‘I fell in love with my husband’s best friend’

Zoe Matthews, 54, is a pub landlady from Reading, an hour west of London. She married Keith in 2004. His best mate Stephen was his best man.

But 12 years later, Keith was diagnosed with bowel cancer, eventually losing his battle in January 2020 aged 55.

Zoe was heartbroken, but found comfort grieving the loss with Stephen. Now, three years on, the pair are an item – stating Keith would be “happy for us”, The Sun reports.

Here, Zoe tells her story in her own words.

“Sitting in the garden with a G&T, I turned to my partner Stephen and smiled.

“This is how we like to raise a toast to my late husband – and Stephen’s best friend – Keith, who passed away in January 2020.

“But if you’d told me back then that I’d be in a relationship with the best man from our wedding, I’d never have believed you.

“I met Keith on a night out in December 1999 when I was 30 and he was 35.

“A DJ who was obsessed with music, from jazz to disco, he was amazing.

“He had a big group of friends who he’d met in the early-’80s, and we’d all go on nights out together.

“I always thought his friend Stephen had a kind heart, but there was certainly nothing romantic between us.

“Keith and I married in June 2004, with Stephen as best man.

“We were very happy together, with him taking my children from a previous relationship – Robert, now 37, Charlotte, 35, and Emily, 34 – on as his own.

“When Charlotte had her daughter Poppy in 2012, we were overjoyed to be grandparents.

“Keith was very active and healthy, so when he started having IBS-like problems in 2016, it was out of the ordinary and he made an appointment to see the GP.

“After a colonoscopy, we were shocked to be told he had stage 4 bowel cancer that had spread to his lungs.

“Though it was treatable, it wasn’t curable, and doctors said he might have just two to five years left.

“I broke down, but Keith stayed positive as he started chemo and radiotherapy.

“We decided to make the most of our time left together, booking a beautiful break to Italy in May 2018.

“Keith carried on with chemo, but by March 2019, doctors said he needed to take a break as it was making him too unwell.

“That October, Keith had a fall, and in A&E doctors discovered the cancer had spread to his brain.

“He had radiotherapy, but there wasn’t much else that could be done, and in December, we brought Keith home.

“He died on January 8, 2020, aged just 55.

“I went into shock.

“The funeral was awful and, with the world going into lockdown, I wrestled with my grief.

“As the months went by, Stephen, 55, and I grew closer.

“Recently separated and a dad to two grown-up kids, he was really there for me.

“A painter, he’d pop round to do odd jobs and chat about Keith, who he also deeply missed.

“Before he died, Keith encouraged me to meet someone else.

“At the time, I said: ‘No way.’

“But when something began to blossom between me and Stephen six months after Keith died, I didn’t feel guilty.

“I knew he’d have been happy for us.

“The relationship happened partly because we share so many memories of Keith, and we’d often have a toast to him in the garden, where we shared our first kiss in July 2020.

“It was a surprise for us both, and we took things slowly.

“Our friends and family have been supportive and we’re discussing moving in together.

“When I heard about an opportunity to invest in our local pub, The Six Bells, with my best friend Debbie, Stephen told me to go for it.

“I’d always wanted to be a pub landlady, so I quit my admin job and followed my dream in February 2021.

“When we’re not working, Stephen and I are both homebodies who love to cook and watch films, but we also love a night out, when we reminisce about the fun times we had with Keith.

“I will never get over losing Keith, but I also feel incredibly lucky to have Stephen now.

“I’m looking forward to what our future together holds.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission