Page 20 of It's a Widow Thing

Michael leaned back, deep furrows forming between his eyes. His concern was so real. She could feel it. “I’m so sorry,” he said, taking her hand in his and not letting go. “That must have been so hard. I can’t even imagine.”

She smiled at his tender gesture, the sweet tone of his voice. “You never know what life will bring you. Good things happen. And bad things happens, too.”

He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “I know. But it seems like you’ve had to go through more than most people. It doesn’t quite seem fair.”

“One of the first things you learn when you become a widow is that life is not fair. It might sound like a cliché, but it’s true.” She cleared her throat, gathering the courage to say what she was feeling. “Michael, I’d like to talk about something else if that’s okay. There’s only so much I can talk about it some days.”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

Unfortunately, that only served to leave silence between them. Her stomach growled so loudly that they both heard it.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“I guess that Danish wasn’t enough sustenance.”

“Of course not. It’s half air.”

“And butter. And sugar. And cream cheese.”

He waved it off, and got up from the bench, then looked down at her with his trademark grin. “Will you let me take you to lunch? It wouldn’t be like a date. Just two people eating. Together.”

She rose from her seat, marveling at how hard he was trying to make everything okay for her. “We can call it a date if you want to. I need to take it slow, but lunch with you feels like the perfect speed.”

CHAPTERNINE

Michael wason his way out the door, so of course, that just had to be the moment when his mother called. “Mom. Hey. On my way downstairs to meet Brian and Dan. They should be here any minute. What’s up?”

“I’m well aware of your plans with your brothers. I’m calling to find out when you were planning to tell me about your problem.”

“Problem? You’re going to need to be more specific than that.”

“Your heart, Michael Douglas Wright. I cannot believe that you hid this from me.”

“I didn’t want you to worry. And how did you find out about this? Who told you?”

“I can’t divulge my sources. All I can say is that I came across some intel.”

Intel.As if Michael’s health situation was a Senate subcommittee briefing. “Well, that basically tells me that it came from Brian or Daniel. And I’m fine. I swear. I have a great doctor, and they’re watching a few things. Hoping I can correct course with lifestyle tweaks.”

“Have you been eating better? Watching salt? Avoiding alcohol?”

Hmmm. Not exactly.The last ten days with Sabrina had been wonderful, but there had been many meals out, as he did his best to take it slowandconvey exactly how much he liked her. The truth was that he was smitten. She was all he thought about, and that was no overstatement. Morning, noon, and night, his brain zeroed in on Sabrina and wouldn’t let the subject go. Even when there’d been nothing more than hand-holding and a few soft kisses. “There’s always room for improvement. Still working out every day.”

“Good. I heard this started because you had an episode at work. Are you still having chest pains?”

He was. Before, it had been career stress that had brought on that uncomfortable tightening in his chest. Now it seemed like it might be the pressure of being with Sabrina. Every minute with her, he only wanted her more. He only became more convinced that they could be perfect together. But how was he supposed to live up to the memory of her husband? Although he hadn’t asked his doctor that exact question, he had mentioned that he’d been having twinges of discomfort. His doctor’s advice was to relax and devote time to the things in life that were most important. The trouble with that? Sabrina was the most important thing to him right now. “The doctor and I talked about it. Everything’s under control.” It wasn’t the absolute truth, but it was in the ballpark.

“I don’t like you keeping things from me.”

“And it’s rarely my intention to do that. But I didn’t want you to worry. You’re juggling a million things.”

“I’m going to worry no matter what. That’s part of being a parent.”

“You’re just making my point for me, Mom. I’m not going to create more of that for you. You have plenty.”

She sighed. “Just no more secrets. At least not about important things.”

“Deal.”