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Taeli
“Oh my,” Erin says while fanning herself.
“Yeah, I think I need a cigarette,” Jena agrees.
“You don’t smoke. Do you?” I ask.
She grins. “No, but I might start after that story.”
“Right? I thought I was going to combust,” Ansley agrees.
“Damn, girl, you’re in town what, a month and a half, and you already snagged Graham Tuttle? I’m so impressed,” Erin adds.
“I haven’t snagged anyone. For all I know, it was a one-time thing. A really hot one-time thing.”
Jena reaches over the table and places her hand on top of mine. “However long it lasts, let yourself enjoy it. After all you’ve been through, you deserve to be giddy over a new romance. It could be the beginning of your happily ever after or just a spicy anecdote before you move on to the next amore. Either way, it’s what you need to recover.”
“An anecdote is all it can be. I’m only on vacation. When I return to my regularly scheduled life, he won’t be a part of it,” I tell them.
“Unless you decide to stay,” Ansley says.
“I can’t do that.”
“Sure you can. You can do anything you want to do, and we’d love for you to stick around. Our threesome could use a fourth,” Jena points out.
A warmth slides down my spine.
It’s nice to feel wanted.
“Now, tell us more about your mom and Mayor Gentry,” Erin requests.
“I thought you guys weren’t ones to start rumors?” I ask her.
“It’s not a rumor if it’s true,” she replies.
I place my head in my hands. “I can’t believe my mom has a boyfriend. You guys, I never imagined it,” I cry.
“Why not? She’s still a woman. He’s a dapper bachelor. I say, good for them both. If anything happens to Ted, I pray I can find another man to spin me around the dance floor.”
“Me too,” Jena agrees.
“And Mayor Gentry is a great catch. His children and grandchildren adore him, as does the entire town. You couldn’t ask for a better man for your mom to spend her time with,” Erin says.
Ansley nods.
“I like him. He’s just not my daddy,” I mutter.
“I’m sure he’s not trying to be. He just likes Leona. That’s a good thing,” she insists.
“There is a reason our wedding vows say until death do us part. God doesn’t want or expect us to be alone after he calls our spouse home. He wants us to be free to find love again,” Ansley explains.
“I’d take him for a stepdad,” Erin adds.
I let their words sink in and realize they’re right. I do want that for my mother. Just like I hope Caleb wants that for me one day. Her finding love with another man doesn’t take a single moment of love away from her and Daddy.
“I know you’re right. I’ll do my best to accept it and support Mom.”
“Atta girl,” Ansley says.
“Thanks, guys. I needed this,” I tell them.
“Anytime. That’s what friends are for,” Jena says.
It’s strange. I never had this level of intimacy with the women I called friends back home in Illinois. The lunches were plentiful but the support and honesty were null, and I didn’t recognize it for the farce it was. True, deep friendship means so much more. It’s sharing the good, bad, and ugly and loving each other through it all.
After lunch, Erin and I head back to the office. Langford shows up with the boys around four, and they are a bundle of excitement.
“Mom, I caught a fish!” Caleb howls.
“You did?”
“Yeah, it was a big one. Tucker and his dad caught a whole bunch, but mine was the biggest one,” he says proudly.
Langford walks over and places a hand on Caleb’s shoulder. “It was the biggest and very impressive for his first time with a fly rod.”
“We’re going to have it for dinner,” Caleb announces.
“You are?” I ask.
