Page 50 of Accidental Blind Date
“And I am sure he’s happily married but would appreciate the compliment.”
“Actually,” Joni says, “He’s single…”
“Mm,” I say, also without any thought. Men, single with cute kids or not, are not going to ruin my favorite day.
“It’s sad really,” she goes on.
“That he’s divorced?” I ask, ringing up a comic book for a boy with glasses and a Flash t-shirt.
“He’s not divorced,” Joni says. She waits for the boy to walk away before whispering, “He’s widowed.”
My heart drops through a trap door in my chest as I think about the two little girls.
“Oh…”
“Yeah. She died a few years back. He’s been single as a pringle ever since.”
“That’s terrible,” I say softly.
“Delilah remembers her, but Poppy was too young.”
With that, my heart slams into my ribcage.
All the thoughts run together at the same time, like moths to a streetlight, crashing into the reality.
Silver fox.
Single.
Poppy.
Delilah…
Oh shit.
Dax comes into light, almost like a mirage, as the two little girls–Delilah and Poppy–pull him to the counter. Their mouths are going a mile a minute, and he is looking down at them smiling. He doesn’t see me yet.
“He’s…a single dad?” The question is almost all breath as it wisps from my mouth.
“Yeah. Haven’t you been listening?” Joni asks. “What’s gotten into you? Do you know him?”
“Dax,” I say. Other than that, I have no words.
Chapter 16
Dax
“Ifound a book about flowers!” Poppy is holding my hand, hopping up and down as we wade through the tiny people.
“You didn’t find it. The book lady found it,” Delilah says matter of factly. As the eldest of my two daughters, she is the most matter of fact. She also spends most of her time telling me how I don’t do things like mom, reminding me how mom did them, and explaining to Poppy who does not remember mom why mom did it best. Despite the raw nature of it all, Delilah’s words don’t hurt.
Only the reality of it does.
That hurts every minute of every hour of every day. And it is the reason I have to compartmentalize my life.
“The book lady, huh?” I ask as both my daughters tug me along.
“Yes! She found me a flower book, and she was super nice,” Poppy says.
