“Yes, yes she was. I was an only child of only children.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Do you have brothers and sisters?”
A grin tickles her pretty lips. She flushes and bites her lower lip. “Yes. One of each. Although I don’t see my brother as much as I used to. He’s very busy.”
“What about your parents?”
“They’re good. They got divorced a few years ago but they stayed friends. They just weren’t right for each other. My mom married again. A really nice man who seems to really understand her. My dad is happy with his hunting and fishing and woodworking. He doesn’t seem interested in getting married again. He doesn’t even really date.”
“Is your sister married?”
Nodding, she bites her lip again and turns to stare out the window. “Yeah, she is.”
Nothing else.
Glancing over at her I frown. “I’m going to guess that it’s not a happy marriage.”
“She…well, she can’t…they’re arguing about family things.”
“Do they have children?”
“They do not.”
Nodding my head, I keep my thoughts to myself. I’ve got an idea but it’s personal and I don’t think it’s really any of my business.
“How do you get along with your sister?”
“She’s great but she’s really busy with her job. She works as a lawyer. She’s working on her partnership.”
Nodding again, I glance over at her. “What about you? What do you want, Red?”
Sighing, she leans her head on the cold window and my heart squeezes in my chest. I want to reach over and tug her over to sit by me, hug her, kiss her. Just hold her until she feels better.
“I am just doing the counseling right now. I quit my job when my…”. She stops talking and her hands fidget in her lap. Then she takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders, looking at me. “My husband and my best friend passed away.”
“Your best friend?”
“All three of us went to school together and when we got older, Jared was my best friend and I fell in love with Michael.”
“And they both went into the military together.”
“Yes. They made a pact and both of them went into the Air Force.” Her eyes go hazy and she smiles softly. “They both dreamed of being pilots from the time that movie came out in the 80’s. Top Gun.” She laughs and a smile tilts my own lips. It’s rusty like she doesn’t laugh very often. But so damn cute that I want to hug her again for another reason.
Then her smile disappears and I want to tell her that’s enough. Want to tell her that she doesn’t need to tell me anything else. I don’t want to see her hurting.
But I stay quiet. I get the feeling she hasn’t talked about her own loss at all.
“They were both killed in a helicopter crash on a mission over in Afghanistan to get some guys that had been injured in a fire fight. Both helicopters went down and there were no survivors.”
She says it with cool detachment but her chin wobbles and a single tear trickles down her cheek. My whole body goes taut. I can’t stand this. I hate it so much. She’s so sweet and gentle and she needs this…but damn, it’s hard to watch. To listen to the pain in her gentle voice.
“What happened after that?”
She draws in a deep, shuddering breath. “After that…”. Her voice goes quiet and she whispers, “there’s no after that.”
“You’re still alive, Aspen. Pretty sure neither one of them would want you to just curl up and live like a spinster. They’d want you to be happy.”
