Page 2 of The Widow's Dom

“No. I want you to be able to have a few beers. We’re going to have so much fun. Sandy and Dennis will go early and get a good table. Oh, and don’t eat, they’ll have BBQ.”

“All right. I’ll see you soon.”

“See ya.”

Janessa turned off her phone and patted her dog’s head. “Well, Luna, I’m actually going out. It’s not a date, but it’s to a barn dance with my friends. It shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

She looked at the time. She had about three hours. She thought she might as well pamper herself with a long bath and deep-condition her hair to make it healthy looking. “Come on, girl. Let’s put the garden tools away.”

A few times in the next hour, when she started to chicken out, she had to remind herself that she’d gone to this barn dance every year and would know most of the people there, so it wouldn’t be a big deal. She needed to take this first step to move on with her life.

Chapter Two

It had been so long since she dressed up that it seemed foreign to her.

The nice jeans and shirt she wore were a little big since she had lost weight in the last two years. The pretty white lace top made her tan skin glow, and the dark jeans still hugged her hips and ass but were loose at the waist. After she pulled on her nicer cowboy boots and a rhinestone belt, she put some lotion on her face and then a little blush. Besides that, she added a bit of eye shadow, mascara, and lip gloss, which she usually never wore.

Before going downstairs, she put on earrings and a locket her boys had given her a few Christmases ago. She stared at her wedding ring for a long moment, took a breath, pulled it off, and set it in her jewelry box. She felt incredibly naked without it because it was the first time she had it off in the last twenty-five years.

After a few deep breaths, she brushed her dark hair out, leaving it to fall down her back. It had been quite a while since she had it trimmed, so it was long enough to fall at her hips. She put a few curls on the ends and then pinned the front back so it didn’t get in her face.

Janessa looked in the mirror. “It’s as good as it’s going to get.”

She was just making sure the house was locked up when she heard a vehicle pull up. She peeked out the kitchen window to see Lewis’s truck.

“You be a good girl,” she told Luna, then locked the last door before walking toward them.

“Oh, Janessa, you look beautiful, girl,” Natalie said. She tapped her husband. “Don’t you think so?”

Janessa grinned when he looked her over and shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, she’s okay.”

Janessa laughed, and Natalie hit him. “Are you serious? Tell her she’s beautiful.”

Janessa knew something was coming from the mischievous look in his eyes and bit her lip.

“Okay, fine.” He looked her over again. “Okay, she looks better than the roadkill we passed on the way here. How’s that?”

Janessa threw her head back and laughed until tears filled her eyes. She heard Natalie sigh.

“Why the hell did I marry you? You’re as romantic as a rock,” Natalie complained.

Lewis pretended to be hurt. “Well, that was a mean thing to say,” he said in a sulky voice.

Janessa climbed in to sit beside Natalie and listened as they bickered back-and-forth. She knew why they were doing it and couldn’t have asked for better friends. They entertained her all the way to the Nixon’s, and it kept her mind off the fact that this would be the first time she got out in a social gathering. She stood looking up at the barn when Natalie wrapped an arm around her waist.

“Come on, girl. Our friends are waiting for us. You’re not alone.”

Janessa hugged her. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done without you guys.”

“Well, you’ll never have to find out.”

Lewis stood by the door. “Can we go in, or are we going to stand out here being pussies?”

Janessa laughed.

“Oh, Good Lord,” Natalie said and pulled her along.

They stepped into the building, and she paused and looked around. She was relieved when she noticed that nothing had changed since she’d been there the last time when her husband was alive, two years ago. The band was on a small stage at the other end of the huge barn, with dozens of tables and chairs set up on both sides of the dance floor. The meal was on long tables to the right when you entered the door. It was one of the few places Kevin would go.

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