"I'm getting married?" Letty's voice chirped exuberantly through my phone.

The shock drove through with such force that the phone slipped from its spot tucked between my ear and shoulder, clattering to the table below. "Oh shit," I announced as I snapped it up.

"Mom, why aren't you using the headphones I got you? It's so much better for your neck," my daughter chided.

"It's not that I keep losing them, Letty. It's that they keep running away from me. Last night, one committed suicide with a leap from my ear into the garbage disposal. Technology literally revolts against me," I explained.

"Mom, seriously?" Letty sighed.

"Now, wait. You're what?" I prodded again, both out of my hope to avoid another technology lecture, as well as hoping to clarify what I had clearly misheard. My only daughter, the closest being to me, could not be getting married. She just graduated college four months ago and, at the time, had no partner. There is no way that four months, and one road trip that made me stay awake each month checking my phone tracker on her, could possibly have ended in a fiancé.

"I'm getting married! You are going to love him," Letty paused for a moment. "He hates technology, too!"

"Wait, what? When? Who? How? What?" I stammered.

"It's going to be great. We are going to be back in Connecticut in two days, and we'll all meet up. You are going to love him. If you can believe it, he grew up about half an hour from us in Huntsville! What a small world, right? I think that is why we clicked so much. We just have so much in common..."

Letty continued on about her soon-to-be-husband. I should have been listening. I wanted to listen, but one mention of Huntsville pulled my mind back over twenty years to a grimy garage and Jack. Even in memories, he made me blush.

"Mom? MOM?" Letty yelled into the phone.

"Sorry, I dropped the phone again. What were you saying?" I covered for my lack of attention.

"Are you free for dinner on Friday? Bobby and I were thinking we could all have dinner: you, me, Bobby, and his dad," Letty explained.

"Dinner with you and Bobby, Friday." I tried listing the major points to focus my mind. "Friday," I said again before snapping out of my trance. "Of course." My voice rose with the realization of what was actually happening in the present. My daughter, my only child, was getting married. "Of course, I want to meet Bobby! I can't wait!"

"I am really excited, Mom. I know you are going to love him as much as I do!" She cooed.

"How could I not? I've always been impressed with your taste!" I admired back.

It was true. Letty always approached decisions with an equal mix of heart and head. It was a trait I envied and knew she got from her father. Lucas has always been level-headed. Even when the cancer hit, his practical side took over. He ensured all the proper paperwork was in order and quizzed me on various bank accounts and passwords. In many ways, despite him being the one who was ill, he still took care of me. I tell myself it is what he wanted. He was the caretaker, solid husband, and loving father. We had a wonderful life together, even if the romance had not been that of Danielle Steel novels.

"Mom? MOM? Seriously, what is wrong with you today?" Letty groaned.

"Sorry, honey. Friday. I will see you Friday," I confirmed.

"At Anjon's... at 7:30 pm," Letty reminded.

"Anjon's, 7:30 pm, Friday. Got it," I restated.

"I'll text you tomorrow... and Friday," Letty promised.

"And I will be at Anjon's at 7:30 pm on Friday. I can't wait to see you, honey. It's been too long since you were home."

"I love you too, Mom," Letty giggled.

As promised, Letty texted both Thursday and Friday to remind me of the dinner. I wasn't as scattered as it made it seem, but when Letty got nervous, she had to have everything in order. I was happy to comply with soothing her nerves. I even texted her outfit options to ensure I didn't embarrass her by showing up in overalls when I should wear an evening dress.

"The simple black dress is perfect, but wear a sweater. You always get cold in restaurants," Letty texted back.

"Yes, Mom," I teased back.

"Remember, 7:30 pm!" She added.

I arrived fifteen minutes early just to show Letty that her message of importance was heard loud and clear. I was the first to arrive. Anjon's was a beautifully rustic Italian restaurant that hadn't changed in thirty years. I smiled as I looked around the kitschy restaurant with Chianti bottles still sitting at the center of each table. The scents of fresh garlic knots and rich marinara wafted through the air. Table after table celebrated life events big and small: birthdays, first dates, anniversaries. So much life happening in one small space. My mind slipped back to my junior prom. Leo Spinelli brought me here and spilled red sauce all over my lavender dress. I was certain that nothing worse would ever happen to me in my entire life. I envied that me. I longed for the innocence.

"Mom!" Letty's excited voice cut through the revelry of the restaurant. "This is Bobby!"

A tall man with pale skin that almost glowed in the restaurant's candlelight reached a hand out to me. "Hello, Mrs. Turner, please to meet you." His deep brown eyes dipped slightly as our hands connected.

"Bobby, I am so pleased to meet you!" I exuded, trying to coax the clearly shy man from his shell. He smiled a small smile that revealed a single dimple on his left cheek.

My eyes scoured over him. He was so familiar, but also not. I couldn't place what my mind was searching for as it continued to devour his features, his posture.

It wasn't until a deep voice came from behind me that my mind clicked.

"Bobby," the low voice echoed. It was a wonder it was heard at all, mixed in with the chatter of the restaurant.

"Hey, Dad," Bobby greeted with a relieved smile. "This is Letty and her mom, Mrs. Turner." Bobby stumbled over my name as he realized he only knew me as Mrs. Turner.

"Letty, pleased to meet you and..."

I reluctantly turned to meet Jack's eyes.

An ONC beginning. Are you interested in reading more of Angie and Jack's rekindled love? Will their second chance work out, or crash and burn like it did twenty years ago?

Let me know in the comments!

WC 1077