Page 2 of His Best Friend's Widow
Hailey forced a smile as her little family gathered around the table. She bowed her head as the kids closed their eyes, and she thanked God for their food. She didn’t say what she wanted to, though. That she was thankful that they all made it home safely to eat dinner together.
And that she would never get over that her husband hadn’t done the same.
* * *
Landon Richards was madefor this. He tapped his fingers on the boardroom table during the meeting that was lasting way beyond five o’clock. He didn’t care. This was an exciting project, and he was thrilled to be part of it. If he played his cards right, this could be the one that got him the promotion he’d been working toward for two years.
“Richards, you have the projections on the marketing budget?”
“Right here,” Landon said, reaching into the manila file folder his assistant had put the printouts in. He could feel the approval emanating from his boss from across the table. Yes, he was doing everything right. He cleared his throat and began explaining the numbers on the spreadsheet that he passed around the table. “I think the clients will be very pleased with what we’ve done. I’ve already spoken to Mr. Jenkins, and he has other projects for us when we finish this one.” Landon ran his hand over his neatly trimmed beard. It reminded him that he needed a haircut this weekend. His dark brown hair was creeping over his ears.
“Good work, Richards,” his boss said.
Landon sat back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. It was good work, and he had worked hard for it. Benton Marketing Solutions Firm was the only place Landon had worked. When he graduated from college, he thought he might be like other guys he had grown up with who stayed in their home town and worked a regular nine-to-five. But he wanted more. Sure, he still lived in Twin Creeks, but it was only a forty-five minute drive to town. Scoring a job at a large company had always been the goal, and now he was set to decide his own path if things kept going well. Moving from a junior marketing assistant up to an assistant account manager had kept him busy, but he wasn’t afraid to give even more time to move up in management. The firm had offices all over the country, and he loved the idea of traveling and living in different cities and always having a new adventure around the next corner.
When they finally wrapped up the meeting, Landon glanced at his watch. Eight-thirty. That was practically an early night. They had brought in takeout for the meeting, so now he could make it home and watch the basketball game he had set to record.
On the drive home, he watched as the big city buildings turned to more open land and then to the familiar main street lights in his small town. As much as he loved a new adventure, it would be hard to leave the only town he’d ever lived in, besides his four years of college in Nashville. There was something comforting about waving at people he knew as he drove through the main part of town. There was the local gossip mill too. He was pretty sure the older ladies were looking to set him up with a wife and convince him to settle down here.
That wasn’t part of the plan.
Sure, Landon liked kids, and he was happy for his friends who had met their soulmate and were living their own happily ever afters.
But his ever after was his career.
As he drove past the neighborhood just before his, a memory stung his conscience like a mosquito bite in the middle of July.
Kyle’s neighborhood.
How many times had he driven this road and turned down the street to his best friend’s house? If he were still here, Landon might be turning there now, late as usual, to watch the basketball game together.
But he wasn’t here. He never would be.
Just like so many times before tonight, he wondered how Hailey and the kids were doing. What if he pulled down the road and knocked on the door to check on them?
Landon grimaced. Hailey would probably shut the door in his face. No, maybe not. She didn’t know that Landon was supposed to check in on them. He had made a promise to Kyle. But he’d done a terrible job at following through on that.
He remembered Hailey’s face at the funeral. At the time, he had been too consumed with his own grief to say anything comforting, but the look on her face from that day was etched in his memory. He had told her he would be there if she needed anything. And then he went back to his own life.
Wouldn’t it be awkward for him to call her now? It had been too long to jump back in. They had all been friends at one time, but what if he was just a reminder of Kyle that she didn’t want?
No, tonight wasn’t the time. Maybe he could send her a card. Did people still do that? Surely she could use some help. Maybe a gift card for a restaurant, so she could take the kids to dinner.
That was a good idea. He could ask his assistant to do that tomorrow.
Tonight, he would just get home. It was late anyway, for most everyone else. He would try to reach out tomorrow.
Then he could be one day further from losing his best friend, and the one happy family he had known.
2
Hailey ran through the doctor’s office parking lot, stopping quickly to look both ways. She clutched each of the girls’ hands in hers. “Come on, sweeties, we have to move quickly.”
“Mama,” Ellie said around a cough, “my ear hurts.”
“I know, baby. I’m going to get you some medicine because the doctor said it’s infected. I’m so sorry it hurts.”
She had panicked when both girls woke up with fevers and coughs and called the doctor’s office as soon as it was open. The earliest appointment available was at two o’clock in the afternoon, so they had suffered through the day. It meant Hailey had to miss work too. She cringed at the thought. How many days could she miss before they fired her? She tried her best to be a good employee, but what was she supposed to do when her kids were sick?
