Chapter 21
I’Mtelling you, Elaine. Those people saved my life after my Dave died. It’s one thing to talk to friends and family, but you’ll never get the same understanding from someone who hasn’t been in your shoes. Go see Maxine. She can help.
Elaine remembered her mother’s friend Patsy’s words as she approached the building. Patsy had lost her husband ten years ago and had begun attending a bereavement group at the local community center. She swore it was her lifeline during those dark days.
In some ways, Elaine experienced a sense a calm and relief, just upon walking through the sliding doors of the center. In other ways, she was terrified. If she started talking about Lloyd, would she ever be able to stop? She wanted to get better for Connor, not worse. What if she opened her floodgates to these strangers and they never closed again?
You can do this.
Of course, she could do this. She’d come so far already. After all, she’d already had some tough conversations with her parents about her shifter nature. They’d had questions, they still had questions, but they’d taken it well. Over the past couple of weeks, she may have caught them looking at her and the kids with worry in their faces but they were handling the news. No one had died. No one had been disowned. They were coping.
In fact, she’d been brutally honest with them, telling them about her feelings for Connor as well. Again, no one passed judgment.
Instead, her mom had held her in her arms. “I wish you’d talked to us sooner. We’re your parents. You never need to spare us. The buck stops here, kiddo.”
“Yeah,” her dad had joked. “Your mother’s never happier than when she can fuss over you.”
And she had. She’d pulled out all the stops. Shopping trips, days at the play place for the kids, girly movie nights. She’d even introduced Elaine to “the girls.”
The girls were Patsy, Margaret, and Selina, otherwise known as her card group. Her mother’s friends had been coming over a lot at night. Although her parents had kept her shape shifter secret, Elaine had a hunch her mother had spilled the beans about her feelings for Connor.
She seemed to think euchre with a bunch of older women who liked to tell raunchy jokes was the trick.
In truth, Elaine didn’t mind. Patsy and the other ladies were nice. A couple of them had even lost their husbands. After a couple of nights in their presence, Elaine found herself telling them about Lloyd and also about Connor. They listened. When Patsy first suggested the bereavement group, Elaine listened.
Here she stood now, her hand on the slightly open door. A placard hung outside.Bereavement Support.
This was the step that would set her on a new path, or it would cause her to turn and run.
She’d promised Connor no more running. He already thought she was a runner, and she had to do her best to show him the truth.
“The buck stops here, kiddo.”
When she touched the door again, it swung open a bit more. Elaine peeked her head around the corner.
A group of people stood just inside, mingling at a coffee table. There were about fifteen chairs set up in a circle, just waiting to be filled.
A human lady with white hair and kind green eyes met her at the door. She held out her hand. “Elaine?”
Elaine shook her hand. “Yes. You must be Maxine.”
“Patsy told me to expect you. You’re welcome here. Please, come in. We have a few minutes before we begin.”
“Thanks. I’m a bit nervous. I’ve never been in a support group before.”
“You’re in good company. Some of us are old timers, and others are new, like you. We have one thing in common. We’ve all lost a loved one.” She placed a hand on her shoulder. “I hope you don’t mind me asking. Patsy told me your husband was killed some time ago.”
“Yes.”
“You have my utmost condolences. I lost my Sam twenty years ago this month.”
“Twenty years. I’m so sorry. How have you managed all that time?”
“Oh, I cry a lot and I yell a lot, but mostly I just put one foot in front of the other.”
“Day by day, huh?”
“Yes, but you also talk about it, a lot, and with people who understand. This is a safe place for you, Elaine. You can say whatever you want here.”
