me know if you want me to pick you up for the cookout.”
“I will. Thanks, Mia. It was good to get away for the night. This was fun.”
“It was. And you know you’re welcome anytime.”
Chapter 8
Kate kissed Jack goodbye as she headed toward the door Sunday morning. She had fifteen minutes to meet Sam at The Bean, and it took ten minutes to get there, so she should be fine.
“Don’t forget, we have Will’s cookout later. We should head over around four.”
“Got it. Have fun on your coffee date,” Jack teased her.
“Very funny. I’ll be home in about an hour.”
Jack was being pretty understanding, considering that she was meeting a former boyfriend for coffee. But she assured him it was just meeting an old friend who was married with kids. Plus, Sam knew she was engaged. Kate knew not all guys would be as calm. And truth be told, Kate knew she wouldn’t be thrilled if one of Jack’s old girlfriends surfaced and wanted to meet up after not seeing him in years. She wasn’t sure she would have been as understanding as Jack.
When she arrived at The Bean, it wasn’t too busy. She looked around and then she saw him—the tall, familiar figure with the thick, blonde hair that he always wore a little on the long side. Sam smiled when he saw her and stood. He was a little fuller than she last remembered, and he had some fine laugh lines now around his mouth and eyes, but they looked good on him.
“Kate! You haven’t changed a bit. You look great.”
“It’s good to see you, Sam. You look the same, too.”
They both moved towards each other at the same time for a quick hug.
“What do you want to drink? I’ll get our coffees,” he asked.
“Just black for me.”
“Save our seats. I’ll be right back.”
Kate settled at the small table by a window where Sam had been waiting. In just a few minutes, he was back with two paper cups of coffee and handed one to her.
“So, fill me in on everything. You’re living on Nantucket year-round now?”
Kate launched into what she’d been up to since college, living in Boston, working at Boston Style magazine until it was sold and she was laid off. Then moving home to Nantucket, writing and publishing her first mystery, doing some freelance magazine work and falling in love with Jack.
“And so, we got engaged. I’m planning the wedding now.”
“Congratulations. How’s that coming along?”
Kate made a face. “Truthfully, I hate every minute of it, and I even have a wonderful wedding planner helping. I’ve just never been a big wedding kind of girl.”
“No, you never were,” he agreed. “I’m sure once everything is decided and the big day comes, you’ll have a blast.”
Kate grinned. “You’re probably right. I wish I could skip ahead to that day. But enough about me. What have you been up to? You mentioned that you married and had kids. Tell me about them, and about your wife, how did you meet?”
Sam took a deep breath and his smile faded. Kate leaned forward, sensing suddenly that this might not be a happy story.
“I met Mary in college, sophomore year, and that was kind of it for both of us. We both fell hard fast and knew we didn’t want to date anyone else, ever. We got married six months after graduating. And everything was great for ten years. Except that we couldn’t seem to get pregnant. We tried everything. Finally, when we came to terms that it just wasn’t going to happen for us, Mary suddenly found herself pregnant—and with twins. The doctor said that happens sometimes, when you stop trying and just relax.”
“Wow, and twins. Did you have more after that?”
Sam shook his head slowly and Kate was immediately sorry she’d asked the question.
“No, just the girls, Becky and Sarah. They’re seven now. A few years after they were born, Mary found a lump and was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. We thought we could beat it. She did great for a few years, but a little over a year ago she had a bad cough, like a bronchitis that she couldn’t shake. They did a chest x-ray, and that’s when we learned that it had spread to her lungs and her liver. She died five months later.”
“Oh, Sam, I’m so sorry. How are you and the kids coping?”
“It’s been hard, for all of us. I took the kids to a therapist that was recommended, and I think