Page 4 of That One Heartbreak

And it hadn’t been because he had anything to do with Paul’s death. Her husband’s passing had been a freak of nature. That’s what everybody said. Unexpected, and completely sudden.

It was because Marley had been with him. Holding his hand. Seeing the life pass out of her husband’s body. It was too painful to think about.

And yes, there was a certain jealousy there, too. That he’d been there and she hadn’t. When it happened, Kate had been happily filing books away at the library, thinking about what tocook for dinner and where she and Paul would go for their date night.

She took a deep breath and watched as Marley’s jaw tightened, his gaze still on her. The intensity of his stare made her chest feel so tight it was hard to breathe. And she hated that, hated feeling anything. So much better to be numb.

Like the rest of the crew and juniors, he was wearing a blue t-shirt with FDHC embroidered on the left-hand side. There was a tattoo on his left arm, peeking out from his sleeve. That was new. And yeah, she noticed the way his biceps looked bigger than before because she might feel dead inside sometimes but she was still, apparently, a woman.

He had the easiest gait of any runner she’d ever seen. It had to come from his constant activity. Outside of volunteering for the department, he was a construction worker. He worked with his twin brother on real estate developments all over the county. And on the weekends they played in a local band. Like her, he was always busy. And yet she knew for a fact that every evening he ran past their house just to check on them.

Because yes, she’d made it clear she didn’t want his help. But he checked on them anyway. He didn’t know she knew. But she could time her watch by the man.

It felt like a relief as the group of firefighters ran past the church, toward the far end of the town square, to the road that led to the firehouse. She inhaled raggedly as the organ started to play inside the church.

“We should go in,” Shana said.

Kate nodded, pulling her gaze away from the disappearing squad of firefighters. “Yeah, we should.”

“And the kids better have chosen seats at the end of a pew,” Shana added, completely unaware of Kate’s reaction, thank goodness. “Because we’ll need to make a quick getaway if we want to get that booth.”

“Six kids? Wow. And I thought three were hard enough to handle,” Shana said as they sat in the diner. “Doesn’t your mom love you?”

Kate grinned. Now that church was over she could relax. Sure, she had a list of chores as long as her arms to do when she got home, but right now she knew all of her kids were safe, and she had a cup of bottomless coffee in front of her.

They hadn’t gotten here fast enough for a booth, much to Shana’s disgust. Instead, they were at a table by the window overlooking the town square.

James had said he wasn’t hungry and headed out to throw a ball with some friends, and Ethan was pouring what looked like half of a bottle of maple syrup onto his pancakes. Addy was coloring furiously, her crayon blunting on the paper.

None of them were listening to Kate and Shana talking, which wasn’t a surprise. Her kids had long since learned that grown up conversations were mostly boring.

“My mom’s problem is that she doesn’t think any woman can survive on her own,” Kate admitted. Her mom was the poster child for moving on after bereavement. She’d remarried barely ten months after Kate’s dad had died.

“Maybe she’s right though,” Shana mused, taking a bite of bacon.

“What do you mean?” Kate frowned because Shana never agreed with her mom. After Paul died and her mom flew in to ‘help’ – which meant proclaiming that Kate’s life had ended and she’d never be the same again – Shana had practically frog marched her to the airport as soon as the funeral was over.

“It’s been two years. How long are you going to wait until you start dating again?”

“Forever.”

“Mom, can we go play outside?” Ethan asked, looking through the window. There were a bunch of kids from school in the grassy town square.

“Have you finished your food?”

“Yep.” Ethan shoved the last of his pancake in his mouth and swallowed it down in double time.

“Okay then. But stay within my sight. Between the bandstand and the oak tree.”

“Of course.” Ethan nodded.

“Can I go too?” Addy asked.

“No, you need to stay with me.”

“That’s not fair.” Addy pouted, and it made Kate’s lip twitch.

“Honey, Ethan is two years older than you.”

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