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By Root 996 0

email and phone calls, she felt she’d slowly go insane. Or maybe not so slowly! She’d forgotten what it was like to fall in love. She’d been a college student when she met and married Jim. He’d been in the air force at the time and was about to be discharged. Eager to get on with an airline, Jim had set his sights on living in the Pacific Northwest. Once she’d visited the Seattle area, Shirley had agreed. This would be a lovely place to live and raise their children.

After Jim had been hired by Alaska Airlines, they’d settled in Cedar Cove and turned the basement of their large sprawling home into a studio for Shirley. She would’ve been content to remain exactly where she was for the rest of her days. Until the accident…

And, even then, she couldn’t imagine moving. But she’d met Larry, and that changed everything.

“When are you two getting married?” Tanni asked, breaking into her musings.

“Married!” Shirley gasped. “We hardly know each other.”

“Oh, come on, Mom. You haven’t been yourself ever since the day you first laid eyes on him.”

No use denying the obvious. “I know.”

“It’s not like I haven’t noticed. You’re crazy about Larry.”

“True.”

“So what’s holding you back?”

“Well, for one thing, Larry hasn’t asked.”

“Oh?” Tanni made it sound like she had insider information.

Shirley was tempted to ask if her daughter knew something she didn’t. Larry and Tanni chatted frequently, although she assumed her daughter had been looking for information about Shaw, the boy she’d once dated. The boy Larry had assisted in securing a place at the art institute in San Francisco.

“Has…has he mentioned that he’s going to ask me to marry him?” Shirley didn’t make eye contact. She felt guilty for even asking.

“No.”

So much for that.

“But if he did propose, what would you say?” Tanni asked.

Her daughter was teasing her. Playing along, she shrugged as if the question was of no real concern. “I’d probably tell him it was too soon and we should date a year or two first.”

Tanni burst out laughing. “You’re joking.”

She was, but that was irrelevant. Larry hadn’t proposed and, even if he did, it would be far too soon to make such a major decision. Besides, it wasn’t as if she could just move to California. Tanni had a year of high school left, and Shirley’s home and life were here in Cedar Cove.

“I’m not joking,” Shirley said. “What are your plans this weekend?” she asked, blatantly changing the subject.

“I thought I’d get together with Kristen and then we might hang with Jeremy.”

At one time Kristen had been Tanni’s sworn enemy. Shirley hadn’t understood her daughter’s intense dislike of the other girl. She suspected it was because Kristen was blonde, beautiful and extremely popular. Boys were drawn to her in a way Tanni seemed to find foreign. Shirley wondered if her daughter resented that she’d only had one boyfriend in her whole life and that relationship was unraveling. Tanni had felt powerless; she hadn’t wanted to lose Shaw, although in retrospect it was the best thing for both of them. They were too young and far too emotionally dependant on each other.

“Are you and Jeremy an item now or—”

“Mom,” Tanni cut her off. “First of all, item is totally dated. Also, we’ve talked a couple of times and that’s it. Don’t go making more out of it than there is, okay?” Her voice rang with irritation, a tone that was familiar from the weeks and months following Jim’s death.

Shirley instantly backed away from the sensitive topic. “Miranda and I were talking about seeing a movie.”

At the mention of Shirley’s best friend, Tanni grinned.

“What’s so funny?” Shirley asked.

“Miranda.”

“What about her?” She and Miranda had been friends for years. Miranda was a widow, too; she’d been married to an artist, which was one reason she understood Shirley’s artistic temperament. Shirley had fun with Miranda and appreciated her encouragement, her loyalty and support. Miranda could be opinionated and headstrong, but that didn’t bother Shirley. If they didn’t agree, Shirley had no problem either arguing with Miranda or ignoring her views.

“I think