I am not Irish or known for luck, but we all have blind squirrel moments. One of mine was finding someone new after losing my wife to cancer. By that, I don't mean a piece of ass, but a life partner. The best thing is how she feels the same way.
Our lives couldn't be more different; I was a California transplant who started our very young, on my own since I was sixteen. She was from the Midwest and lived her whole life there, attending school, college, and working, but she is now retired. I wouldn't say I didn't have friends, but I was amazed at how many Dee had.
We had been together for almost three years, and I had met most of them by then. They were all considered friends, too, and there was no rotten apple in the bunch. Yet there were a few names I had heard of but never a face to place in them. This story is about one of them.
I noticed that when speaking of Sally, even in mixed company, Dee used the term "my friend." I took that as meaning that maybe she wasn't generally known by the group, and that's fine. Then, when Dee mentioned how Sally was coming to town, I figured that was the right time to ask more about her.
It was known that Dee invited a "friend" to join her and her previous husbands, but the conversation never went past that. Now it dawned on me how Sally was that friend. I did not assume anything from her visit, but I must say there was a high level of curiosity about her. I knew better than to dig deep and ask questions, so all I asked was if she ever mentioned us. This brought an "I don't think so Dee said, maybe in passing." So I cast aside what little hope I had of a three-peat. Dee rambled off a good amount of planned activities for when she got here, including all-girl things, and that's fine, too. I had no problem with two old friends and had limited time to catch up; no third wheel was needed.
After three days, Dee asked me why I hadn't come over, and she insisted I do. She told me what they had planned for the following day, and I offered to take them to dinner afterward. As their last activity and dinner time were close, I offered to pick them up, the introduction, and whatever could come with dinner.