Page 49 of Seasoned
“About the meeting with Jamie and her grandmother, we should get on the same page before we meet with them.”
Adelaide nodded. “Agreed.”
“So we should probably discuss strategy at some point.”
“This isn’t a business meeting, Hector,” she chided lightly.
“I know, but you know how I get.”
“Yes. You’re already figuring out how to tackle this problem.”
He laughed, unable to deny the truth of the words.Dios, when was the last time he’d laughed? Really laughed like this?
“Thank you for helping out today. I appreciate it,” Adelaide said quietly.
Their eyes met for a few seconds, and a twist of longing tightened his chest. He enjoyed spending time with her, feeling useful again, appreciated, needed. If this was all he could have right now, he’d take it until the feeling of loss faded and he could be normal again. He hadn’t been happy in so long, he’d forgotten what that felt like.
“You’re welcome. Any time.”
Hector walked slowlyup the walkway to his ground floor apartment and turned the key. He was home, but received no pleasure because the woman he’d loved for the better part of his life was not here.
“Yoohoo, Hector, how are you today?” The woman in the apartment next to his had peeped her head out the door.
He sighed internally. “Great, Rita, and you?”
“Oh, taking it one day at a time. I’m going to my ballroom dancing class tonight. You’re welcome to come if you like. You’d actually be doing us a favor because we have a shortage of male dancers.” She smiled.
She was a little plump, with a ready smile for everyone, and brunette hair cut in a pixie style that accentuated her features. Not bad-looking, either. They’d slept together once, and he’d felt like a jerk for pushing her firmly back into the friend zone afterward, but he simply didn’t have any interest in getting involved with anyone right now. He’d learned very quickly that jumping back into the dating game before he was ready was a terrible idea.
“Thanks, but I’ll have to pass tonight, too. I have a lot of…business to take care of.”
“Suit yourself. The offer remains open until whenever you choose to accept it.”
Hector nodded and slipped into the apartment before she could say another word.
Rita had been friendly from the day he moved in and before sleeping with her, he’d made the mistake of accepting a casserole from her the third week he lived in the apartment. He should have turned her down, but he didn’t know how to cook shit except French toast and eggs and had been tired of eating out. Frozen dinners had lost their charm. He’d been desperate for a home-cooked meal.
Adelaide had spoiled him. She’d done his laundry and every day he had come home to a hot meal. There were always leftovers in the refrigerator for him to snack on or eat late at night. She mended his clothes, organized and paid the bills. Kept the house clean and smelling good. In addition to missing her, he missed all those things she used to do to take care of their family.
Hell, he even missed the five thousand pillows she kept on the bed. He used to grumble about having to transfer them to the basket against the wall just to take a nap, but now he’d give anything to have that minor inconvenience again. Where would he find another woman he’d have that kind of synergy with?
Hector tossed his keys in the bowl at the door and stood in the living room of his one-bedroom apartment. Resting his hands on his hips, he wondered how he got here—a divorced man of forty-seven who was still in love with his ex-wife. Not a position he’d expected to find himself in this late in life.
Snorting with self-disgust, he went into the simply decorated white kitchen. Everything in the apartment was simple because he didn’t want to spend more than he should, and he needed to support two households—his and Adelaide’s.
He grabbed a beer from the fridge and sipped it while staring out the window at the parking lot. He’d pretty much fallen for Adelaide when he saw her enter a crowded movie theater and squeeze into one of two empty seats in the middle. He’d sat at the back with friends, watching and waiting to see if anyone else joined her. He finally worked up the nerve to stroll down the aisle and ease over to her.
“Is anyone sitting here?” he’d whispered.
Soft hazel eyes looked up at him and he lost his ability to speak. She responded in a sweet voice, “No, you can sit there.”
Her hair was the same length now as back then, falling between her shoulder blades. After three kids and more than twenty years, her figure had changed. She’d put on a little weight and her body was fuller and more rounded. But she was still his Adelaide, the woman he’d watched in that crowded theater before ditching his friends and taking a leap of faith.
They became lovers right away, rushing headlong into a serious relationship that took them both by surprise. Like fireworks, they were explosive and hot from the start—almost obsessive in their need to be together all the time.
When she became pregnant, getting married not only seemed sensible, it was the logical progression of their relationship. He couldn’t imagine spending his life with anyone else, and living alone had been hard as hell once he met her.
He couldn’t stop thinking about her or stop the yearning that engulfed him when he laid in bed alone at night. It was downright brutal to come home to an empty apartment instead of the scent of air freshener and the sound of her sweet voice.
