Sean stopped them in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing a rambunctious family following behind to reroute around them. The sincerity shining back at her alarmed her. "Traci, I'm so sorry for your loss. To lose both your parents without warning like that must have been devastating. Thank goodness you weren't with them on that trip."
"Thanks. I was just grateful Troy hadn't been with them. I don't think I could have made it if I'd lost him, too."
He held both her hands supportively. "You sound close."
"We are. Even more now. He spent many years in the Air Force so I didn't see him as much as I'd like, but he recently retired and moved to Eagle’s Pass to be near me."
"Wow, that's great that he would relocate."
Traci smiled a knowing smile. "Yes, initially he moved to be near me, but once he met Hallie on a visit there, well I'm sure that played into his decision as well."
She was painfully aware that she couldn't tell her new friend the fact Eagle’s Pass was a haven for spankos had played a major role in her brother's choice of living arrangements as well. The chances of Sean understanding the dynamics of Eagle’s Pass were slim and considering they'd never see each other again, it was pointless to risk his ridicule.
She turned the subject around as Sean resumed their walk to Navy Pier. "How about you? Have you always lived in Chicago?"
"No." Sean paused, glancing at her nervously before continuing. "My daughter and I moved here just over two years ago."
Traci shouldn't have been surprised that a handsome professional like Sean would have a family, yet her panic must have shown on her face. "So, it's just you and your daughter then?" She was fishing.
Sean chuckled. "I can see it in your face, and you can relax. No, I'm not one of those jerks who'd step out on his wife, if that's what you were thinking. I've been... single... for two years. Since right before we moved to town."
"Divorce sucks."
He stopped their journey again to look into Traci's eyes. "I should have been clearer. I'm a widower. My wife Jerilyn died two years ago after fighting an illness. We lived in Phoenix at the time and after she died, I took the job here in Chicago. In part because we just needed a change of scenery and in part to have my daughter closer to my old in-laws. They live out in the suburbs."
"Oh, Sean, I'm so sorry. It must have been so hard to lose your wife at such a young age.
How is your daughter doing?"
"I was pretty worried about her there for a while, but she seems to be bouncing back. It's the weirdest thing. I can be having a busy day and everything is going along just fine and then I have a flashback of those last horrible weeks before she died and it can still knock me on my ass." Before Traci could reply, Sean looked at her sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I may not have gone on a first date in eighteen years, but I'm still pretty sure it's poor taste to talk about a woman from my past on a date."
Traci smiled empathetically, her psychologist persona coming out. "Sean, you aren't talking about an old prom date. You're talking about your wife — the mother of your daughter.
How long were you married?"
"We almost made it to sixteen years."
"How about the rest of your family? Are they in Chicago, too?"
"No. My parents are still alive, but neither are doing well. They live in an assisted living home in Scottsdale, Arizona. My sister, Sandy, and her family live near them so I'm lucky she's there to help. I felt guilty leaving town, but I thought it would be good for Ashley to be near Jerilyn's parents. They are younger and able to help me some when I need to go out of town on business."
Traci's heart was racing. "Ashley?"
"Sorry. That's my daughter's name."
She felt a grin adorning her face before she asked a final clarifying question. "How old is your daughter?"
"God help me, I'm the father of a fifteen-year-old. She's started bugging me to teach her how to drive, which ought to be fun living in the city."
She was about to share the coincidence with Sean that the only other person Traci had enjoyed meeting since coming to town was his daughter, but she resisted. Her time talking with Ashley in the woman's restroom may not have been an official counseling session, but Traci decided to withhold the conversation with the teenager as if it qualified for patient confidentiality.
"Fifteen can be a hard age for any young woman. I don't envy you trying to raise her alone, but you seem like you'd be an awesome father."
Sean's grin lit up his face in a way that made Traci's knees weak. "She recently called me the world's meanest dad."
Traci was distracted by Sean's thumb intimately brushing her palm as they held hands. She managed a response. "Sean, that just means you're doing something right. I remember hating my parents a time or two when I was Ashley's age too."
"You? No way. What could they have done to make you hate them?"
