Chapter 10 - THE MAN WHO ALWAYS BROUGHT AN EXTRA COFFEE
I met Andrew Bennett at a Saturday community fundraiser.
He was thirty-eight, a widowed father of a seven-year-old boy named Oliver, and a volunteer coordinator for a neighborhood family resource center.
I was there because Diane had encouraged me to participate in an outreach event organized by our company.
Andrew was standing beside a table stacked with donated baby supplies when I accidentally knocked over his coffee.
It spilled across a pile of volunteer registration forms.
I froze.
“Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry.”
He looked down.
Then laughed.
“Well, that's one way to make the paperwork memorable.”
I stared.
He smiled.
“It's okay. They're copies.”
I hurried to grab napkins.
He helped me clean up.
No accusations.
No humiliation.
No dramatic sigh about how careless I was.
Just two adults handling a small accident.
For some reason, it nearly made me cry.
We talked while reorganizing the table.
Andrew told me he worked as a civil engineer.
His wife had died three years earlier after a sudden illness.
He spoke about her with warmth, not as someone whose memory needed to be hidden.
I told him I had a young daughter and was going through a divorce.
He nodded.
“That sounds like a lot to carry.”
“It is.”
He didn't ask for details.
I appreciated that.
Over the following months, Andrew became a familiar face at community events.
He sometimes brought an extra coffee because he remembered I liked it with cinnamon.
I sometimes helped him with volunteer budgeting.
Our conversations were easy.
No performance.
No expectations.
One afternoon, he asked whether I'd like to have lunch.
I hesitated.
“My life is complicated.”
He smiled.
“So is mine.”
“I'm still dealing with legal matters.”
“I understand.”
“And Lily is my priority.”
“As she should be.”
I looked at him.
He continued.
“Lunch doesn't have to mean anything beyond lunch.”
I laughed.
“That's surprisingly reasonable.”
“It's my best quality.”
I agreed.
But I made one decision before going.
I wasn't going to rush into another relationship because somebody had treated me kindly.
I wanted time to know myself again.
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And if Andrew truly cared about me, he would respect that.
He did.
