Page 26 of That One Heartbreak

“Seriously? That’s what you think?”

“That’s what I know.” Kate nodded. “I wouldn’t date him even if he wanted to, which he doesn’t. Not after everything…” Her eyes caught Shana’s. “And I don’t want to date a firefighter, that’s for sure.”

“Paul didn’t die because he was a firefighter,” Shana said softly. “It was a freak of nature.”

Kate took a mouthful of coffee. Yes, thinking about that still hurt. But not as much as it used to.

Maybe life was moving on.

“I know. But now that I’ve experienced loss, I’d like to avoid going through it again. And dating a firefighter isn’t a greatplan.” She caught Shana’s eye. “What if it got serious? And Addy, Ethan, and James got attached? What if they lost somebody else? I couldn’t do that to them.”

“What are you gonna do, put every guy through a physical before you date them?” Shana asked, her brows knitting. “Hell, Paul had lots of clear physicals but then…” she trailed off. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“You’re not. It’s okay. And you’re right, I can’t screen for everything. And Paul having an aneurism was nothing any of us could have foreseen.”

That was one of her first questions after they lost him. How could nobody have known about the aneurism growing in his brain? The doctors said it had to have been there for years. And when it burst…

God, she needed another coffee.

“But anybody with a dangerous occupation is out,” Kate said firmly. “At least I can control that.”

“Maybe you should only go for guys that never leave the house. Never drive a car. Or cross the road,” Shana said. “That’ll lower the possibility of losing them even more.”

“Stop it.” Kate shook her head, smiling. “I’m trying. I thought you’d be glad about this.”

“I am. Kind of.” Shana pulled out her phone. “And I feel like this is the right time to tell you that I’ve made you a dating profile.”

“What?” Kate blinked. “Why? Where?”

“On an app. Don’t worry, I gave you a fake name. I was just curious to see what the response would be like.”

“Show me.” Kate held out her hand. “I can’t believe you did this.” She should be angry with her friend. But Shana didn’t have a mean bone in her body. She was kind, caring, and she worried about Kate a lot.

“I was just testing the waters for you. Because you weren’t going to try this by yourself. Remember what you said about there being nobody you’d date around here? Well, I set the area to Maple Cross and beyond. And honey, the waters are good. There are some nice guys there.”

“You haven’t talked to them, have you?”

Shana grinned. “No, of course not. That’s the beauty of this app. The woman has to make the first approach to anybody she matches with. That way you get to keep the control.” Her voice turned serious. “And I know you need that. I get it, I do.”

She passed Kate the phone and she took it, looking at the profile Shana had made for her.

Amy, 35.

Shana had used Kate’s middle name. And the photo was one she’d taken last year, when they’d gone up the mountains to the lake in Winterville. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a tank, her hair whipping around her face. She was laughing – you couldn’t see at what, but Kate could remember.

James was throwing Addy and Ethan into the water and they were squealing with excitement. She could remember thinking it was the first time she’d seen them truly happy after losing their dad.

“You looked beautiful in that one,” Shana said softly. “Annoyingly so. You got so many more hits than me.”

“Did you add that I have kids?” Kate asked, scrolling down. And yeah, there it was. Three children.

And still she got matches? She was surprised. “The men over in Maple Cross must be desperate,” she said.

“Shut up. You’re a catch.”

“Sure. With one kid fast becoming a juvenile delinquent, one who refuses to wear anything but his dead dad’s t-shirt to bed, and the other who wants me to take a photo of her looking pretty in her funeral dress,” Kate said, deadpan. “A real catch.”

“Marley seems to think so,” Shana pointed out softly. And Kate felt her pulse increase.

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