could get a little personal with her best friend. “Have you thought about dating again?”
“I like to think I will, but—”
As perfectly as if it were scripted, something sounded directly overhead with enough force to vibrate the light fixture above the table.
“My life is so chaotic, I can’t even imagine bringing someone else into it. If the kids hate me for trying to fill in for their mother, how desperately would they hate another man trying to fill in for their father?”
There was such sadness in her voice that Carly’s stomach knotted. “Are we meant to spend the rest of our lives alone?” Therese had asked last Saturday. Despite having the two kids in her house, she was even more alone than the rest of them. Their hearts had broken in one swift moment. Paul’s children were breaking hers every day.
“I’m sorry.” Carly maneuvered her hand to give Therese a squeeze. “I wish I had the magic to fix it all—the kids, you, all of us.”
“I know. And just knowing helps. Really.” Therese took a deep breath and lightened her tone. “So…show me these colors Cave Guy picked out for your living room.”
By the time Carly left, Therese was feeling a little better. Her head had stopped pounding, and she’d resisted the urge to get weepy. Sometimes crying helped—all those emotions had to escape somewhere—but usually it just made her eyes red and her nose stuffy and kept her from getting any restful sleep at all.
As she finished cleaning the kitchen, she considered the circumstances that had brought Carly and Dane Clark together so often. If it was fate, Therese would be a little jealous. If it was God’s answer to her prayers, well, she would still be a little jealous.
But very happy, too, she hastened to assure herself. Just because her future looked bleak didn’t mean everyone else’s should. Whatever happiness her friends found would give her hope that she would find it, too, someday.
She shut off the kitchen lights and went into the living room. Abby was in her room, apparently having withdrawal symptoms from the thousand and one texts she sent or received each day, and Jacob was in his, probably playing one last round of video games before going to bed.
Switching off all but one lamp, she curled into her favorite chair and picked up the Bible on the table beside it. Usually she read it in the morning, before the kids were up, with a strong cup of coffee and the energy bar she ate for breakfast. That was when she did most of her praying, too, though there were always short prayers during the day and the regular nighttime ones.
For so many years those prayers had ended the same way: Please keep Paul safe. He was forever safe now, and she liked to believe his spirit was with her when she needed more strength than she had on her own. If she could just see him, hear his voice one more time…If he could just talk to his children…
Talking with her didn’t help them. She’d lost control of her temper and screamed back at Abby tonight, and that hadn’t helped, either. All she could do was pray, and she was about to do that one more time when one of the cell phones in her pockets began to ring, a happy kid-style song. She’d tried just putting Abby’s phone away until the suspension ended, but her stepdaughter had proven she wasn’t above sneaking in and stealing it back.
Shifting, she pulled the phone out and saw Mimi M on the screen. Paul’s mother. She should answer and let her know Abby was fine but without phone privileges, but instead she muted the ring and let it go to voice mail. She wasn’t up for the subtle criticism Eileen always offered regarding her parenting skills.
She moved to set the phone aside, but her hand hesitated over it. Abby’s winning argument for getting the cell had been the ability it would give her to check in with Therese, though she never had. Had she even programmed Therese’s number into the phone? And if she had, what ring tone had
“I like to think I will, but—”
As perfectly as if it were scripted, something sounded directly overhead with enough force to vibrate the light fixture above the table.
“My life is so chaotic, I can’t even imagine bringing someone else into it. If the kids hate me for trying to fill in for their mother, how desperately would they hate another man trying to fill in for their father?”
There was such sadness in her voice that Carly’s stomach knotted. “Are we meant to spend the rest of our lives alone?” Therese had asked last Saturday. Despite having the two kids in her house, she was even more alone than the rest of them. Their hearts had broken in one swift moment. Paul’s children were breaking hers every day.
“I’m sorry.” Carly maneuvered her hand to give Therese a squeeze. “I wish I had the magic to fix it all—the kids, you, all of us.”
“I know. And just knowing helps. Really.” Therese took a deep breath and lightened her tone. “So…show me these colors Cave Guy picked out for your living room.”
By the time Carly left, Therese was feeling a little better. Her head had stopped pounding, and she’d resisted the urge to get weepy. Sometimes crying helped—all those emotions had to escape somewhere—but usually it just made her eyes red and her nose stuffy and kept her from getting any restful sleep at all.
As she finished cleaning the kitchen, she considered the circumstances that had brought Carly and Dane Clark together so often. If it was fate, Therese would be a little jealous. If it was God’s answer to her prayers, well, she would still be a little jealous.
But very happy, too, she hastened to assure herself. Just because her future looked bleak didn’t mean everyone else’s should. Whatever happiness her friends found would give her hope that she would find it, too, someday.
She shut off the kitchen lights and went into the living room. Abby was in her room, apparently having withdrawal symptoms from the thousand and one texts she sent or received each day, and Jacob was in his, probably playing one last round of video games before going to bed.
Switching off all but one lamp, she curled into her favorite chair and picked up the Bible on the table beside it. Usually she read it in the morning, before the kids were up, with a strong cup of coffee and the energy bar she ate for breakfast. That was when she did most of her praying, too, though there were always short prayers during the day and the regular nighttime ones.
For so many years those prayers had ended the same way: Please keep Paul safe. He was forever safe now, and she liked to believe his spirit was with her when she needed more strength than she had on her own. If she could just see him, hear his voice one more time…If he could just talk to his children…
Talking with her didn’t help them. She’d lost control of her temper and screamed back at Abby tonight, and that hadn’t helped, either. All she could do was pray, and she was about to do that one more time when one of the cell phones in her pockets began to ring, a happy kid-style song. She’d tried just putting Abby’s phone away until the suspension ended, but her stepdaughter had proven she wasn’t above sneaking in and stealing it back.
Shifting, she pulled the phone out and saw Mimi M on the screen. Paul’s mother. She should answer and let her know Abby was fine but without phone privileges, but instead she muted the ring and let it go to voice mail. She wasn’t up for the subtle criticism Eileen always offered regarding her parenting skills.
She moved to set the phone aside, but her hand hesitated over it. Abby’s winning argument for getting the cell had been the ability it would give her to check in with Therese, though she never had. Had she even programmed Therese’s number into the phone? And if she had, what ring tone had
Similar Books
