Free Love From the Ashes by Cheryl Persons Page B

Christmas and then he was gone.”  She wiped away a tear.  To her shock, Thomas reached out and grabbed her hand.  She stared at their hands touching, but neither one pulled away.  “It was hard, but I made it my mission to make sure that I got my education and did the things that we once were going to do.”
    “I can’t even imagine.”
    She looked at him and slowly pulled her hand away.  “What do you mean you can’t imagine?  You lost your wife; that has to have been even harder.”
    His expression remained thoughtful.  “ You were bound to your twin for 19 years.”
    “I never told anyone this story.”
    “Not even…” she shook her head to answer the question.  “I’m glad you felt you could share.  I’m assuming he died in active duty?”
    Rebecca slowly shook her head.  “That’s the thing; we don’t know how he died.   The first time we were told that he was killed when he walked in the path of a bomb.  Then we were told that he wasn’t killed in fighting; his jeep went off a bridge.  Then they said that there wasn’t enough evidence to prove what happened.  There were supposedly no witnesses and so it ended up being a mystery.  One that I could never figure out.”
    “What was his name?”
    “Robbie.”  She looked down at her food and swirled the mashed potatoes around the plate.  “I have to admit; it was nice talking about him.  Thanks for listening.”
    “Anytime.”
    She smiled at that; it was nice talking to someone that would listen.  “Anything else you want to hear about, before I pass the test?”
    He laughed.  “ You can tell me anything you want to, but for me to trust you…I don’t think so.”
    “Do you want me to give you my blood type; it’s A+.   The good thing is you’re a police officer; you could do a background check.”
    “I don’t think that we’ll be necessary.  I think that they’ll get along nicely with you.”
    “I could give you references; if you would like.”
    He looked like he was thinking.  For a moment she thought he was going to take her up on it, but then he laughed.  “We’ll just believe that I’ve already done all that.  I would like to take you up on the offer.  It was really nice of you; thank you.”
    “It is my pleasure.”  They finished their food and laughed about the different stories she had about her past students.  “You would be surprised with what they try to get away with.”
    “I can’t imagine anyone wanting to prank you.  You aren’t like any teacher I had in school.”
    “Is that a good thing; or, bad thing?”  She watched him.  She knew that it was coming very close to flirting, but it was too late.
    “Believe me; it’s a very good thing.”  He winked at her.  He seemed almost more surprised than she was.  She knew she was probably blushing, but she didn’t really care.  “I could give you a few stories about my relationship with my children too.”
    “I’m sure you could.”  She replied with a laugh.  “You’ll have to give me some examples some time.”
    He nodded.  “We’ll save that for another night.”
    She nearly jumped with excitement that he would consider going out again.  “Right; it’s getting late.”  She couldn’t believe that it was going on 8:30.  They had been talking for nearly 2 ½ hours and she felt like she could talk for at least 2 ½ more.
    She reached for purse and he put out his hand.  “I got the tab.”
    “That’s not necessary.”  She pulled out some money, but he wasn’t paying attention.  She jumped up and followed him to the cashier.  “You don’t have to do this.”
    “I know, but I want to.  I enjoyed myself; besides, the whole point was to pay you back for taking my kids to Cassie.”
    She rolled her eyes.  She didn’t need payment for that.  “I didn’t mind doing that; you definitely didn’t owe me dinner.”
    “I got it; just smile and say thank you.”  He laughed and she put her wallet away.
    When he