Scandal

Found here

Mother called me tonight to tell me a salacious tale involving some of her acquaintances. Phil (we'll call him that) just had a funeral for his second wife who passed away a week or so ago. It was quite a loss, but she had been ill with Alzheimer's for a couple years and was there but really "not there." So the memorial service was yesterday evening.

Phyllis came up to my mother today and told her that she had overhead Phil speaking with Astrid (we'll call her this name), whom he has known for many years. This is how the conversation went:

Astrid: I'm so sorry about Faye (his wife) passing.
Phil: Yeah. It's been a long time coming. I don't know if I can go through something like this again.
Astrid: I'm very sorry, my friend.
Phil: Thank you, Astrid. This has been hard and I'm ready to turn over a new leaf. But no one will have me now.
Astrid: Oh, don't say that! You will find someone else--you're a good catch and you have a lot going for you.
Phil: Well, I just don't know...
Astrid: You love life too much to crawl in a hole and pull it after you. You can be happy again.

Curtis, another of mother's friends said that he then overheard a marriage proposal of sorts. Phil proposed to Astrid on the evening of his deceased wife's memorial service. But Phil and Astrid don't know they were overheard and no one is mentioning it to either of them. But Mother, Curtis and Phyllis sat outside on the bench tonight, watching the sun go down, talking over all the juicy details of this news.

"Are you going to ask Astrid about this, Mother?"
"No." She laughs. "We're all going to just wait and see what happens. It could be that she turned him down."
"Well, don't you think that this is a rebound situation? Don't you think they should wait a few months?"
"They don't have lots of time to wait--they're in their late 80s."
"Oh." I feel dumb and alarmed all at the same time.
"I wonder what their kids would think about something like this?"
"They're both lonely, happy-go-lucky, and good friends. Why shouldn't they get married?"
"It seems rushed and inappropriate somehow."
"I think it's great and I can't wait to see what happens."

So everyone where Mother lives is walking on eggshells, not mentioning the elephant in the middle of the room: Phil and Astrid's romance. Hmmmm. I'll let you know when I hear something.