Page 29 of Someone to Watch Over Me

Brielle, Joy, Roni and Derek arrive, full of chatter, laughter and energy that take some of the piss out of my bad mood. It’s hard to be cranky around the most positive, upbeat group of people you’ll ever meet. Even after life kicked them in the teeth, they’re such an inspiration to me and to one another.

Gage comes downstairs and gives me a one-armed hug. “How goes it?”

“Better now.” I take a sip of the wine Iris poured for me. “Much better now.”

“Glad to hear it. How’s Tom?”

“Good. He’s coming home on Friday.”

“That’s great news.”

I nod because it’s the best news, but do I dare tell him or anyone how afraid I am of him having another incident when it’s just the two of us in the house?

If I say that out loud, I’ll give it oxygen, which is the last thing I want to do.

We fill plates, get drinks, catch up, laugh and tease one another. It’s a typical gathering of the Wild Widows, who have come to feel in many ways like the siblings I’ve never had. One thing is for certain—they’re among the best friends I’ve ever had. Don’t get me wrong. My longtime friends—most of them, anyway—have been amazing since Jim got sick and died. But several of them disappointed me a long time before I lost him, and they’ve made themselves scarce since he died.

These people… They’re the ones I’d run to in a crisis because I know for certain they’d have my back and know what to do. They always know what to do, which is an amazing resource to have available as a widow.

When we’re seated in a circle in Iris’s living room, she takes the lead. “Wynter texted new baby pictures to the group chat.”

That has all of us reaching for our phones to ooh and aah over baby Willow.

“My God,” Roni says. “That is a pretty baby.”

Wynter used sperm her late husband banked before his cancer treatment to have his child, and Adrian has stood by her every step of the way despite his fears about something happening to her in childbirth like it did to his wife, Sadie.

“Would you expect anything else with Wynter and Jaden as her parents?” Gage asks, smiling.

“Nope,” Roni replies. “She’s destined to be a stunner. How’s Wynter feeling today?”

“Still sore but elated. The baby is doing really well and sleeping a lot, which is helpful to the exhausted parents. And, of course, Xavier is smitten with his baby sister.”

Adrian and Wynter plan to raise their children as siblings, and their little family has made them all so happy.

“I’m so thrilled for them,” Brielle says wistfully.

I understand the wistfulness. Adrian and Wynter have been through their own hell losing their young spouses to childbirth and cancer. They’ve worked hard for what they have now with their children, and I’m thrilled for them. Even still, it can be hard to watch widow friends moving into new happily ever afters, especially when everything is still upside down for some of us.

“Who wants to start?”

Joy raises her hand before I can raise mine, which is fine. I need more wine before I take the floor. “Mama had a second date withthe guy.”

Brielle pumps her fist. “Yes!”

“Easy does it,” Joy says with a quelling look that makes Brielle giggle.

“How was it?” Derek asks.

“It was… surprisingly enjoyable. I took y’all’s advice and stopped trying to find Craig in him.”

Her late husband died in his sleep of natural causes, whatever that means. I don’t like thinking about that or knowing things like that can happen, especially considering recent events.

“I’m so happy to hear that, Joy.” Hallie takes a seat in the circle, holding a plate and a glass of wine. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You haven’t missed anything,” Iris tells her. “We just started. Tell us more, Joy. What’s his name?”

“Bernie.”

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