whole new group of coworkers and possibly a different station—and still some occasional night shifts that no one can avoid.” He shrugs. “Not what I would’ve chosen, but none of this is my choice.”
“Reminder that the GoFundMe my friends did for me after Spence died raised a ton of money, thanks to my sister and brother-in-law promoting it. I’m happy to share it with my fellow widow friends.”
Mary Alice didn’t have life insurance, and while there were fundraisers for him and his kids that have sustained him while he was out of work, they didn’t raise a fraction of what mine brought in thanks to Sam and Nick’s support of the fundraiser that Sam’s partner, Freddie, started. Before his death, Spencer had lost his job and his life insurance along with it, so I would’ve been totally screwed without the fundraiser.
“You’re going to need that money, Angela. Don’t give it away.”
“I’ll need a fraction of what was raised, and if I could help to make your life easier and the lives of other young widows, why wouldn’t I?”
“I wouldn’t feel right taking money from a friend.”
“These aren’t ordinary times, Brad. You should think about how it could make life so much easier for you during this difficult transition. You could work part time instead of full time or change direction altogether. Whatever works for you and your family.”
“It’s kind of you to want to help me.”
“I want to help everyone who needs it. Young widowhood is a tough journey, especially for families like ours that didn’t have life insurance.”
“Who worries about things like that in their twenties or early thirties?”
“I didn’t. Spence had it through work until he lost his job, and it never occurred to us to get it for me.”
“Same here—I have it through work, but we never got it for Mary Alice because she was a stay-at-home mom. Obviously, it never occurred to either of us that she could die young and leave me in a mess.”
