Twenty Years Later (NOW PUBLISHED!)

Three

"Hey," he said, smiling as I approached.

"Hey." Why was I so out of breath?

I sat down across from him, the morning sun blaring through the window, illuminating our faces. His nose looked like it had been broken at some point, and he had a small scar above his forehead, all just adding to his sexiness.

God, why did men have to age so well?

"You look the exact same as you did in high school," he said.

Really? "Thank you?"

He laughed. "That's supposed to be a compliment."

"Oh, well, thanks then." I paused. "I was pretty dorky in high school, so I wasn't sure."

His laugh rang out again. "You were not dorky. And you're certainly not dorky now."

That laugh was contagious, and I felt myself relax just a little. But the teenager in my mind still screamed, "I'm having coffee with Alex Hernandez!"

"So," he said, observing me over the rim of his coffee cup. "You'll go with me to the reunion?"

Inhaling a deep breath, I answered, "Sure."

His eyes narrowed. "And why don't you sound very enthusiastic about it?"

I hesitated a moment, thinking about how to articulate my fears.

"Is it because you don't want to go?" he asked. "Or is it because you don't want to go with me?"

Be still my beating heart. Alex Hernandez thought I didn't want to go with him? Oh, the irony. As he watched me, I tried to conjure up some kind of answer in my swirling head. "Well, first of all, it's not you. I just..."

"You just... what?"

"Well, it's... I haven't been to a reunion yet. And I really never planned on going to one."

"Why not?"

How on earth could I explain it to him? Could Mr. Hot and Popular ever really fathom what I was feeling?

"I guess... I just think being around those people from high school would take me right back to that place. You know?"

"What place?" he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

Did he really not understand? "That completely awkward insecure teenage place where I used to dwell in high school."

Now his face registered surprise. "You felt insecure in high school?"

I felt my eyes widen. "Yeah. Just a little. Didn't you?"

He looked out the window as he thought. "Hmm. I guess." Then those eyes returned to mine. "But you're not insecure now..."

"Right. That's true." He did have a good point. I could do this. I would do this.

"Sorry," he interrupted my little internal pep talk. "I should have asked if your husband was in town to see if he wanted to go too."

"Oh," I said. It was kind of strange the way he had said that... like he knew I had been married. But maybe it was just that I still wore my wedding band. "Well, my husband actually passed away four years ago."

He stared at me for a moment, then finally said, "I'm really sorry to hear that."

I released a deep breath I hadn't been aware I was holding inside. "Thanks."

He played with his coffee lid for a second, then looked at me again. "That must have been really hard."

"It was." It still is, I wanted to add. Being a single mom was incredibly challenging. Going it alone truly sucked.

Those brown eyes stared into mine, seeming to reach into my depths. "Do you mind if I ask how he died?"

I shook my head. "I don't mind... He had something called an aortic dissection."

"Oh, that's awful."

Nodding, I took a sip of my drink as I felt a lump develop in my throat. This was something I wasn't used to talking about anymore. Everyone around me already knew, and I didn't have to tell the whole terrible story.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm really sorry," he said.

"No. No. It's okay." Those eyes showed so much concern that I found myself wanting to share it with him. "When I was two months pregnant, he needed emergency open-heart surgery. And things... well, the recovery was rough, but it seemed like he would pull through. But then, three weeks after our daughter was born, he had another emergency. And that time..." I had a tough time getting the words out. "That time, he didn't make it."

His breath came out in a whoosh. "That's unbelievable. I can't even imagine how hard that must have been... must still be. What was his name?"

"Blake." He nodded, and I decided it was time to change the subject before I embarrassed myself with tears. "What about you? What's your situation?"

Leaning back in his chair, he sighed, "Well, I kind of have a, um, complicated situation, I guess."

Hmm, okay. I wasn't sure what to say. I was beyond curious but didn't really want to pry. "Oh, okay."

He smiled. "Not sure you want to ask?"

Was he reading my mind or what? "Just don't want to be too nosy."

"You're not being nosy," he said after taking another sip of his coffee. "So... I have a daughter too. She just turned one."

"Aww, that's such a cute age."

His eyes lit up. "She's the light of my life."

That totally made my heart leap. I imagined this giant man holding his little girl, and my insides melted. And I'm sure he had a beautiful wife to complete his beautiful family. "I bet she's adorable and has you wrapped around her little finger."

He busted out laughing at that. "Definitely."

For a moment, we didn't say anything. And I didn't want to ask about his wife. But I felt so awkward because he had asked me to be his date tonight, right?

Thinking back, had he actually used the word "date"? I had been so shocked by running into him, I couldn't even remember.

"So you're probably wondering about a wife..." he said.