Page 23 of Second Dance
“I’m not sure about anything,” I said. “But I’m going anyway.”
Grace and Annie cheered, and then high-fived each other.
“No need for you two to be celebratory,” Delphine said. “This doesn’t change the fact that you kids messed with something you should have left well enough alone.”
Annie sobered, but Grace lifted her chin, eyes glittering with excitement and, dare I say, hope?
“If the kids hadn’t put my profile up, I might not have known that Alex adopted his wife’s children,” I said. “Despite my reservations, maybe it was a good thing.”
“We’ll see how you feel in a few weeks,” Delphine said ominously. “After he proves himself unworthy of you.”
“Mom, don’t say that,” Annie said. “Give the guy a chance.”
“In my experience, if something seems too good to be true, it usually is,” Delphine said.
5
ALEX
The kids weren't home yet when I returned. Peter had driven them to the movies, and, given the time, I expected them back soon. I headed upstairs to change, humming to myself as I climbed the stairs. In my walk-in closet, I stripped off my jeans—now damp with salt water—and my button-down shirt, tossing both into the laundry basket. With Sonya around, they'd be washed and back in the closet by tomorrow afternoon.
I paused for a second at the photo of Mattie I kept displayed on the closet island. It had been taken in the bride’s dressing room on our wedding day, just before she got into her dress. A friend had snapped the photo of her smiling and glowing, hair fixed in an updo and makeup perfect, holding a glass of champagne. Of all the photos taken on our wedding day, this one was my favorite. She had been so beautiful and young. It was hard to imagine how cancer had robbed her of all that vitality. It was not fair. It should have been me. The children would be so much better off if their mother had lived and I had been the one taken.
I picked up the photo. “What do you think, Mattie? Is this okay?”
She didn’t answer back, obviously, but a sensation of warmth spread throughout my chest and into my limbs. I thought back to her final weeks. I’d not left her side, other than to shower or eat. Two days before she passed, she’d woken after sleeping most of the afternoon to see me sitting in the chair by the bed. She had reached her frail hand toward me.
“Hey there.”
I’d jumped to my feet, perching on the side of the hospital bed hospice had brought. “Hey. You need anything? Are you thirsty?”
She’d nodded, and I’d helped her to sit up and take a few sips from the ice water I kept on the table. Then, she’d fallen back onto the pillows, her eyes watching me from a face so thin I could see her cheekbones. She’d always had a round, soft face, but cancer had robbed her of the robustness she’d had all her life.
“I was dreaming about you,” Mattie said. “I feel like it was the future. You were on a beach. Walking with a woman. Laughing.”
“You and me?” I asked.
“No. Someone else. Very pretty. Slender, with long legs.”
“I like your legs.”
She’d laughed softly, shaking her head. “I was something, wasn’t I? Running all those miles with these short legs.”
“Seven marathons,” I said. “I’ve always been so proud of you. Of your toughness.”
“I’ve had a good life, Alex. You’ve been everything I could have ever hoped for. But it’s time for both of us to let go. Maybe the dream was telling us something. Maybe you should move the kids to a beach town. Maybe Willet Cove? They have good schools.”
I shook my head. “I’m not ready to think about that yet.”
“You and the kids are going to be fine. You’ll miss me, of course, but don’t let it define everything about our family. We’ve had so much joy together. Don’t let all of that die with me.”
I’d started crying, not even bothering to wipe the tears from my stubbled face. “I’ll do my best. But they need you. Not me.”
“You will step up, just as you always have. Taking on all three of us when you were so young? You’re the best thing that ever happened to all three of us.”
“I’m the lucky one.”
“You’re young, Alex. I want you to know you have my permission to love again. Please remember that. But if it’s some skank out for your money, keep them away from my children or I will haunt you.” She’d smiled, perhaps knowing I would never risk bringing the wrong woman into their lives.
