Page 6 of Stay Away from Him

Melissa and Thomas walked down the hall, then paused at the edge of the living room. There came an awkward moment when neither of them seemed to know what to do. Thomas lingered by the foot of the stairs, and Melissa stayed close to him.

“I’m sorry I intruded,” Thomas said, breaking the silence. “I just thought, if you had to be down here doing parent stuff, you might want some company. I still remember how it could be, stuck with little kids while everyone else gets to have adult interactions.”

“Of course,” Melissa said. “I’m grateful. You’re good with kids. You have your own?”

“I do,” Thomas said. “Two girls. They’re a lot older than Bradley. Teenagers. I haven’t had to put a kid to bed in a long time.”

Melissa glanced at his left hand, hanging against his thigh. No ring.

“I’m also a pediatrician,” Thomas added. “I’ve got some practice calming kids down. A lot of them don’t like going to the doctor.”

Melissa blinked, picturing it: Thomas in a white coat, a stethoscope hanging from his neck. Calmly caring for children, putting them at ease the way he did with Bradley. Charming them—and their mothers too.

“You didn’t tell me you were a doctor.”

“Kids’ table, remember?” Thomas said, flashing a grin. “No work talk.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments. Above their heads, the soft murmur of voices at the dining table erupted into sudden laughter.

“Should we go back up?” Thomas suggested. “Seems pretty quiet in Bradley’s room. I imagine he’s asleep by now.”

“Maybe we should,” Melissa said. “Before we do, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, anything.”

Melissa paused, trying to decide how to pose her question. “You said you’ve got girls. Two of them. But you’re here alone. No ring on your finger. You’re…divorced?”

“No,” Thomas said. “Widowed. Or…uh,widowered?I’ve never gotten clear on how that word is used.”

Melissa’s hand rose to her mouth. “Oh my God. Thomas. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” She was mortified to have dug up something painful. A divorce was one thing, but a dead spouse was something else entirely. And that word,widower. Melissa didn’t know anything about Thomas’s marriage. Maybe it was terrible, like hers had been. But it was hard in that moment not to imagine that he’d loved his wife, that he was crushed when she died, that he still loved her, even now, in death.

Thomas’s eyes widened at Melissa’s embarrassment. “Melissa, don’t apologize. Oh God, you’re going to look at me differently now, aren’t you? You feel sorry for me? I’m a tragedy case, is that it?”

Melissa didn’t say anything. That was exactly what she was thinking.

“It happened a while ago, okay? Three years now. I wish I hadn’t mentioned it at all, because I really wanted to—and now…”

“Wanted to what?” Melissa asked.

“Well,” he said, his gaze dropping. “I was hoping to ask you for your number.”

Melissa spiraled into herself. The truth was that she did want to give Thomas Danver her number, that after their brief flirtation upstairs and his gentleness with Bradley downstairs she couldn’t imagine coming to the end of the night with no way of telling when she’d see Thomas Danver again. But she also remembered a promise she’d made to herself, after her divorce. She had decided to be alone for a while. She didn’t know if she was ready for a relationship again.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas said in response to her silence, pulling up his hands in apology. “I ruined it.”

“You didn’t,” Melissa insisted, stepping closer to him. “I’m glad that’s what you wanted. I wanted it too. I was hoping you’d ask.”

As Melissa said it, she realized it was true.

***

“So, Thomas Danver, huh?”

Lawrence had a leering grin on his face. The dinner party was over, the guests gone, and Melissa thought he was probably a little drunk—drunk on the cocktails and wine he and Toby had been pushing all night, drunk on the buzz of a successful dinner party. Everyone had gone home happy. Now he and Melissa were sitting in the wreckage, perched on two stools in the kitchen as Toby, Lawrence’s partner, worked on the dishes.

“Toby, do you need help?” Melissa asked.

“Don’t you change the subject,” Lawrence teased. “I was asking you about Thomas Danver. I saw you two canoodling down there at the end of the table.”

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