Page 49 of It's a Widow Thing

Alyshia grinned wide. “That’s awesome. I’m really happy to hear that.”

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as that. She had to find a way to honor her own feelings, while reassuring Michael that she was respecting his.

He poked his head into the room. “Ready?” His voice was clipped. Almost icy.

“Sure. Your mom let me take the Sunday crossword. I thought we could do it together in the car.”

“Okay.” He snapped up his keys in his hand. “Bye, Alyshia.” He gave her a quick hug, reinforcing the idea that they were leaving.

Sabrina said goodbye as well, then they all walked into the foyer, where Lydia and William were now waiting, coffee cups in hand. Through the sidelights of the front door, she could see Zoe and Brian horsing around in the driveway.

“Sabrina, you were a peach for spending a night with us. I hope you’ll come back soon.” Lydia pulled her into an embrace, and Sabrina marveled at everything she was—a formidable figure in the Senate, a kickass cook,anda highly involved mom and grandmother.

“Same goes for me,” William offered. “You make Michael happy, and that’s all we could ever want from anyone.”

Guilt was weighing down on her. She wasn’t doing a good job of making him happy right now. “Thank you again for the hospitality.”

She wandered out of the house while Michael said goodbye to his parents. Brian and Zoe were waiting by the car. Sabrina was crouching down to hug Zoe when the little girl whizzed right past her.

“Uncle Michael, don’t go.”

He scooped her up in the driveway and settled her on his hip as he walked to the car, the gravel crunching beneath his feet. “I’ll try to come to your soccer game next weekend, okay? I’ll see you.”

“You still need to come get your hoodie. It’s still at our house.” Zoe wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m going to miss you.”

He peered up into her face. “We’ll spend lots of extra time together soon.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. Do I get a kiss goodbye?” He presented his cheek, and she granted his wish with a quick peck before he set her back down on the ground. “Bye, bro,” he said to Brian. “It sucks that Daniel couldn’t be here, but I think we held down the brotherly fort.”

“Yes, we did.”

The pair embraced, and Sabrina felt a tug on her heart. She could see the love between them. Michael was as tethered to his family as anyone could be. And that meant she felt tied to them now, too. Was this her future right in front of her?

“Bye, Sabrina,” Brian said. “I hope I get to see you soon.”

“Definitely,” Sabrina replied, hoping that would prove to be true.

She and Michael climbed into the car. As soon as Sabrina got settled, she noticed a text on her phone. It was from Lela.

Do you have a few minutes to chat tomorrow morning?

“Huh,” Sabrina said, more than a little concerned.

“What?” Michael asked.

“Lela Bennett wants a call tomorrow morning. I hope nothing’s wrong.”

“I’m sure it’s fine. If it was bad, she’d ask to talk to you right now.”

Despite Michael’s sour mood and the present state of awkwardness between them, she appreciated that he was always willing to calm her worries. “You’re right. I’ll just tell her we can chat first thing.” Sabrina typed out her response and sent the text. When she looked up from her phone, she saw that Michael was already turning onto the main road. It was like he was high-tailing it out of town.

“Anyway. Let’s do this puzzle.” She pulled out the crossword and started rummaging through her handbag to find something to write with. “Dammit. I don’t think I have a pencil. I should’ve asked your mom for one.”

“You aren’t ready to commit to pen? Between the two of us, we’ll have no problem acing that puzzle.”

“It just seems so permanent.” She held up the pen.