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Joyce Fischer had found a table at the ultra-busy Nordstroot to the store As soon as she appeared, her mother waved to catch her attention

Beth felt wonderful and couldn&039;t have disguised herherfor you, dear I just got two of e usually order"

"That&039;s fine" Beth only had an hour for lunch and although she would&039;ve liked to try so new rather than her standard soup du jour and turkey sandwich, she didn&039;t object

Taking off her coat, Beth draped it over her chair

"You&039;re positively glowing What&039;s going on?" Her ether in glee "Is it that youngto meet" Beth wasn&039;t sure how and why the situation had changed Just as she was losing hope that they&039;d ever take a chance, Peter had stepped forward Without understanding why it had happened, she realized that a transfored on to play World of Warcraft last night and after a while had started exchangingspecial, just their nor admission

"He&039;s divorced," Beth informed her mother

"Well, dear, so are you"

"I knowThat&039;s not the point Peter and I were talking"

"On the phone?"

"No, no, online That&039;s the only e&039;ve communicated so far"

Her mother frowned, then decided not to ue "Go on," she urged instead "I want to hear everything"

"Well," Beth said, eager now "He told et over the divorce, but he thinks he&039;s ready tohas it been?" her mother asked "I mean, since his divorce was final"

Beth frowned Her ht; that was an important question "I didn&039;t ask him"

"You should, dear If it&039;s been less than a year, it ht be best to move slowly and carefully in this relationship" Then, as if she regretted having given advice, she shook her head "Follow your heart Don&039;t listen to a thing I say"

Beth thought cynically that this was all part of the wager her parents had Her mother didn&039;t care if Peter was the brother of Frankenstein&039;sas he showed up "You really want him there for Christhtened "Is there any possibility that ed Despite her mother&039;s bet - and personally she felt Joyce deserved to lose - she&039;d like it if Peter could spend Christmas with her She wanted to invite him, but it was a lot to ask of so depended on this weekend

Her mother waved one hand impatiently "So you told him you&039;re divorced, too?"

"Yes, of course, and then we both started talking so fast it was hard for hts" Peter had been deeply hurt by his wife, who&039;d more or less kicked him out of the house and excluded him from her life It&039;d been painful and harsh, and he&039;d taken the breakup of his e hard

Beth understood She&039;d experienced the sae In the course of their conversation, they&039;d talked about regrets and all the things they es Based on the few details Peter had divulged, Beth regarded his ex-wife as cold and calculating

She talked about John in ways she never had with anyone else, including her parents It was as though a festering blister had burst inside her and she spewed out the devastating pain of her own divorce

The ga It was after ht when Peter re Reluctantly Beth had signed off

"What else did he say?" her mother asked "Did you tell him your real name is Marybeth?"

"Hardly," she cried, annoyed that her mother would ask such an inane question "And don&039;t you tell him, either"

"So you did invite him for Christmas?" Her mother looked pleased beyond n of her excite No e, when she&039;d first o anywhere, but at least she was finally taking a risk Finally willing to try again

The server brought their lunches, giving Beth a respite fro She tasted her cream of broccoli soup, and it took a few minutes for the conversation to return to Peter

"You do expect to introduce him to your family, don&039;t you?" Her mother smiled expectantly at Beth, the turkey sandwich poised in front of her o well" She nodded "We have a lot in common, Peter and iddy sensation of everything coether at last "I never dreamed that after all these months we&039;d connect the e have"

"Well?" Herto meet?" Before Beth could answer, she added, "Soon, I hope"

"Is toht you were going to Leavenworth with Heidi"

"I a Peter there?"

Beth nodded Peter seeh she suspected he&039;d never admit it He was the one who&039;d wanted to have this initial ether on Saturday for lunch, and Beth had said she&039;d be in Leavenworth Undeterred, Peter had suggestedthere

"But hoill that hen you don&039;t knohat he looks like? Good grief, Beth, do you have any idea hoded that town can get, especially this tiured out Heidi and Sa the train with the kids and - "

"Peter will meet you on the train?" her o, so Peter&039;s taking the bus We arrive at eleven and, depending on the weather, he should get in around noon"

"The train&039;s always late"