Chapter 69

I sent back, sure, right before my current supervisor popped her head around the corner, asking me to help unload a truck on the dock. I quickly put away the phone and headed out back.

As I worked, I thought briefly about my conversation with Ry. What were the odds that I would run across him again, let alone that he would even remember me? As drunk as I’d been, it was the memory of his kindness, his soothing voice, the apology at the pain of entry, and the way he’d hugged me as I’d cried afterward that had stayed with me all these years. I wanted a man like that in my life.

I hadn’t been touched in that way since then, and it had made the loneliness well up inside me to the point of tears. He’d been a sweet man, and the way Ry had spoken to me today told me it hadn’t been an act to comfort the “Nervous Nellie” virgin. I didn’t see a hint of interest in his eyes, but he was sympathetic, and I could appreciate that.