I let my hand drift to Hannah’s shoulder. Her face was so pale that her freckles emerged like the first stars at twilight. “Can we go some place and talk?” I asked.
She nodded. Without a word, we headed out of the crowded club and toward the parking lot. There was no hesitation when I opened the passenger door of my Corvette, the epitome of a fighter pilot cliché.
As I shifted out of park, it dawned on me that I probably shouldn’t take this exquisite creature to my trashed room.
“Uh, it won’t look that cool if I take you to my—”
“My apartment at Eagle Trace then.”
I nodded and headed toward the front gate. “Yeah, cool. Oh and hey, despite the messed up thing I am now, I am a gentleman.”
“It doesn’t matter. Levi just told me to take you home and tell you our story.”
“Levi?” I raised one eyebrow. Was this chick nuts? She had a dude at home?
“My husband, Levi. I told you they blew him up in Afghanistan last summer. Friendly fire, we all know it but Big Blue denies it, of course.”
“Yeah, I heard about that.”
“Then I’m right?” I could see her staring at me in the dashboard lights.
“Probably. I honestly don’t know, Hannah. Shit gets tricky out there.” We pulled into the gate, and she directed me toward her unit.
“Do you want a drink?” she asked from across the tiny kitchen island.
I felt my hand shake, my mouth salivate. There was almost nothing in the world I wanted more than whisky at that moment. Almost nothing.
“No, I’m good. Coffee maybe? I feel like it’s going to be a long night.”
She glanced around the tiny space of her apartment, as if our dead spouses might magically appear. When no apparitions surfaced, Hannah opened a drawer and popped a coffee pod into the maker.
“I don’t have any cream or sugar or whatever people add. I don’t really drink it. This was a wedding gift.”
“Just black. Thanks.”
“Does he talk to you a lot? Levi?”
She stared into the stream of the dark roast gurgling into the mug.
“Never before. It was the day you bought the rose; that morning. He told me it was time to let Rachel go and live my life.”
I shuddered a little at hearing her name from Hannah’s mouth. She handed me the steaming cup and gestured toward her small sofa. After setting the coffee cup down on a side table, I reached a hand toward her. I suspected it wasn’t exactly going to be a night of romance, but I needed to touch her.
Nervously, she took my hand and let me pull her close on the sofa. “Okay,” I said with a loud exhale. “So your Rachel? Tell me about her again.”
Her head nuzzled into my chest, as if seeking safety. “Levi’s mother.”
“And the roses…?”
“I made the first one as a gift to her when Levi and I were first dating. My own family is, well, a story for another time. But Levi’s mom was the closest thing to a mother I’ve ever had.”
“Was?”
“She has Alzheimer’s.”
“Ah, that’s right. I’m sorry.”
“She doesn’t even know who I am now.”