Chapter 2: Beginning A New Chapter

Settling in to a new town. Meeting someone new.

When I awoke the next morning, Stephanie was already in the kitchen pouring her making her breakfast.  Stephanie was only five, but she was skilled and getting her raisin bran and milk on her own.  I once told her, that if she doesn’t watch out, she was going to be a better cook than dad.  It was a joke of course, but Stephanie loved it and it obviously made her feel special.  She was of course, the most important part of my wife I had left.  So Stephanie was so very special to me. 

 

Later that morning after I showered, I took Stephanie around town to figure out where a grocery store was.  We needed a few supplies and of course, I wanted to get a lay of the land. When we finally found a Safeway, Stephanie and I made our way into the store and grabbed a basket.  Stephanie didn’t like riding in the basket anymore.  “I’m a big girl now daddy.  I don’t need to ride in the basket.” 

 

As we made our way to the cereal aisle, I told Stephanie to pick out something she wanted and toss it in the basket. At that moment a young lady, of 23 or 24 walked up and was apparently picking out her own breakfast foods as well. I caught a glimpse of her as she walked by. I smiled as she did and she returned the smile as she continued on her way.  Right after she passed me she stopped to pick out one of the boxes that was a little higher than she could reach.  She tried desperately to climb up and pull down the box of cereal to no avail.  “Let me”, I offered. “Which one do you want?”  She replied, “The Bran Flakes.”  I pulled down the box of cereal and handed it to her.  “Here!” I said, to which she replied, “Thank you.  Anna by the way.”  “I’m sorry”, I replied.  “My name is Anna.”,  “Oh, right, I’m Charles.”  Stephanie walks up and hands me a box of cereal.  “Nice to meet you Charles, and who is this?” as she looks down at Stephanie.  “Stephanie!!”, my daughter proudly replies.  I responded, “Stephanie is my daughter.”  Anna: “Oh I didn’t realize you were married.”

Charles: “I’m widowed actually.  My wife was killed in a car accident a couple of years ago.”

Anna: “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”
Charles: “It’s okay.  My daughter and I moved here I guess to try and get a fresh start and see where life takes us.”

Anna: “Well you picked an amazing place to start a fresh.”

Charles: “Thank you.”

Anna: “Listen, I’m free this evening. Do you want to maybe join me for supper.  Both of you of course are invited. I’m a very good cook.”

Charles: “Oh!  Well that’s not really necessary. I’m not a bad cook myself.  To be honest, I had promised Stephanie that I would make her favorite Lasagna tonight.”

Anna: “Oh really! I’m a big fan of homemade lasagna and what a coincidence, I was planning on making that tonight.  Why don’t you come on over and you can help me prepare it.”

I stood there for a minute contemplating.  I really didn’t believe it was appropriate for us to be imposing after having just met.

Anna: “Please, it really is no trouble.  Besides, I am going to have all these leftovers if you don’t come over and help me take care of the excess.”

I thought about it for another minute and then looked down at Stephanie.

Charles: “Well Steph, what do you think? Do you think we should give her a chance?”

Stephanie: “She seems like a nice lady. I think we can trust her.”

Anna laughed and thanked Stephanie. 

Anna: “Kids are amazing aren’t they.”

Charles: “Yes indeed they are.”

Anna: “So what do you think? Did I meet your seal of approval?”

Charles: “Well Stephanie approves. I won’t hear the end of it, if I don’t take you up on your offer.  Besides, Stephanie would not be happy if I didn’t give her a sample of someone else’s Lasagna besides my own.”

Anna: “Great, here’s the address, it’s about a half mile down the road on your left.  White picket fence.  You really can’t miss it.”

Charles: “Okay.  We will see you around??”
Anna: “Say around 5:00?”

Charles: “Five it is. I’ll bring the wine. It’s the least I can do since you are bringing the food and doing most of the cooking.”

Anna: “Oh, don’t think you are getting out of cooking that easy.”

Reviews

[Valentine]

Must have been some attraction at the start to have asked a stranger over, that could be risky. Valentine

[Chris A Jones]

Of course. And of course it's risky. The idea was that he had very kind eyes and she felt very at ease with him. Especially with his daughter.

[Tom Wade]

A very good start to an excellent story. I would like to see where this goes.

[Chris A Jones]

Thanks! Have another project I am working on. This one is a work in progress, which may take a little time. But hopefully I will be able to keep working it. Thanks for reading it and sharing your approval.