“Yay!”
Izzy skipped ahead of them as Diana and Cadence walked the few blocks back to Diana’s duplex, which was located in the residential area behind Magnolia Shore’s main street. The homes there were smaller than the single-family houses like the one where Cadence and Izzy lived, but Diana was just one person. She didn’t need more.
Isabelle, who was nearly as familiar with Diana’s house as she was with her own, immediately headed over to the basket of cat toys to entertain Diana’s cat, Sprinkles. The tabby cat was closer to a senior citizen than a playful kitten these days, but he always gathered his energy for Isabelle.
While Diana popped the casserole that she’d prepared that morning into the oven after adding the promised “extra crunchy stuff,” Cadence perched on one of the stools at Diana’s kitchen island.
“You know,” she said innocently, “you could really use some art on these walls. If only you knew someone who ran an art gallery and could direct you to some really neat pieces. For affordable prices too!”
Diana stifled a sigh but put a smile on her face before she turned to face her friend.
“You say that every time you’re here,” she pointed out.
“It’s true every time!” Cadence insisted. “I know you have a knack for style, even if it’s notmyparticular style.” She waved a hand. “But this bare walls, minimalist thing? It’s not you. And it’s a little bit depressing, to be honest.”
“It’s not depressing!” Diana protested, although she wasn’t sure this was true. “It’s… streamlined!”
Cadence gave her a look that said,if you say so.
Diana didn’t want to admit the truth to her friend, didn’t want to confess that she was keeping her home in its perpetualhalf-finished state because she simply didn’t want to believe that this duplex, for all its convenience, was her forever home. If she decorated it to perfection, like she knew she could, then it would be like admitting that there was never going to be a big love in her future.
She was a grown-up, though, so she gathered her courage.
“I just… I don’t want to consider this place permanent,” she said ruefully. “I want to believe I’ll have a family.”
It wasn’t the full explanation, but Cadence had been her best friend for years. She read through the lines.
“Oh, honey,” she said, reaching out to squeeze Diana’s hand. “There will be. You might just… need to make a little more time for meeting people.”
Diana groaned. “But my business?—”
“Your business will take up all your time if you let it,” Cadence interrupted, voice firm. “But you’ve built something amazing, and you know it. It’s okay to let go a little, loosen your grip on the reins. That will give you time to focus on your romantic life.”
Diana grimaced. Her friend was probably right, but talking about it too much made Diana feel itchy.
“Okay, but how aboutyou?” she asked, quickly glancing to make sure that Isabelle was absorbed in playing with Sprinkles and wouldn’t overhear. “Did you talk to Tyler?”
Cadence rubbed at the crease between her brows, which had recently become a permanent fixture on her face.
“I did, but…” She trailed off and sighed. “It was just the same as always. Didn’t go anywhere. We both feel terrible about the whole kid thing, we both feel mad at one another, and we both know that’s kind of unreasonable. But knowing that doesn’t actuallyfixanything.”
Diana shot Cadence a sympathetic glance, then poured her a glass of wine and slid it across to her. After Izzy was born,Cadence and Tyler had looked forward to having another child, to expanding their family. And then it just… never happened.
Months of trying had become years of trying, and with each successive month that hadn’t ended in a pregnancy, Tyler and Cadence had each withdrawn more into their own unhappiness. Diana was more familiar with Cadence’s side of the story, but she knew that her friend had felt increasingly isolated, like she wasn’t in a true marriage, but rather living with a stranger. She’d felt frustrated, and that frustration had grown into despair. The friction between husband and wife and grown and grown, pushing them further and further apart.
Recently, they’d come to the sad conclusion that their current path wasn’t good for either of them, or for Isabelle. They had separated, but the process had, to Diana’s understanding, stagnated from there. They weren’t, as far as she knew, actively pursuing divorce proceedings, but they weren’t managing to find common ground either.
The whole thing had left Cadence floating in a sense of uncertainty, one that she tried to hide from her daughter, so that Izzy didn’t feel the pain of her parents’ struggles.
“It just hurts,” Diana said, squeezing Cadence’s hand. “It’s not anybody’s fault, but it still hurts.”
“Yeah,” Cadence said sadly. “It sure does still hurt.”
Diana’s chest ached with the longing to fix this problem for her friend. But there was nothing she could do except be there for Cadence during this rough period.
Just as the smell of rosemary started to permeate the kitchen, Diana’s phone buzzed on the counter. It was a text from Kylie.
KYLIE: So Doyle couldn’t keep the secret any longer, and even though we’re not supposed to be going to our ‘for no reason’ dinner until next week, he popped the question tonight. We’re engaged!
