Page 3 of That One Heartbreak

Kate let out a long breath. “Those pictures are happy. That’s how we remember Daddy. That’s how he wanted us to remember him.” She drained her coffee cup. “Now can we go in?”

“I want to take a photo in for show and tell,” Addy said.

“Of what?” Kate asked.

“Of Daddy’s funeral.”

She ruffled her daughter’s hair. “I don’t think your teacher would like that much.”

“Why don’t you take in something of Dad’s?” James suggested. “His helmet or a photo of him in his uniform?”

“Hey, remember when Dad came into my school to talk about fire safety?” Ethan asked. “I must have been in Pre-K then.”

Addy’s lip wobbled and Kate knew exactly what was coming. “Did he come in to my Pre-K class?”

Kate swallowed hard. “No, honey, he didn’t. He wasn’t with us then, remember?”

“That’s not fair.” Addy pouted. “Did he go to James’ Pre-K class?”

“What’s going on here?” a female voice cut through the beginnings of Addy’s tantrum. “Are you all gonna hang around out here or are you coming in?”

The sound of Shana Wilson’s voice was enough to make Kate relax. She turned around, smiling at her. She and Shana had been friends for years.

“Hey Aunt Shana,” Ethan said. James nodded at her.

“So, are we going in or what?” Shana asked. “Because the quicker this finishes, the quicker we can get to the diner. And I’m determined to get a booth this week. I’m not going to be beaten.” She slid her hand through Kate’s arm. “Go ahead and choose the best pew. Save us a couple of seats.”

Kate watched as her kids hurried in through the church doors.

“You okay?” Shana murmured.

“I’m fine.” Kate nodded. Because mostly, she really was. Yes, there were bad days, but there had been some good ones too. And as time wound on, the good was starting to outweigh the bad.

“You sure?”

Kate smiled. “Apart from my mom wanting me to be the stepmother to six additional kids, even though I almost poisoned my own three with bad milk this morning. Oh, and I’m also the worst mom ever because I won’t let James go to Junior Firefighters, and Addy wants to take a photo of her at Paul’s funeral for show and tell.”

Shana blinked. “What?”

Kate squeezed her friend’s hand. “It doesn’t matter. I’m fine, I really am.”

“Not as fine as that sight,” Shana said, looking over Kate’s shoulder to the town square beyond.

It was only natural to turn around and see what her friend was staring at. But when she did a mixture of pain and longing washed over her. Because the good men and women of the Hartson’s Creek Fire Department were on their pre-training run.

She usually got into church before they ran past. Not just because it hurt to watch them run without Paul. She was getting used to that.

But because she’d pushed every single one of them away after Paul died. They’d tried to help her, but she’d refused their offers. It had hurt to see them, and she’d found it almost impossible to deal with their grief as well as her own, and most importantly, her kids’.

Her throat felt thick just thinking about it. There was a divide there now that she couldn’t quite bridge. They didn’t know how to deal with it, so they just got on with their lives.

Or most of them did.

She went to look away, but then she saw him.

Marley Hartson’s eyes caught hers and she felt every cell in her body tighten up. He’d been Paul’s second in command. His closest friend. The man who was with him when he died.

And the one man she’d pushed so far away she could never see a way back from that.

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