It took a few minutes before my phone pinged again. But then…Simon: Nurse Hamilton might not have been so wrong, after all. Fuck, Bridget. You’re gorgeous.I was never very good at accepting compliments. While I didn’t think I looked gorgeous, oddly, I believed that Simon thought I did. He had rose-colored glasses when it came to me for some unknown reason.Bridget: Thank you, Simon. You’ve made my day.My phone went quiet after that. I changed back into my clothes and spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to get the suit to display on the hanger the pretty way it had been when I’d found it. I left the fitting room feeling good about myself. Although there was no way in hell I was actually wearing a bikini in public, it was fun to pretend. A salesgirl was hovering close to the room I changed in.
“Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, thank you. But can I give you this?” I held out the bikini and hanger. “I couldn’t figure out how to hang it up properly.”
“Sure. Are you ready to check out?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
I took Brendan’s suit up to the register, following the young girl who carried the suit. When she rang it up, the total was $43.21.
“I thought the men’s suit was on sale for $19.99?”
“It is. And so is this one.” She lifted the bikini I’d tried on.
“Oh. I won’t be buying that today. I’m just taking the men’s suit.”
The young girl smiled. “The gentleman said you would say that.”
“The gentleman?”
She continued to wrap up the bikini in tissue paper, even though I’d told her I wasn’t buying it. “A man called while you were in the fitting room. He bought a $200 gift certificate over the phone and told me to use it to pay for your purchases. Said to include the bikini you came out with, whether you wanted it or not.”
I was dumbfounded. “Can I assume he had a British accent?”
The girl placed my items in a bag. “Sure did. Sounded kind of hot. You’re a lucky lady.” She handed me a gift card along with my bag. “You have a balance of $156.79 on your card.”
I walked out of the store still shaking my head. I am a lucky lady, aren’t I?
Once I was at my car, I started it and dug my phone back out of my purse. I typed and erased a half dozen messages to Simon before going with a simple one.Bridget: I can’t believe you did that. Thank you, Simon.Simon: Did you buy the suit?Bridget: How could I not when you were so sweet?Simon: Good. Enjoy it and wear it. Have a great vacation. I expect to see tan lines when you get home. P.S. My thoughts of you when I look at that picture are anything but sweet.The rest of the afternoon, I did exactly what the doctor had ordered. I wore my new suit and enjoyed myself. After an evening swim with my son in the warm, ocean water, I took a stroll along the beach with my mom and Brendan. The sun was beginning to set and lit the sky in vivid shades of purple and deep orange.
“Wow. It’s beautiful,” I said to Mom.
“Isn’t it?”
I found myself thinking that Simon would probably enjoy a beautiful sunset. So, I snapped a few pictures intending to send them to him later. I might have even encouraged Mom to take a picture of Brendan and me on Brendan’s phone with the sunset in the background as we stood on the beach wearing our matching suits. I secretly hoped my son might send it to a certain someone.
When it got dark, we headed back up to Mom’s. I took a quick shower and then Brendan went to take a bath. Mom poured us each a glass of wine in the kitchen. She smiled warmly at me. “You seem better now, Bridget?”
“Better?”
“Happier. The last time you came down to visit, I was really worried when you left. You weren’t yourself. Actually, it’s been quite a few years since I saw the real Bridget.”
I sipped my wine. “Well, my husband died, Mom.”
She hesitated for a moment. “Yes, of course. But I meant it had been a few years even before Ben died since I saw you smiling like you did today.”
“What do you mean? Ben and I were happy.”
“I didn’t mean that you weren’t. You just…I don’t know, dear. I suppose the best way to describe it is sometimes we lose our spark. It doesn’t mean we’re not happy. There are just certain times in life when, for whatever reason, we go through the motions without feeling the zest for life. You know? Think about it, when was the last time you enjoyed a sunset like you did tonight? You were absolutely radiant watching it this evening.”