Whispered Prayers of a Girl

She nods her agreement. “I’ve only met him a few times while visiting Gram, but he always seemed like a nice and caring guy.”

I turn back to the sink and grab a rag, then start wiping down the counter.

“The kids miss him,” I tell her quietly.

“I don’t think it’s only the kids that miss him.”

A smile forms on my face. “No, not just the kids.?

?? I stop for a moment, then reveal, “We kissed yesterday.”

I look over when Emma doesn’t respond, to find a big grin on her face.

“I knew something had to of happened between you,” she says smugly. “How was it?”

I let out a breathy sigh. “It was short, but one of the best kisses I’ve ever had.” I drop my head, a blush forming on my face when I remember the feel of his lips against mine. “I feel like such a schoolgirl with her first crush. I don’t know how to do the whole dating and flirting thing.”

“Not much has changed since you and Will started dating. I’m pretty sure it all works the same way.”

There’s laughter in her tone, but the mention of Will brings on a touch of pain. I always thought he and I would be together forever. We’d have kids that we would love and watch them grow up, then watch them have kids of their own. We were supposed to grow old together.

When she sees that her words did the opposite to her intention, she takes the rag from me and tosses it in the sink. Grabbing my hand, she turns me to face her.

“Gwen, you know that Will would want you to move on, right?”

I nod. “I know. It’s just….” I stop and take a deep breath. “For such a long time, it’s been hard to imagine a life without him, but when I think about Alexander, it isn’t as hard anymore.” I blink away the tears wanting to break free, guilt gripping my chest.

Emma, knowing me all too well, knows exactly what I’m thinking. “It’ll always hurt when you think about Will not being in your life anymore, but it’s normal to get past that pain enough to move on. He’ll always be a part of your life, you’ll always love him, but you’ve got enough love in you to give it to someone else as well. He’d want you to find someone to take his place and make you happy, to treat his kids as if they were his own. From what you’ve told me so far, Alexander may be that man.”

“I’m not sure he wants to be that man. I’m not even sure if I want him to be that man. We know nothing about each other.”

But you do know, my mind whispers.

“Sometimes you don’t need to know much about the person to know they are the one.”

I think about her words for several moments. I’ve been drawn to Alexander from the first moment I met him. Standing in line at the grocery store, even with him being less than friendly, I felt some type of pull toward him. I didn’t know what it was, I still don’t, but it was definitely there, and it was strong. I wonder if he felt the same.

“Why are you still here?” Emma asks, pulling me from my thoughts.

“What do you mean?”

“Go to him, Gwen. You know you want to.”

“I’m not sure if he wants us around,” I tell her.

“You don’t let that boy push you away.”

We both turn at the sound of Mrs. Myers’ raspy voice. She’s standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips, the soft look in her eyes saying she heard our conversation, or at least enough of it to know what’s going on.

“That boy has had enough sadness in his life to last a lifetime. It’s about time he had something good come his way.”

“Do you really think we should go?”

“Yes” comes from both of them.

“What if he turns us away?” I whisper my fear.

“I’m sure he’ll try,” Mrs. Myers says. “But you don’t let him. From what I’ve overheard, he’ll want you there, he’s just scared.”