“If I never see another sunset again, that one would be worth it,” Kate whispered.
A chill shot through me when I came back to reality, and realized I was standing out there with no shoes and a short-sleeved T-shirt. I hugged myself and rubbed my hands briskly down my arms before ushering us both inside.
“Okay, I’m frozen now.” My teeth chattered.
“Me too,” Kate agreed.
We stepped back inside, and I reached for the wine bottle. “Well, hopefully this will warm us up.” Happy to find it was a twist off when I removed the foil, I poured us each a glass and handed Kate hers. She held it up in a toast just as I was about to take a sip of mine.
“To many more beautiful sunsets.”
“To many more.” I smiled as we clinked our glasses together.
After we finished eating and polishing off the bottle of wine we began to get silly as we watched reruns of Sex in the City in German. Kate grabbed the makeup bag she had come with and pulled out a bottle of nail polish. “Will the smell bother you if I just touch up this one nail?”
“Not at all.”
She took me off guard when she grabbed my hand and examined my nails. “Jillian, I’m shocked that you don’t do your nails.” Little did she know up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t even bother doing my hair.
“I just never really got into my nails. Probably because I could never be bothered with the upkeep.”
“Nonsense. Your nails are for you. You can have perfect hair, flawless makeup, and the most stylish clothes, but you can’t see how any of that looks for yourself unless you have a mirror. But your nails, you can always look at them and see something pretty without needing to see your reflection.”
I stared down at my stubby nails. They were like a garden that hadn’t been tended to in years. Kate pulled two bottles of polish from her bag. The first was a bright red shade that looked like the color she was wearing. The second was a pretty purple. “Now which will it be? Red Heads Ahead or Nice Set of Pipes?”
“Hmm…” I pondered for a quick second. The red was nice and festive for Christmas, but the purple reminded me of one of the many shades in the sunset we had just seen. “Nice Set of Pipes,” I decided.
“Nice Set of Pipes it is!” Kate shook the bottle briskly and unscrewed the top.
I looked down at my fingers as she began to paint and was happy that I had chosen to wear my wedding band on a chain around my neck instead of my finger. I didn’t feel like answering any questions Kate might have as to where my husband was if she had seen it on my finger. I felt like I was back in high school at a sleepover with one of my friends. Conversation came so easy with Kate and so did laughter. It felt good to be getting so much enjoyment out of something so simple. We talked about our jobs. She talked about her son. We talked about places we had traveled to and places we would like to travel to.
“They look great!” I said, examining my nails after she finished. “Guess I’m going to have to make sure I keep up on them once I get home.”
“Most definitely!” she said, opening up the other bottle of polish and getting to work on her own nails. “So, did Theo smoke at all when you were with him the other day?” she asked as she blew on her nail.
“Umm...” I stammered.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She shook her head. “He’s so hardheaded.”
“Please don’t tell him I told you. I kind of promised him I wouldn’t say anything to you.”
“You didn’t say anything. Your face did. It’s not like it’s hard to tell. I can smell it on his clothes.”
“You have to admit, he is pretty amusing, though. He told me he has three women he’s stringing along.”
“Is that all?” She laughed.
I began to think about all the men out there. Not that I was in the market for dating, but what would happen if and when I was? Was that what I had to choose from? Womanizers who had already done the marriage thing and weren’t looking for a commitment. I had the perfect guy. He was adorable with a personality to match, and I threw it all away, long before he even passed away. I disposed of him and our marriage like a spoiled child who didn’t get her way the moment things didn’t go as planned. I would never in a million years find another Evan. Tears trickled down my face, and I tried to wipe them away without them being noticed, but it was too late. Kate averted her gaze from her nails to me.
“I’m so sorry. I’ve just been an emotional mess lately. Must be getting close to that time of the month.” I swiped my forearm across my eyes, trying to pull it together. But when Kate covered my hand with hers, I couldn’t keep it in any longer. “I was just thinking I had such a great guy, and I lost him. We were married for nine years, and I treated him so badly the last few years. I didn’t realize it until it was too late, and now he’s dead.” I sobbed.
“Shh…” Kate flung her arm around my shoulders, and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Jillian.” Her voice so sincere. Over
