“May I help you?” she asked with a polite smile.
“Yes, I’m here to see Jake Barnes.”
“Is he expecting you? Do you have an appointment?”
“I do not have an appointment. My name is Amira Abadi. I just need a few minutes of his time.”
“Abadi?” A somber expression came over the receptionist’s face. “Are you Ali’s wife?”
“Yes.” I struggled not to show the emotion aching in my throat.
“I’m so very sorry for your loss,” she said with feeling. “We all loved your husband. He was always so pleasant and thoughtful.”
Had Ali fooled everyone else too? Or, despite evidence to the contrary, did I have everything wrong now? Maybe I was still an idiot, but a growing part of me felt there had to be more to the story, that Ali really was who I—and everyone who knew him—thought he was.
“Thank you,” I said. “He really enjoyed everyone he worked with here at the firm. Would you mind seeing if Jake can spare me a few minutes?”
“Of course not!” she said. “I’ll call him right now. Would you like to have a seat? Can I get you anything? Water, coffee, tea?”
I shook my head. “No, but thank you.” A few minutes later, a man I didn’t recognize appeared and spoke briefly with the receptionist, who pointed him in my direction.
“Mrs. Abadi? Is it OK if I call you Amira?” he said as he approached. The man was tall with reddish hair and a close-cropped beard. “Ali talked about you and the kids so much over the years that I feel like I know you.”
“Did you work closely with my husband?”
He looked perplexed. “Very closely. And my boys appreciated all of the hand-me-down bikes and skateboards that we got from you.”
I blinked. Ali gave hand-me-down toys to this man too? “And your name is?”
He shot me a strange look. “I thought you asked to see me? I’m Jake Barnes.” He put out his hand to shake mine. “It’s nice to finally meet you in the flesh.”
Chapter Thirty
Before
For our twentieth wedding anniversary, Ali and I went back to the Dominican Republic for a second honeymoon. It was our first real holiday alone since having kids.
Something about being on vacation brought out the sexy in us. We made love a lot that week. Not nearly as much as on the honeymoon, but plenty for a seasoned couple twenty years in, with all the emotional bumps and scrapes to prove it.
During the day, we relaxed in loungers by the beach, indulging in fruity drinks and ordering a variety of appetizers, rather than full meals, to snack on. At night, we went to dinner and sometimes stayed out long enough to dance to the live entertainment.
Once we had children, nothing was about us anymore. But during that week in the DR, we felt like ourselves again, like in the beginning. And we started to see how our life would change once Adam joined his sister at college.
“We’ll be able to do more traveling,” Ali pointed out, his long body stretched out on the lounger, his skin glowing bronze in the sun. We were both older, a little heavier and less toned, but Ali never stopped being attractive to me. He continued to hike and work out regularly. Up until the end, I saw the version of him that I married and still got a thrill whenever I saw him naked.
I dipped a chip into salsa and then guacamole. “We won’t be confined to planning all of our travel around the kids’ school schedules. Think of all the deals we can get in the offseason,” I teased, knowing how much my husband loved a bargain.
“I can’t wait.”
“Where do you want to go?” I asked.
“Anywhere.” He sipped his drink. “I’ll go anywhere with you, baby.” The words were more playful than hot.
Adam had protested after hearing our plans to travel more once we became empty nesters. “Why are you guys going to start doing all of the fun stuff after we leave?”
“That’s the point, son.” Ali had playfully wrapped Adam in a headlock, which the boy easily twisted out of. “We put in the time raising you and your sister. Now it’s time for Mom and me to have some fun.”
“It’ll be just the two of us,” I said now to Ali as we lounged on the beach. “Like in the beginning.”
