Page 96 of Someone to Remember
Trey puts his arm around her. “I’m here for all of it.”
She rests her head on his shoulder. “Feels wrong to make it about me.”
“Adrian said Wynter is feeling the same way, but she seems better since they got out of town for a few days.”
“It’s about all of us who understand better than anyone else ever could,” Gage says.
“Except we can’t quite understand having to do it a second time,” Derek reminds him. “And thank the good Lord for that.”
“You’re an inspiring group,” Bernie says. “I’ve heard so much about you that I feel like I already know you all.”
“This is a small fraction of the whole,” I tell him.
“I’m sorry there’s such a demand for what you offer and for the losses that brought you all together.”
I glance at Joy. “Someone has prepared you well for your first meeting with her widows.”
She’s been determined to keep their relationship casual until she was ready for more, which is why we haven’t met him yet.
“That’s all him,” Joy says, smiling. “He came preprogrammed.”
“Even better,” Gage says. “What teams do you follow?”
While the guys debate the Commanders’ chances this season, Joy says, “I can’t stop thinking about Eliza and Miles in that receiving line. Those poor, sweet babies.”
“I know,” Christy says. “Such courage.”
“Taylor told me she explained what a wake is and gave them the choice of whether they wanted to come,” I tell them.
“God bless them,” Joy says. “I’m not sure if I could’ve done that at their age.”
“No kidding,” Christy says. “I could barely handle it at my age.”
“It was good of you and Derek to come,” Joy says to Roni. “It meant a lot to Taylor.”
“And to me,” I add, knowing they did it for me.
“I’ve rarely felt sadder for anyone than I do for them,” Ronisays. “It’s really hit me hard, which makes me feel guilty to even say.”
“We’ve been where she is and can’t imagine being there a second time, which makes it about all of us.”
Roni shudders. “That. Exactly that.”
“I’m glad to hear Wynter is rebounding,” Joy says. “I’ve been worried about her.”
“I know,” I say with a sigh. “I hate to see her so undone. She’s come so far from where she was when we first knew her.”
“She’ll be okay,” Joy says. “She needs a minute to process it all. She’ll bounce back.”
“I hope so.” Wynter is one of my proudest accomplishments with the Wild Widows, and I’m deeply invested in her successful chapter two with Adrian.
“It’s a very strange thing,” Christy says, “for someone else’s tragedy to become so personal to the rest of us. I’ve been a disaster all week. Poor Trey is going to run for his life.”
Trey leans back toward her. “No, he isn’t.”
Christy smiles at him, but her eyes are so sad.
I hand her a tissue across the table, hating to see her so undone, too. “Can I ask you guys something?”
