More Than Rivals by Mary Whitney

welcoming those tired from the trail. Jack nodded toward it. “Let’s sit down.”
    Lily eyed the bench with suspicion. Sitting with him would likely lead to another long conversation, and another long conversation wouldn’t keep things light. Before she could make up her mind, he said, “A break would be nice after climbing that mountain.”
    Her mouth twitched. She couldn’t let a comment like that go. “You need a break already?”
    “No stamina jokes.” His eyes narrowed, but he wore a teasing smile.
    “No jokes about my ass then.”
    “But I’m not joking about it. I’m serious.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t ready for anything serious.”
    “Touché,” he said with a nod. “Come on. Take a break.”
    They sat at the old bench, enjoying the scenic overlook. After a moment of quiet, he asked, “So why did you move from San Francisco to Petaluma? And why don’t you move back?”
    She shrugged. It was a common, yet dreaded question which she answered several different ways, depending on the audience. “I moved after David died.”
    Jack winced. “I’m so sorry. I’m such an idiot. I should’ve guessed. You don’t have to say any more if you don’t want to.”
    “No, it’s fine. I don’t talk about it much because it’s a long story, and people are so nice they want to hear all the details. I just don’t like repeating them all the time.” She sighed. “David and his death will always be part of my life, but I don’t want it to be all of my life.”
    “I can understand that. Really. You don’t need to tell me. I can guess why you moved.”
      “Actually, after he died, I first moved back to San Diego to be with my parents. Luke was born in San Diego.”
    “I’d want to be with my parents, too.”
    “It was the best place for me to be at the time. I was in the third trimester of my pregnancy when David died. I didn’t want to be alone for the birth, so it was good to be with my family, but it also meant I was the tragic pregnant war widow back home with her parents.”
    “If you don’t mind me asking, how did he die?”
    “Oh, it’s no secret. It’s public information. It was at the end of a six month deployment in Iraq. He was driving to a hospital when he hit a roadside bomb.”
    “That’s horrible.”
    “Yeah…” She still hadn’t found the appropriate response when someone described it so aptly. She found it easiest to move on. “He was a soldier first and a doctor second, and he knew the risk of his choices. I’ll always respect him for that.”
    “He died a hero.”
    Lily nodded, not wanting to dwell on the subject anymore. She spoke quickly. “After Luke was born, I had this overwhelming instinct to protect him, but I also missed northern California. I wanted to live in a small town, but not far from San Francisco. Petaluma made sense.”
    “And your parents followed you?”
    “They both liked it as a place to retire, though my dad complains about the rain in the winter,” she ended with a chuckle.
    “It sounds like you found the right place to live then.”
    “What about you? You grew up in San Francisco and never wanted to leave?”
    He smiled. “I went to Stanford.”
    “Less than an hour away from home,” she said with a laugh.
    “It sounds boring now that you say it.”
    “No. It’s not boring at all to stay nearby if that’s where you’re most comfortable.”
    “I suppose that was it.” He looked off into the distance and said, “I always knew I wanted to go into politics, and it would be easiest to do where I grew up rather than establishing new roots somewhere else.”
    “Absolutely. Your family is so connected here that you’ve got a lot to build on.”
    He turned to see her again. “I am really lucky.”  
    She liked the sincerity in his voice. It was always nice to witness someone of immense privilege understand just how lucky they were in life. Still, she had to needle him. “So has it been your lifelong