“It’s fine.” She waved off my stuttered response. “It stirred up some good conversation between us. I can’t believe all the stuff my dad has done over the years that drives her crazy, and I never knew. Like his slurping. She said that first cup of coffee in the morning touches her soul, and she likes to enjoy it in a quiet kitchen, slowly bringing her senses to life for a new day. But then my dad wakes up, pours himself a cup, and slurps it over and over again. She said she’s seriously considered diving across the table and strangling him. Slurp. Slurp. Sluuurrrppp. And I totally relate because Trace used to slurp his smoothie every morning. And he chewed with his mouth open, whole body hunched over his plate like a caveman, constantly smacking and slurping. God … he was so loud. Then he’d lift his plate and lick it, kid you not … lick it clean. Even in restaurants. And I just sat there with this grimace of disgust stuck to my face, and he’d have the nerve to say, ‘What?’ Then one day … I answered his what. The next day we decided to end our marriage.”
She was my person. I could tell her my truth, and she wouldn’t judge me. But just as I started to say something, the shop door opened behind me.
“Elsie, I’m not feeling so well.”
I turned toward Kandi and her pale, almost green, complexion. “You can go home. Need a ride?”
She shook her head. “I think I can make it home.”
“No. Call your mom.” I turned back to Rachel. “I have to go, but we should get together soon and talk more.”
“Absolutely. I’ve got to get to work, but maybe I’ll stop by your shop later and get your number.”
I noticed she pointed over her shoulder when she said get to work.
“Where are you working?”
“The new place. What Did You Expect? It’s amazing! Have you had a chance to check it out yet? And don’t even get me started on Kael, the owner. He’s so freaking hot. Young-ish, but so hot. And nice. Gah! The guy will do anything for anyone. Izzy Stanton said he removed dead limbs from her tree and fixed her broken front porch steps. And she didn’t ask him to do it. He just noticed she needed some help around the place.”
“Does he know she’s married?”
“Why?” Rachel laughed. “You think he did it to get into her pants? I’m pretty sure he knows Lane is in the service and hasn’t been home in over a year. Epperly has grown since I moved away fifteen years ago, but it’s still a small town. I think he’s just genuinely a nice guy. He changed Violet Ryan’s flat tire two days ago. He fixed Arnie’s and Mable’s bent windmill and raked their huge yard before the snow. And Tess Jacob needed a ride to Fullerton last week, and Kael drove her two hours there, waited another two hours while she visited her daughter in the hospital, and drove her back home. He’s a saint. And single.” She waggled her eyebrows.
I had no comeback for his saintly actions. “He’s single because he doesn’t believe in monogamy.”
“What?” Rachel drew her head back.
“It’s a long story. I’ll share it later.”
“You better. Bye, Elsie.”Chapter NineI take care of three young kids, cook, and clean. I shouldn’t have to dominate him in the bedroom too. Grow a pair, buddy!* * *The upside to having grown kids—they were rarely home. The downside to having grown kids—they were rarely home. I liked my space—a quiet house—but I missed my people. I missed stories about their day, even if it was a bad day. I missed watching a rerun on TV while we cleaned up after dinner before taking Meadow for her evening walk. I missed the home that used to be my house.
And I wasn’t alone, as was evidenced by the full room of widows at our weekly support meeting.
“Tonight, I want to talk about moving forward with the grace of God leading us,” Rhonda opened the meeting. “I know it’s too soon for some of you, but others have approached me privately about this. So I think it’s something worth discussing. Our husbands would have wanted us to be happy. And everyone has a different definition of happiness. But if yours involves finding love again, then you shouldn’t feel ashamed or hindered by guilt. It’s possible to move on and love again if you pray for it to happen, and you let God help open your heart to someone special. A lot of women in our congregation have gone on to find love and marry again. One person in the group (who shall remain anonymous) called me last week with something heavy on her heart—intimacy. And I think this is a need that doesn’t go away just because we lose our spouse. So I want all of you to know … it’s okay. It’s okay to remarry. Some of you are so young, it would be heartbreaking to think of you giving up on love and a family. So … who wants to go first on this topic tonight?”