A Widow Redefined Read Online Free

“Nope,” he responded, shrugging his shoulders.
    Of course, it was only me that created psychosis around simple events. Instead of enjoying them, I stressed out. Luckily, Tyler was different. He enjoyed the opportunity to learn and looked forward to it, without apprehension.
    We walked up to the front door and rang the buzzer. The woman from the picture answered, an old yellow Labrador sat behaved at her feet.
    “You must be Amy,” she said, reaching for my hand. “And this must be Tyler, my new student. I’m Josephine.”
    Her demeanor was oddly professional for a young girl. It didn’t seem to match her eclectic style, which made her look like a modern, hipper version of Mrs. Roper from
Three’s Company
. She had long blonde hair and wore barely any make up. She was what they call a natural beauty.
    “Hi,” Tyler said. “Nice to meet you.”
    Just then her dog barked, almost in complaint at not being introduced.
    “Soleil. Quiet please. Be a good boy.”
    She waved us both to step in out of the cold. Tyler couldn’t keep his eyes off the dog. He had always wanted one, but we couldn’t get a pet because of Justin’s allergies.
    Josephine offered me a seat on a nearby sofa and handed me a magazine. Then she and Tyler went into the next room to get acquainted and begin the lesson. Once seated, I became so comfortable I managed to nod off for a little bit. Luckily, I heard them wrapping up the class and talking about next week’s assignment, so I sat up straight, ready to greet them.
    They both walked in, grinning.
    “We’re all done for this week. Your son is further along than I expected for his age. And what a creative spark. We’re going to work well together. Seems like the Universe has sent me the perfect student.”
    I stood up and smiled back at her. I didn’t how to respond to her last comment, so I reached for her check instead, digging it out of my purse.
    “Thanks for the compliment,” I said, handing it to her. “I’m glad we found you as well.”
    We said our goodbyes, and Tyler hugged Soleil once before leaving.
    “See you next week,” Josephine said, waving.
    We drove home and Tyler went right to his grandma, telling her all about his new class. I did the dinner dishes and inwardly smiled.
    •••••
    That night I hoped to get restorative sleep, but no such luck. My mind still raced. And I began to feel angry that I couldn’t have some kind of real control over it.
    Hoping to bore myself to sleep, I reached for a fashion magazine Fatima had given me. I thumbed through the pages mindlessly. All I saw were ads upon ads for skin care products, jewelry, purses. Then I got to the main fashion spread. The first outfit was cute. I squinted to read the fine print. Floral printed silk blouse–$800.00, trench coat–$1,500.00, flat-front wool slacks… I didn’t even bother to read on. If I had I would’ve found out what I already knew—just one ensemble costs half as much as my Dodge Neon. Who really wore this stuff?
    I woke up in the morning feeling rested. When I rolled over, I realized I had fallen asleep while reading the magazine. It was crumpled between the sheets. I stumbled out of bed, thankful the week was ending soon. I couldn’t wait to sleep in on Saturday.
    When I got to work I noticed Barb was already at her desk. She was early. I sat down after saying hi and immediately began working on my own stack of files.
    “Amy,” she whispered.
    “Yeah,” I said, turning back to face her.
    “I don’t know if you’d be interested, but this Sunday we’re having an event at my church. There’s this nice young man who’s right about your age that I’ve gotten to know—”
    “Oh, you know what. I can’t. I have that swimming class I signed up for. Thanks for inviting me though.”
    Barb smiled her famous warm smile. “I understand.”
    Her gaze lingered just long enough for an unspoken conversation to occur between us. Then I broke eye contact, returning to my