Page 20 of Someone to Watch Over Me

It’s a relief to fully exhale for the first time in an hour. “Thank you for the reminder.”

“I won’t let any of this be a setback for you, not when you’ve been doing so great lately.”

I smile at her because how can I not? “I don’t know what I ever did to get lucky enough to have a friend like you.”

“You became a widow.”

That sets us off into a laughing fit that I needed. “I love you so much, Iris. You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had.”

“Likewise.”

“That’s not even remotely true.”

“Shut up before I get mad at you.”

We laugh again as she starts the SUV. “Where to?”

“I think I’d like to go home and maybe take a nap before I go back in to see Tom later.”

“You don’t have to go back today.”

“I know, but I might go anyway.”

“Stay away from his sister.”

“She’s been nice to me the few times I’ve met her before this and felt terrible after she said what she did.”

“Good. She should. What a stupid thing to say to someone who’s been through what you have.”

“What is it we always say about how people can’t possibly know what we’ve been through unless they’ve lost their person?”

“Still… In a case like this one, say nothing rather than word-vomiting things a widow doesn’t need to hear.”

“Don’t be mad at her. She’s traumatized. Their dad died of a massive heart attack at forty-two, two of their uncles also died of heart attacks, and an aunt had bypass surgery.”

“Damn. That’s a lot.”

“Definitely, especially since she and Tom are super close.”

“What happens next for Tom?”

“He said a drastic lifestyle change and cardiac rehab.”

We’re silent for several miles as Iris drives me back to Tom’s.

“I really like him, Iris. If I were in the market for another man in my life, I’d totally pick him.”

“But?”

“After what happened to him and then hearing his family’s history with heart problems, I just don’t know if I have it in me. I feel like being with him, going all in with him, would be like juggling dynamite or something equally dramatic.”

“I get that. You’ve already done years of debilitating illness with your husband, and the possibility of another serious, chronic situation might be more than you can handle.”

“Yes, that. Exactly that. Even if saying it out loud makes me feel like a wimp.”

“You’re the furthest thing from a wimp, Lexi. Look at what you did for Jim. A wimp never could’ve handled years of caring for him the way you did.”

“Well, I feel like a wimp at the thought of going through that again with Tom. They fixed the problem this time, but do I need to be worried about him dropping dead on me some other time?”

---