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“Whatever you say.”
“Come on. Live a little. Get excited. We will have a letter writing party. It will be fun,” Trinity said as she pulled the door open. We stepped inside, nodded to Brooke and Tristan, and then took a seat at our usual table.
* * *
I pulled the door open to Bluebird Books and stepped inside. Trinity was focused on whatever it was she was working on. She finally glanced up from the counter and put her pencil down.
“Hey,” she greeted.
“Hey. How’s things?” I said, making my way over to where she stood.
It wasn’t normal for me to show up in the middle of the afternoon, but I didn’t have a choice today. After the meeting, Trinity twisted my arm and got me to agree to write at least one letter. Melinda would be collecting them today and getting ready to send off the first batch.
“Great, it’s been busy today. This is the first downtime I’ve had. Now tell me, did you write that letter? Or are we both heading down to The Crispy Biscuit to only hand one in?”
I pressed my lips together. “Well, I wrote one, but I don’t know if it’s good enough to send. I should have had you write it for me.” I shrugged.
“Oh gosh, just let me see it?” Trinity held out her hand, waiting.
I met her eyes, trying to decide if I should let her read it. She didn’t back down. Instead, she looked right into my eyes, her hand still out, waiting.
“I’m waiting.”
With a sigh, I reached into my purse and pulled out the envelope that contained the letter I’d written. I knew I should have sealed the envelope instead of leaving it open. Feeling like it wasn’t good enough, I took a deep breath and then placed it in Trinity’s hand. “Don’t you dare laugh,” I warned.
“Peggy, why would I laugh?” Trinity said, beginning to giggle already.
“See, you’re laughing already, and you haven’t even read it yet.”
“Oh stop. I am not. I’m laughing at you.”
I even stifled a giggle at the situation myself. “I’ll be over—”
“Over in the ‘these things don’t happen to the ordinary person’ section?”
“You got it. Going to find me a new book boyfriend. One that will sweep me off my feet.” I laughed and walked over to the romance area, pulling a couple of books from the shelf. I looked at the cover and then sat down to look them over while Trinity opened my letter.
As she read the letter, I kept glancing over at her, waiting to see if there was any type of reaction on her face, but she kept the same peaceful look the entire time. When she finished, she shoved the letter back inside the envelope and placed it on the counter, not saying anything. I couldn’t wait any longer. I jumped up off the chair, leaving the books I’d been looking at on the chair, and went over to her. “Well?”
“Well, it’s good, Peggy. You’d be silly not to send it. You are going to make a difference to someone, and that alone should make you want to send it. This is a really great program.”
“I know this program is a good thing. I guess I’m just apprehensive.” I shrugged.
“Oh goodness! Why?” Trinity asked, pouring me a coffee.
I thought for a moment, trying to put into words how I felt, hoping that Trinity would understand. “Promise me you won’t laugh?”
Trinity nodded and placed a full mug of hot coffee down in front of me, waiting for me to explain my reasoning. I looked around at the shelves of books. You’d have thought that the characters on the pages were listening. I swallowed hard, leaned forward, and whispered, “I guess I’m afraid that they might pair me with a man.”
Trinity smiled softly to herself, but she didn’t laugh. Instead, a look of understanding crossed her face. She’d known that I was coming up on the eighth anniversary of Darren’s death. She also knew I was having a considerably harder time this year than the first year he’d been gone and that I’d not dated since.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
“Yeah, but what if one day the person wants to meet?”
“Oh, my dear, don’t be silly. We aren’t playing matchmaker here. This is strictly to keep these men and women company while they are gone from their friends and family. However, from the other side of things, what would be so wrong with meeting someone?”
I looked at her, certain that a look of horror was written on my face. “What would be wrong with it?”
