“Okay. Well, it’s not far, and not hard to find. We’re just heading out right on the highway at the end of the drive, and then left at the next intersection, maybe five miles south, and the restaurant is on the right another few miles from there.”

She frowns but laughs. “I’ll follow you. Just don’t lose me.”

I eye her sporty little red convertible. “I don’t think we need to worry about that, with you driving that.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m no speed demon. Adrian hated riding with me because I always drive obsessively at exactly the speed limit.”

“Lisa hated riding with me for the opposite reason—I’m a five over at minimum kind of guy.”

A moment of silence as we each realize we’ve just referenced our dead spouses moments before leaving on a date…

But it’s not a date, because we’re driving separately, and I anticipate her fighting me on the bill.

She sighs. “Okay well that was a conversation killer.”

“It’s fine. How about we have a rule that we will not feel bad, embarrassed, or awkward if we happen to make a comment like that. It’s part of our lives, part of who we are, and there’s no point dancing around it.”

She nods, tries a small smile. “I think that’s good. And actually, that’s one of the first times that I’ve mentioned him that hasn’t left me feeling like I’m going to break down in hysterics. So there’s that.”

“‘Baby steps to the elevator, Bob.’”

She snickers. “I want, I want, I need, I need.”

We laugh at the shared reference, and then I pull open my truck door. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she says, and without giving me time to process what that might means, heads for her car.

I don’t have to wonder too hard what she means, though, because I get it. You’re never ready. You can’t be.

It’s a bit farther than I thought it would be, getting to the restaurant—closer to thirty minutes than fifteen. When we get there, the parking lot is speckled with vehicles, mostly luxury vehicles that were cream of the crop a few years ago and are now aging a bit, but still very nice. A few trucks like mine, and couple dusty little sensible sedans. Not full, not waitlist busy, but a decent crowd for…whatever day of the week this is.