Eve inhaled sharply. “Oh, wow. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. We have two little boys, Lucas and Braden. They keep me on my toes,” Regina said as the sound of children’s laughter carried over the line.
“I bet.” Eve looked around herself at the deserted cemetery. She’d never felt more alone.
“Have you found someone new?” Regina asked.
“No.” Eve shifted her feet as her heels again sank into the grass.
“It’s a hard place to be,” Regina said, her voice kind. “When you fall in love and walk down that aisle, you never imagine having to do it twice.”
“I’m not sure I want to do it twice.”
“Believe me, I understand that feeling. But we don’t stop living when they die, so don’t ever feel guilty about finding happiness again with someone else. Your wife would have wanted that for you.”
Eve brushed at her eyes. “I couldn’t go through it again, losing someone.”
“Well, I hope you never have to. I hope neither of us do. But don’t let your fear keep you from finding happiness.”
Eve had a sinking feeling she already had. She wasn’t sure she even remembered what it felt like to be happy. Maybe it felt like Josie’s laugh, Josie’s kiss, tiny kitten paws leaving fur all over her dress. She gasped, pressing a hand over her eyes to stanch the tears.
“Hey, are you okay?” Regina asked in her ear.
No.“Yeah,” she said. “I should go. Thanks again for the flowers.”
“It was my pleasure,” Regina said. “Would you like to grab a coffee sometime and catch up?”
Eve blinked her composure back into place. “I wish I could, but I actually live in the city now. I don’t get out here very often…hardly ever, to be honest. I just needed to be here today.”
“I understand,” Regina said. “Well, take care. I’ll bring Lisa more carnations the next time I visit the cemetery.”
“Are you free tonight?” Eve blurted, surprising herself. “I mean, if you wanted to get together while I’m in town.”
“I’d love that,” Regina said warmly. “I’d need to wait until my husband gets home to watch the boys, but I could meet you at the Starbucks on Main Street in about an hour, if that works for you?”
“I’ll see you there.” Eve ended the call, releasing a shaky breath. Since she had some time to kill, she sat on the bench closest to Lisa’s grave—the same one she and Regina had sat on together all those years ago—as night fell around her. And there, alone in the cemetery, she let the tears fall. She cried for Lisa, for their daughter, for the long years she’d endured without them.
She’d broken up with Josie to protect herself from losing her too, but how was this better? She could either open her heart and risk getting hurt again, or she could live alone forever. And right here, right now, she couldn’t bear to be alone another second.
Drying her eyes, she pulled out her compact and fixed her makeup. Then, feeling a sense of purpose she hadn’t felt in weeks, she requested an Uber to take her to Starbucks.
29
“It’s almost time.” Adam turned up the volume on the TV they’d had installed in the bar just for the occasion. Dragonfly was bursting with people—friends, family, and customers. It seemed like everyone Josie had ever met was here tonight to watch her onDo Over…with one notable exception.
“This is so exciting,” her Aunt Cecily said, perched on the barstool that used to be Eve’s, looking very hip for her years with a beer in one hand, cell phone in the other. “I hope I made the final cut. That nice cameraman filmed me making a toast on opening night.”
Even her Uncle Timothy had come tonight, although he wore a sour expression, nursing a beer at a table in back.
“Hush, you guys, here we go,” Adam called out, practically bouncing with excitement.
Josie felt like bouncing herself, a combination of nerves and anticipation. This was the moment she’d been waiting for, the moment the world would meet her and watch her bar transform from Swanson’s to Dragonfly, the moment that would hopefully give Eve a ratings bump and the third season she wanted.
Speaking of Eve, there she was on the screen, speaking earnestly to the camera as she walked through Swanson’s, although Josie couldn’t focus on what she was saying over the activity in the bar and the chaotic emotions churning inside her. She’d have to watch the episode again tomorrow in her apartment, when she could devote her full attention to it.
“Oh.” Aunt Cecily pressed a hand against her chest. “Look at it. I can almost see Gerry behind the bar.”
Josie blinked. Yeah, she could see her dad behind the bar too. She’d kept everything just the way he’d left it, until Eve came along. For a moment, she missed him—and Swanson’s—so much, she had to bite her lip to force back the tears.
