Page 51 of Wrapped in Hope
“I’ll wait to pack this room last in case you change your mind. I’m going to go check on dinner.” I leave her in the room, feeling a little lighter.
* * *
“This is amazing,”Jane gushes from across the table as we sit quietly eating dinner.
“Thank you.”
She wipes her mouth and places her napkin in her lap. “So how are things going with you and the woman you’ve been seeing?”
I nearly choke on my food. “You really want to talk about that?”
She shrugs. “We haven’t been a married couple for a very long time. I’ve had a lot of time to think, and I agree with you; it’s best if we both go our separate ways. I need a clean break to start over. And I want to know you’re happy.”
I swallow the bite I just took and lean back in my chair. “I haven’t talked to her in a month.”
“Why not?” she asks with wide eyes.
“We were moving too fast. I was concerned about you and just felt like everything was falling apart. I just needed to step back. With everything going on… I’m no good for her.”
She seems a little taken back. “Holden Joseph Brantford! I don’t ever want to hear you say that about yourself again. How could you even think that way? You’re a better man than most, and whoever this woman is, you deserve her if she makes you happy.”
I laugh. “How can you say that?”
She picks up her fork to take a bite, but puts it back down with my question. “You’re a good man. You work hard, you try to take care of everything and everyone. I mean, look what you did for me. Not just anyone could hang on as long as you did, you know?”
“She’s probably moved on by now anyway.”
She trains her green eyes on mine and there is nothing but honesty shining beneath them. “Go get her, Holden. You deserve to be happy after all these years.”
I don’t reply because I can’t. Would she be telling me the same thing if she knew the woman was Hope? I doubt it. Hope and me, we’re done. I haven’t even heard from her since she walked out on me that day.
Thinking about that day makes me remember what we did on this very table. My eyes flash over to the wall I had her pressed against and it’s like I can still feel her soft skin on mine. I can still taste her and smell her. It makes my heart call for her more than it has all month. That call is getting harder and harder to ignore.
After I clean up after dinner, I find Jane relaxing by the fire place. “Are you going to be okay alone here tonight? I can stay if you need me.”
She offers a kind smile. “No, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
She nods. “I’m sure. Why don’t you go find her?”
I shake my head. “That’s done. I’m only a call away. If you need anything at all, please call.”
She nods before turning her attention back to the fireplace. “There is something I need.”
“What’s that?”
“I need to say goodbye to Dean.”
I walk over and sit in the chair beside her. “What do you mean?”
“I want us all to go to his grave together.”
“Who’s all of us?”
She’s looking at the fire as she says, “me, you, and Hope.”
“Hope? Why Hope?”