Mary hesitated and realized her neighbor was getting teary-eyed.
That was one of the first things she struggled with after her divorce - the silence. Karen wasn’t divorced, but her husband’s absence had to feel the same. There was a sudden abrupt, resonating desolation, where you are having to be satisfied with being alone… and failing… and it was so hard.
It took her about a month to realize that solitude wasn’t the enemy, but rather a chance to connect with who she was as a person once again.
“Sorry,” Karen sniffed, smiling nervously. “I just hate saying ‘goodbye’and…”
“If we can just stay off to the side, I’ll go… but if my ex-husband shows up? I’m out of there.”
“Why would he show up?”
“Showed up today at work,” she grimaced.
“He’s still coming around?”
“It’s getting less and less, thank goodness.”
“Agreed,” Karen said firmly. “But if you see your ex point him out, because I’ve got a couple of friends that would thrash him in a heartbeat. The people we are seeing tonight do not tolerate threats at all, and are very protective. It’s like a big family.”
“Then why am I going?” Mary laughed easily.
“Because you are my sister-from-another-mister… and my friend,” Karen smiled, looping her arm. “C’mon.”
“Alright, alright…” Mary smiled. “But no more setting me up, okay? Just let me enjoy the evening and breathe for a moment. Besides, my uniform isn’t a way to meet people, and I’m not wearing a lick of makeup.”
“No setups, I promise.”
* * *
Ten minutes later,they were pulling into a gravel parking lot that was lined with cars along a fence line. She could see the bonfire illuminated in the steel drum in the distance, and the airplanes farther down the runway by the massive hangar.
There were people standing around, smiling and talking. A man was hovering over a grill, serving up something on plates, and a cooler waited on the ground near a bunch of folding chairs that weren’t being used yet.
“Oh shoot – did we need chairs?”
“I’ve got two in the trunk,” Karen smiled. “I’ve been before, but usually I’m with someone. I guess I still get intimidated sometimes, because it seems like the group keeps growing and growing. Lots of new faces in the last few months.”
“We could just ditch it and go get a barbecue sandwich or something…”
“I told Jace I would go,” Karen admitted. “He worries because he doesn’t want me to be missing him and said to fill my time. Besides, I’ve already had three text messages from the girls asking if I was going to be here soon.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Karen smiled. “I’m sure I’m being silly, but they are really good people. My sister is already here, so you’ll get to meet Emily, too.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister?”
“A brother too. My sister married Jace’s friend, X-Ray, about a month ago and has been googly-eyed ever since. My brother is a firefighter in Ember Creek, one town over.”
“Well, thank you for not foisting me off onto your brother.”
“You do not want to deal with Chase,” Karen smiled. “He’s got this ex-wife who is almost as bad as your ex-husband.”
“Nooooo thank you,” Mary muttered openly, and looked up to see Glory walking towards them. “Oh wow, your friend is here too?”
“Her husband is one of the pilots… C’mon and I’ll introduce you.”
Mary got out of the car nervously and smoothed her hand over her blue polo shirt that had the bakery’s emblem embroidered on the chest, feeling self-conscious. She probably should have changed, but she also wasn’t planning on staying long either.