by H. M. Bailey
She looked at him and his cheeks turned red with embarrassment. “No, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant. I’m not happy that you lost your husband and can’t begin to imagine how painful that must have been. It was a poor choice of words. I guess I should have said that I was, um, relieved. Relieved because that first time I saw you, you took my breath away.”
Hannah laughed nervously and tossed some suds at him. He smiled and went on, “I’m serious; you really did. You were so beautiful, and funny, and I thought that you’d be someone I’d love to get to know better.”
She started to speak but he interrupted her, his eyes roving her face to sense her reaction. “Now, please stop me if I’m out of line, you don’t owe me an explanation because I have no idea if you’re dating anyone or if you even date at all yet…”
He was tripping over his words and rambling on and she couldn’t help but giggle at how adorable it was. “You’re not out of line. I…I haven’t dated yet. It’s been over three years now but I know that Michael would have wanted to be happy and live a full life. I just haven’t been trying to meet anyone, I’ve been happy in my little cocoon out here in the country, safe from the dating life. It’s been a long time.”
“Well, actually, I was wondering if we could do dinner again. But just the two of us next time. And I’m afraid that I’m not the amazing cook that your mother is, so we’d have to go out. Do you like Italian?”
“Yes, I love Italian. And yes, I’d love to go out to dinner with you.”
“Great! Are you free on Saturday?”
Hannah nodded her head.
“Then it’s a date! Saturday it is.”
Hannah couldn’t be sure but she could have sworn she heard whispered cheers coming from the next room. She was pretty sure that they were being eavesdropped on.
Even being spied on couldn’t diminish her excitement, though. She was glad that fate-and Shadow-had brought Ben into her life. The thought of dating, even someone as attractive and kindhearted as Ben, was still a bit unnerving to her. But she was confident in her decision. She’d take it day by day, keeping in mind that after the dark nights of life, God always makes the sun rise again and had that He had wonderful things in store for her. And in that knowledge, Hannah would always find hope.
THE END
**Dear Reader, thank you for purchasing this Christmas story, I hope that you enjoyed it. This author’s hope is that this holiday season finds you happy, healthy and that the year ahead may bring many blessings into your life.
H.M. Bailey