Resurrecting Harry Read Online Free PDF Page A

but someone so young? Near impossible.
    ***
    Safe inside the deli, Bess’s walls fell. The strong face she reserved for the public evaporated. Grief enveloped her like the darkness of being closed in one of Harry’s trunks or the seemingly endless nights since he’d died. So much for a crisp, new start, free of those memories.
    Unclenching her hand, she looked down at the sterling ring and fingered the broken chain. It should still be on his finger, but in the last moments before they closed the coffin, her eyes fixated on the memento and her heart demanded she keep it. The chain, an anniversary gift from Harry, kept the ring close to her heart until it had snapped a week ago while she worked in the flower garden. She felt naked not having the comforting weight of the ring brush against her chest, but avoided dropping the chain off at the jeweler. Too much pain to discuss with strangers and way too precious to let out of her sight, she closed the symbols of their love in her fist, unable to let go of him or their past.
    And that man might have stolen them. As quick as the thought flashed through her mind, Bess dismissed it. If he’d intended to take the jewelry, she wouldn’t have been able to stop him. Besides, his eyes were too kind and his smile too sweet for him to be a ruffian.
    And he’d called her “Angel.” Just like Harry.
    Was that some kind of confirmation that moving forward was the right choice? Or was she looking for signs where none existed? Even so, the young man refused to leave her thoughts.
    Goodness, he’s just a child. And she was married. Or had been. Even if almost a year had passed, her heart still belonged to her husband. She had no business noticing how attractive the stranger was.
    “Are you all right, Bess?” Will Johnson, owner and operator of the Courtyard Deli, stood before her. He wiped his large hands on his stained apron and looked on with a father-like concern.
    Oh, yes, I’m fine.”
    When he offered her his plump arm, Bess took it, allowing him to guide her to the corner booth in the back of the restaurant. “You sit right down, sweetheart, and let me bring you some coffee and a sweet roll.”
    “I don’t know what I’d do without you to fuss over me.”
    “Aren’t you lucky? You don’t have to find out.” He scurried behind the counter, pouring her a cup of coffee and picking the largest pastry from the display case.
    “Since I’m your only customer at the moment, please pour yourself a cup and come sit with me.” Part of her made the long walk to the deli at least twice a week out of habit. So many mornings she and Harry would wake up early, make the leisurely stroll and spend the morning enjoying the fresh coffee and baked goods while reading the paper. Another part of her kept the ritual alive because she feared the alternative: closing herself in the house and letting the walls suffocate her. The grief became bearable when her friends were around.
    “I can sit for a few minutes, little lady.” Will wedged himself into the seat across the table. “I’m worried about you. You look like you saw a ghost.”
    Maybe she had. Or maybe it was more like that déjà vue stuff she read about in dime store novels. Bess didn’t believe in either, but running into that man on the street made her feel just like she had the day she’d met Harry. She set the ring and chain down on the table. “I bumped into a man on the street and my purse spilled.”
    “Are you hurt?”
    “I’m fine. I just feel so scattered. So alone.”
    “But you’re not.”
    Harry’s memory and the imagined voice whispering in her ear weren’t real company, and her friends only filled the void in short spurts. Unable to speak around the lump choking her throat, she nodded.
    “Is that Harry’s?” he asked, pointing to the ring.
    “I should have buried him with it. That’s what he would have wanted.”
    “All Harry ever wanted was to see your smile.”
    “Hmph!” She scooped the jewelry