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“Yeah, sure.” I nodded as I turned towards my customers and greeted them. “Hello. What can I get started for you?”

“Have a good one.” Jack said to me before shouting towards the back, “Bye ma!”

Beth opened up a little about her late husband, Phil, during some down time later that morning.

“Chase looks so much like his dad.” She picked up her coffee and fiddled with the lid. “I wish Phil could have known him.” She exhaled slowly. “He died a month before Chase was born.”

I could see the depths of her loss in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.” Poor Beth. Losing your husband was hard, but losing your husband while pregnant must have been devastating.

“Sometimes it’s hard, raising him alone.” Unshed tears pooled in her eyes.

“Does Chase ask about him?”

“Sometimes, but he’s still too young to understand. I know I’ll have to explain it to him when he’s older.”

Beth told me Phil had died in a car accident while on duty. He was a cop and worked with John. She smiled when she talked about meeting Mary for the first time and how they bonded instantly.

“Mary’s support after he died was invaluable. I don’t know what I would have done without her. Without them, John’s like a surrogate dad to Chase.” She blinked away a tear. “Chase recently started calling him Uncle John, and he just beams every time he hears it.” She radiated love as she talked about Chase’s new obsession with dinosaurs and how annoying it was that all he wanted to eat was dinosaur shaped macaroni and cheese.I wish my mom had loved me half as much as Beth loves Chase.

“It’s great you had them to help you.” I didn’t know what else to say because I couldn’t relate. I didn’t know what it was like to have someone be there for me.

Later that night, my phone’s text alert beeped, shocking me. I rarely got texts, so I wasn’t used to the sound. I closed my book, using Jack’s business card to mark my spot.

Hey. You busy?

Not really, I’m reading.

Please tell me you’re not one of those people who gets violent when someone interrupts you when you’re reading…

Is he flirting with me? Nah, he wouldn’t, would he?

LOL, no.

No you aren’t or No you won’t tell me?

No, I’m not one of those people. *eye-roll*

OMG How do I take that back? I don’t want him to think I’m flirting.

Phew. Dodged a bullet there.

How was your day?

Good. Yours?

Good. Speaking of bullets, want to go shooting again this weekend?

Smooth.

*wink* I like to think so.

I typed “I shouldn’t” then paused and deleted it. My fingers hovered over the screen. I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to go, but didn’t want to take advantage of him. And I couldn’t afford to pay him for a real lesson, not yet anyway.

Meg?

Shit, I have to answer him.

Don’t leave me hanging.

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