Page 117 of Hope After Loss

In the wordless exchange, he gives me permission. Not that I needed it, but I did need it.

I look back to Weston.

“Fine. One date,” I agree.

I sneak in the front, trying not to wake Leona or the baby. As I tiptoe down the hallway, I peek inside the nursery. Kaela is in her lamb pajamas. Leona has left the lamp in the corner of the room on, and the radio is softly playing a lullaby CD.

I walk over and pull the pink blankie around her and kiss the top of her head.

“Sweet dreams, baby,” I whisper.

When I turn, Leona is propped in the doorway, watching us. A smile on her lips.

“Hi. Did I wake you?”

She shakes her head. “No. I was up, reading,” she says.

I follow her to the kitchen, and she fills the teakettle and places it on the stove.

“How was the bachelorette party? Tell me everything,” she asks.

“It was fun. We drank and danced. Erin hired the worst strippers, and Ansley turned every shade of red. It was hilarious,” I tell her.

“That sounds like something Erin would do.”

“Once we got her free from their clutches, we ended up at the brewery, and the guys showed up.”

“It’s hard to have separate soirees in such a small town,” she muses.

“I think Ansley texted Garrett to find out where they were. She was ready to get back to him.”

Leona laughs. “Well, as long as you all had fun, that’s all that matters. Did you enjoy yourself?”

The kettle whistles, and she sets two mugs in front of us, adds tea bags, and fills the mugs with steaming water.

“Weston asked me out on a real date,” I tell her.

“That’s great.”

“Is it?” I ask.

She takes the seat across from me. “Isn’t it?” she asks.

“It’ll change everything. Make it real. Up until now it’s been undefined, and I don’t know if I’m ready to label it.”

“Just let him know. Weston’s a good guy. He won’t push you to go any faster than what you’re comfortable with.”

“He is a good guy, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, he’s funny and sweet, and he has that wholesexy devilthing going for him. The whole package, if you ask me. Not that I’d tell him because his one flaw is that bloated ego of his.”

“Yeah.”

She reaches over and covers my hand with hers. “Granted, I didn’t know Mike all that well, but what I did know of him, he seemed like the type of guy who would want you to be happy,” she encourages.

“Yeah, he would want that.”

“You know, you don’t have to stop loving Mike to enjoy a date, right? They aren’t mutually exclusive.”