Page 8 of Broken Dreams
“Tell me about your wife,” I say, turning to look at him better.
“Lisa was always smiling. It didn’t matter what was happening in our lives, she smiled through it. When I was leaving on deployment, she would wink at me, kiss me, and then walk away while the other guys’ wives would be crying and sad. It was like she just knew I’d be back and that was enough for her.”
“She sounds like an amazing woman,” I say as we pull up to Run to Me.
“She was. I miss her every day. I’m sure you understand that, but Isaac sounds like a very lucky man.”
I laugh softly. “I told him that often.” There’s a pause and a part of me doesn’t want to get out of the car. “Thanks again. Truly. I need to go relieve my employee.”
Grady inclines his head. “I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”
“I’m sure we will.”
And I don’t know why that makes my stomach flip.
* * *
Thankfully my car was returned to me, without a bill, and now I’ve accomplished yet another thing on my list—going on with my life.
“Wow, Addy, this is a big step,” Chloe, my friend, says while I’m grabbing a cookie from the snack table after our grief support meeting.
I grab the last oatmeal raisin and turn to her. “What else am I going to do? I need a date for this wedding, and the only way that’s going to happen is if I start dating again.”
At least, I think that I think it’s time. It’s been three years since my husband died. Three years of being alone and wishing I had something like my friends have. Not to mention, over the last year all I’ve heard from my sister-in-law is that Isaac would’ve wanted me to be happy.
So, I’m going to be happy.
I hope.
“Well, I’ve been back in the dating pool for two years and I’m warning you now, there’s a lot of pee in the pool.”
I burst out laughing. “Great.”
Chloe and I have a lot in common. We each met our husbands when we were young, fell in love, stayed together through college, and then got married. Her husband was killed in a horrible car accident, where my husband was murdered in cold blood. Still, we were young, in love, and had our lives ripped away from us. Only difference is that I have a little piece of Isaac. I have our daughter, Elodie, who helped me continue living after that horrific day.
“Trust me, it’s not great,” Chloe says with a smirk.
“Aside from that part, I don’t even know how to start dating,” I admit. “Brielle, my sister-in-law back in Rose Canyon, thinks I need to make an online profile, but...she’s usually wrong about these things.”
“God, the online dating pool is even worse.”
I’m starting to regret my announcement today about being ready to date. “How bad can it be?”
“Think of the worst date you’ve ever imagined.”
I try to picture that, but it’s not like I have any dating experience. I dated one man and ended up marrying him. However, Brielle had a series of really shitty dates in college. I remember listening to her laugh about the terrible dinners and awkward kisses she had.
“Okay, I got that in my head,” I tell Chloe, borrowing Brielle’s experience.
“Perfect, now multiply that by one hundred.”
I groan. “You are really killing my buzz.”
She laughs. “I’m kidding, kind of. Not really. Actually I’m not kidding at all. However, it’ll be fun watching you suffer along with me.”
In the last few months, I haven’t heard her even going on any dates. “Are you seeing someone now?”
“No, after I ended up finding out the last guy was engaged, I decided to take a break from the murky waters I was swimming in. I’ll try again once I have the stomach for it.”
