We were all seated for dinner but my mind was somewhere else. Samuel and Mason had arrived and after introductions, we all sat down to alfredo. It was quiet at first. My head was filled with questions about the mysterious texts I kept getting. I didn’t want to alarm anyone, especially because they weren’t even threatening. But I was also sort of weirded out. Emma cleared her throat and it snapped me back. I realized I was the link here. My dinner guests didn’t know one another.

“So, Samuel, Delilah tells me you met at a diner?” Emma asked. I could always count on her to break the tension.

“I’d hardly call it a meeting. We ran into each other. Literally,” he said, laughing, as he looked at me.

His fondness for making me uncomfortable was getting out of hand. I was definitely going to talk to him tonight. He needed to know we could only be friends. He needed to know I was not what he was looking for and never could be.

Emma turned her attention to the little boy who was swirling a noodle around his fork. “Mason, what grade are you in?”

“Second. With Ms. Jones and my best friend Caleb.” Mason smiled big and bright.

His innocence poured out with his response and it made me smile. And that made his dad smile.

Samuel and David settled into talking about some upcoming sports game on television this weekend and again my thoughts went to the texts I was receiving. Most people didn’t even know where I was. I hadn’t told anyone or made any grand announcement about moving. I never even told my agent where I was. So if someone knew I was here, they had been keeping tabs on me for a while. I started to get this uneasy feeling in my stomach. I found myself recounting steps, trying to remember if I ever noticed anyone suspicious around. Nothing was coming to mind. In the past, I’d never had any issues with my readers or anyone else for that matter.

Emma helped me clear the table and get the dishes in the dishwasher while Mason checked out the squirrels in the backyard. The guys sat on the couch and continued their conversation about sport things. I would never understand their obsession with sports.

“So, what’s going on with you guys?” Emma asked me in a hushed voice.

“Nothing!” I quietly snapped back.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. As a matter of fact, I need to talk to him about it tonight. I just want to make sure he knows where I stand. I can’t be getting mixed up in any kind of romance. And besides, I’m no good for him or anyone for that matter,” I said.

“You hush! You deserve happiness just like everyone else, Delilah. You can’t live in fear of it.”

Perhaps she was right but I didn’t think I was living in fear of happiness. I was living in fear of all the things that happened instead of happiness. “Anyway, I’m just not ready,” I said, settling it.

Emma rolled her eyes at me and dried her hands. She hated when I was stubborn, which was almost all the time. In truth, I knew she was just looking out for me but I wouldn’t budge on this.

Emma and David said their goodbyes a few minutes later, which left me sitting on the couch with Samuel while Mason played a game on his tablet in the chair. I got us some tea to sip. I really wanted wine but I thought it would set the wrong tone for the discussion I needed to have with Samuel.

“So now that we’re almost alone, I really just wanted to say, I mean, what I needed to tell you is, um, well, I just don’t want you to get the wrong impression here. All I have to offer you is friendship. I’m not ready for anything more and I’m no good for anyone right now,” I said.

Samuel tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. His fingertip brushed the top of my ear and my face was suddenly warm. This would be much easier if he didn’t do that sort of thing.

“The last guy must have really done a number on you,” he said.

“You have no idea,” I said, backing slightly away from him. This is the closest I had been to a man since my husband. I mean, ex-husband.

“Tell me,” he said.

“Oh, I don’t know that I’ll ever be ready for that,” I sighed.

“I can see your sadness,” he said. “I can see you’ve been through something that wounded you. You wear it in your eyes and around your mouth. And all I’m saying is you don’t have to anymore.”

If I could ever think of a moment I was speechless, it was right then. And so he went on.

“But, look, I understand. I know what it’s like to have this pain inside you and not be ready to put it behind you just yet. And so, if you want to be friends, we’ll be friends. That’s all right with me. For now.” He gave me a smile.

“Okay. Good,” I managed. I was still in shock from all he said and how true it was. I didn’t know I was so transparent. Or maybe he was just hyper aware. I don’t know which would make me feel better.

“Well, we better get going. Gotta get Mason ready for bed and whatnot,” Samuel said.

I walked them to the door and gave Mason a fist bump. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“I certainly hope so,” Samuel said.

And they were off down the road. I watched them for a moment. Samuel was holding Mason’s hand and saying something to him I couldn’t hear. Mason was looking up at him with a smile. The whole scene was pretty adorable. It made me ache for things. Like so many other times, my hand instinctively wrapped around my center. I was just hoping he hadn’t noticed that little habit. Ughhhhhh. I needed a shower. I needed to just relax for a bit. Zone out.

I walked back toward my bedroom and started to pull my shirt off up over my head. I heard the faint ding of my phone I left in the living room. I paused and turned to look back down the hall toward it. Somehow I just knew. I knew it wasn’t Emma or my mother or my agent. I knew it wasn’t anyone I knew. But it was someone who knew me, somehow, in some way.