Jodi wrapped her arm around my waist and laid her head on my shoulder, but didn’t interrupt.
“And don’t even get me started on nighttime,” I continued. “It used to be my favorite. Mike and I would put the kids to bed and start off watching TV, but by the end of the night we were either having some deep conversation, wrestling, or making love on the floor in the family room. Sometimes all three in the same night.” I sniffed and she squeezed me tighter. “I hate nighttime now. Once the kids go to bed, that’s when the sadness peaks. I sit down here all alone reliving what we used to have. I hate it.”
Jodi lifted her head and looked over at me. “Why don’t you come get me? I would love to unwind with you at the end of the day, as long as there’s wine.”
“Thanks.” I smiled. “But you have enough going on over there with Mr. Teenage Sex Maniac.”
She rolled her eyes and hip bumped me. “He’s not a teenager. Not for a couple years now.”
We both laughed at the ridiculousness of what she’d just said.
“And now here I am, thirty years old and hungover so bad that my dead husband’s best friend offered to take my son to storytime.” I sighed heavily.
“Yeah, what’s up with that? Fill me in.” Jodi pulled her arm back and turned around to lean again the island, facing me this time.
“There’s not really anything to tell. He was Mike’s best friend, has been for a while, and I guess when Mike died—” I paused and swallowed hard. “—he promised him he’d look after us.”
She pulled her brows in tight and narrowed her bright green eyes at me. “Why would he do that?”
“He, uh… was the one that caused the accident… kinda.”
Jodi’s hand flew up to her mouth as her eyes grew huge. “You’re kidding me!”
I shook my head. “Nope. So he feels this… obligation… to make things right. And I appreciate it, but I don’t need it. Today was the first time I texted back and took him up on one of his offers.”
She dropped her hand from her mouth and frowned at me. “Offers?”
“Not really an offer, I guess, but he’s been texting me every single morning to say hi and see if we need anything.”
“Wait a minute.” She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes again. “That guy, that hot, beefy, tatted-up guy texts you every day to say ‘good morning’ and see if you need anything?”
My eyes shifted around the room as I nodded.
A tight smile spread across her lips. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
I don’t think it would have been physically possible to roll my eyes any more dramatically than I did at that moment. “You’re such a romantic. Not everything is a romantic gesture, Jodi. Some things are just that—things. Gestures.”
Thankfully, before our conversation could go any further, the front door opened and Matthew came sprinting in.
“Hi, Miss Jodi! Mom, I had the best time!”
“Did you? I’m so glad.” I pulled him against my leg for a hug.
“You should’ve seen it. We all had to sit criss cross applesauce on the friendship rug and Viper could hardly do it!” He threw his head back and laughed wildly. It felt so good to see joy on his face from something other than Ninja Turtles for once.
“Hey, in my defense,” Viper bellowed playfully as he rounded the corner carrying Matthew’s booster seat, “that rug is really small. The worst part was I was the only one in the room who didn’t know what criss cross applesauce was. Matthew had to tell me.”
Matthew walked over and stood next to Viper. “Can you take me again next time, Viper?”
“If that’s okay with your mom, sure.”
They both looked over at me with big puppy-dog eyes. “Fine by me.” I shrugged.
Matthew threw his arms up and cheered as Viper held his fist out for Matthew to bump it. “It’s a date, my man.”
“COME IN, COME in!” Dr. Roberts said excitedly, waving me into her office Monday morning. “I’ve been dying to hear how your week went.”
I walked through the door, sat in my usual spot on the leather couch, and waited for her to take her seat across from me.
“So?” she said impatiently when I didn’t start talking right away.
“You’re the devil.” I glared at her.
“Oh, come on!” She sighed and threw her hands in the air dramatically. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”
“It was fine for the first few days, then it got tough.”
“What was the hardest part?”