Page 104 of Someone to Remember
“Sure is.”
“But you chose the restaurant and made the plan, so thank you for bringing me to this beautiful place.”
“I’m glad you like it. I wanted you to have a nice time tonight. I gotta take care of my missus and keep her happy.”
“I’m mostly happy. You know that, right?”
“I do, because I am, too. ‘Mostly happy’ is a good way to put it.”
“Always with someone missing.”
“Right.”
“Do you think we’ll always feel their absence as much as we do now?”
“Maybe. In a way, I sort of hope so. I don’t want to lose Sadie any more than I already have, if that makes sense.”
“It makes all the sense. I feel the same way about Jaden. I want to keep him close even as we move forward with our new life together.”
“I have to think they’d approve of us. Heck, maybe they’re even hanging out together in the afterlife.”
“Wouldn’t that be something?”
“For sure, as long as they aren’t watching ustooclosely.”
He’s very good at making me laugh, even when we’re talking about things that should make us cry.
“If they were, Jaden would’ve had you killed a long time ago.”
“Sadie would’ve stabbed you. She wasn’t having it with other women ogling her man, and you ogle me a lot.”
“Yikes. I need to be more careful about that.”
“Don’t you dare. Ogle all you want, baby.”
“People who haven’t been through what we have would think we were awful for talking this way.”
“People who haven’t been through what we have shouldn’t express opinions about something they know nothing about—and hopefully never will.”
“Very true. They can fuck off.”
I adore his sexy grin and how it unfolds across his gorgeous face, lighting up his eyes when he’s truly amused like he is now. “I love when you hold back.”
“When do I ever do that?”
“Um, never?” He reaches for my hand across the table. “I’m glad to see you smiling again. It hurts me to see you hurting.”
“I had the wind knocked out of me for a few days there, but I’m better now. Getting away has helped. Iris giving us permission to skip the services helped. But I really hope Taylor comes back to the group.”
“I do, too. And I get why it hit you so hard. It did for me, too. It’s an awful reminder that there’re simply no guarantees ever.”
“I hate that system. I want to overhaul it and find a better way.”
“Let me know how that goes.” He plays with my fingers like he always does, his touch sending a shiver of awareness down my spine. “You know, I was thinking… Going forward… We don’t need to stay involved in the Wild Widows at the same level we are now. It might be better for us to be less engrossed in the lives and stories of other widows.”
“I would so miss not seeing them all every week anymore.”
“We can still see them socially, but we don’t have to remain on the front lines of widow central if it no longer serves our best interests.”
