Till There Was You by Lilliana Anderson, Wade Anderson

changed the subject. “So, what’s the deal with the bar—is that yours?”
    “Mine and Matt’s. We inherited it when our dad died a few years back. I run it, though.”
    “Sorry to hear that,” Linc said, feeling that his attempts at light conversation had gone completely awry.
    “It’s okay. It was a drunk driver, hit and run. They found him and charged him. He’s in prison now, but in a way, I think the guilt of what he did was all the punishment he needed. The guy still sends us letters apologizing for what he took from us. It’s really sad.” Lily was an open book and didn’t seem to mind talking about her loss. She was the complete opposite of Linc, who found the subject of loss uncomfortable. But for some reason, he couldn’t help the next question that fell from his lips.
    “And what about your mother?”
    With a soft but sad smile, Lily glanced at him. “Oh, she died when we were young. Breast cancer. It’s a shitty way to go. She was only thirty-eight.”
    Shit! Linc thought to himself. He should have kept his mouth shut.
    “Sorry, I didn’t realize.”
    “How were you to realize? It all happened a long time ago now. Both Matt and I have come to terms with our loss. It wasn’t easy in the beginning, but we had each other to lean on in the hard times and slowly things got easier. Life goes on for the living, no matter how hard it gets. And knowing our parents would want us to live our best life keeps us strong. They were good people and they gave us all the love they could with what time they had.”
    Linc felt like more of a dick now after hearing Lily’s open response. The fact that she’d lived through so much loss in her young life made him realize how strong she was to still be smiling—to still be living. He wondered how it was even possible. Loss and trauma created darkness. He struggled to see a way out and into the light himself. While they’d undergone different circumstances surrounding loss, Linc wondered how a woman, who seemed no older than twenty-five, could find something to smile about when he, at thirty-four, couldn’t even remember the sound of his own laughter?
    “What’s your favorite color?” The question came out of nowhere, but with Linc feeling weighed down by the different emotions in his head, he needed to be sure he could ask something completely safe.
    If Lily found anything strange about his new line of questioning, she didn’t make it known. She simply smiled at him, and said, “Blue.”
    “Blue?”
    “What’s wrong with blue? Should it be pink or purple because I’m a girl ?” Her green eyes sparkled as she accentuated her final word.
    “No. It’s not that. It’s just that girls normally come out with aquamarine or cobalt instead of simply saying blue.”
    “Well, I guess that makes me not like most girls.”
    “I guess not.” He smiled. She certainly wasn’t like other girls. With her cream, knitted sweater hugging her chest and curves in all the right places, she was definitely all woman.
    Putting his head down, he turned his attention to the dog in hopes of hiding the thoughts adding to the confusing bulk in his mind.
    “You suck at this, you know that right?”
    “I suck at what?”
    “This whole getting-to-know-you thing. I’m going to help you out a bit, but then you’re going to owe me one.”
    “I’ll owe you?”
    She waved her hand about in the air. “I’ll add it to your tab.” 
    Thinking this could end up going either way, Linc decided to roll the dice and see what Lady Luck brought him. He gave Lily the nod to go for it.
    “All right then. I’m twenty-six,” Close , Linc thought, “five-foot-eleven, a non-smoker. Favorite meal is steak and chips with gravy and roasted vegetables. Favorite drink is red wine in front of an open fire. I have one sibling, and no parents or any other relatives besides Matt. I grew up in Newsham, so I know practically everyone here. I run the local bar. And in case you’ve been wondering,