Chapter 24

"You miss him, don't you?" Mary Ellen, Sandy's supervisor, had asked over lunch when she had come back to work a few days later.

Sandy had snapped out of her deep thought. "Hmmmm?"

"Your fiancé. You miss him."

"Yeah," Sandy looked down at her ring, a simple yet elegant design. "I do. But I knew what he did for a living, so I may as well adjust to it. It will be basically the same as it is now after the wedding."

"Have you set a date?"

Sandy shook her head. "Not yet, but for some strange reason, Paul seems to be in a tearing hurry to get married."

"Maybe he thinks he better snap you up as soon as possible before another prospect comes along and sweeps you away."

"You know, you're the second person to say that, Mary Ellen. I have no idea who would come along to 'sweep me away;' I'm almost thirty seven, a single mother with a teenage son. With all the single, childless, younger women out there, I'm hardly ideal material. To be honest, I'm surprised I caught Paul's interest, given his past women."

"The man has to see something in you if he wants to get married, in a hurry or otherwise. Most men nowadays head for the hills when the term 'commitment' is even mentioned."

"Good point," Sandy nodded. "And perhaps I should count myself as lucky being I'd gotten two men in a row that didn't seem afraid of the word--at least I can say that for Paul at the present time."

"Have you even decided where you're having this wedding?"

"It's still up in the air. He's got his dad and step mom here, his mother in New Mexico, and of course, my family is back in Philadelphia. People are just scattered everywhere. It's just trying to find a neutral place to satisfy all of them, which isn't an easy task, by the way."

"Trying to meet everyone halfway, huh?"

"Yeah. At least I got the dress and Tyler's suit situations settled last night. It's just getting them altered and that should take no time."

"Well, I wouldn't stress over anything else too much. Things will be falling into place before you know it."

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Sandy had returned to her office after lunch, finding a bouquet of tulips on her desk. She loved tulips, and was happy to see the arrangement, already having an indication of whom they were from.

Smiling, she had guessed right when she had opened the card and found a message:

I miss sharing the sunrise...miss my arms around you! Miss giving you kisses and making each other laugh...your smile is what my heart truly misses. Hope to come home soon--Paul.

PS: It's colder than a witch's ass over here….and I don't have you to keep me warm :(

Poor guy, Sandy thought. Even with all of his buddies and travel companions, he got lonely too. And he was overseas at the moment, so far away.

She always seemed to manage before, but since the time he had had off and then going to meet the families, Sandy found herself missing him as much as he did her..

The phone rang on Sandy's desk, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"Sandy Dillman," she answered the way she always did.

"Oh, Sandy, glad I got you. It's Jane down at the ER. I wanted to let you know as quickly as possible that we have your son down here."

"What happened?" she asked, suddenly anxious.

"Evidently, he'd fallen at school in his Phys Ed class. They just x-rayed his ankle."

"Oh my. I'll be right down."

Sandy hung up and ran a hand through her hair before taking the elevator down to the ER. When Jane told her where Tyler was, she ran in that direction.

"Tyler, what happened?!"

"Basketball game in gym, Mom, " he answered. "I was doing a move Paul taught me and was about to make a shoot when I slipped and went down. I think I messed up my ankle."

"Dear God. You boys, your sports and fancy moves."

"Hey, he is going to be my step dad. I got to find ways to keep up with the old guy."

"Tyler! I don't think many people would consider someone almost twenty eight old."

"Compared to almost seventeen, it is." He gave a goofy grin.

The doctor came in, interrupting any further exchange between them. "Hello, Ms. Dillman," he greeted Sandy.

"Hi, Dr. Dera. What's the story?"

"Good news or bad news first?" he asked.

"You can make that decision," Sandy replied.

"Well, the good news is that nothing's broken, but it looks like Tyler here may have a tear in one of his ligaments. Nothing serious, but it will hurt for awhile."

"Ouch," Sandy made a face. "A clean break would have hurt less."

"I'll have the nurse give Tyler here some pain medicine and I'll write a prescription for some as well."

The doctor turned his attention to Tyler. "Meanwhile, young man, we will get your ankle wrapped up and give you some crutches."

"Oh man," Tyler groaned, "this is going to suck."

"This is what you get for trying to be 'Mr. Hustle' part two," Sandy shook her head. "And I have a feeling I'm going to be having a discussion with your stepfather to be about this."

"Aw, Mom, don't be hard on Paul just because I did something stupid," Tyler protested. "He's clear overseas right now anyway; it isn't like he was right here telling me to do it."

"You're lucky it didn't end up worse than it was."

"Yeah. Maybe I should pay attention to those 'Don't Try This at Home' commercials, especially when Paul teaches me something," Travis said, chuckling.

"Maybe you should. Now I will be right outside waiting to take you home while they get you ready."

"Sure," Tyler replied. "Thanks, Mom."