CHAPTER ONE
Cadence Meadows, manager of Magnolia Shore’s art gallery, sat at her kitchen table with a cup of coffee in her hand. Sunlight streamed through the window just enough to warm her, but not enough to cause a glare on her computer screen. She was spending the morning browsing for artists that she thought might be a good fit for the gallery, which was known in the area for launching the careers of regional artists. It was the kind of morning that reminded her of her love of art, of how lucky she felt to have a career that she adored so much.
It was not the kind of idyll that would last, she knew. Not with a six-year-old in the house.
Indeed, the thought had scarcely crossed her mind when her daughter, Isabelle, tumbled into the kitchen with all the clamor of a herd of elephants.
“Hi, Mommy!”
Cadence’s peace vanished in an instant, but even so, she smiled at her daughter.
Being a parent might mean that having a clean house felt like a distant memory or that sleeping in past seven in the morning was a far-off fantasy, and now, it might mean that Cadence would have to kiss her morning of artist research goodbye.
She didn’t really mind that much though. Not when Izzy was the greatest part of her life.
“Morning, honey,” Cadence said, holding out her arms for a hug. Isabelle launched herself into them, tucking her head under Cadence’s chin. In the soft June sunlight, Cadence could see the places where Isabelle’s hair was becoming increasingly tinged with strawberry hues as she got older. Cadence had similar hair, although she’d lopped off her long locks in a failed fit of self-discovery a few months prior. Luckily, one of her friends had helped her turn her disastrous haircut into a cuter look, but there had been a few unhappy weeks where Cadence had looked a bit too much like Shirley Temple for her comfort… or a poodle.
Either way, it hadnotbeen good.
Izzy was in a phase of wanting to do everything for herself, so Cadence got the rare pleasure of sitting back and watching as Isabelle used strategically-placed stepstools to get herself a bowl, spoon, and cereal. Cadence intervened on the milk pouring portion of events, as they’d learned the hard way that Izzy wasn’t quite strong enough to lift and tip the gallon jug herself.
“Oh, Mom,” Izzy said when she had gotten her breakfast arranged at her usual seat at the table. “I forgot to tell you.”
“Chew, swallow, then talk,” Cadence reminded her daughter.
Izzy huffed out a little sigh, but she complied. When she made a big show of revealing her now-empty mouth to her mother, Cadence had to smother a smile.
“Thank you for listening,” she told her daughter. “Now, what were you saying?”
Izzy perked right back up. “Oh, so I forgot to ask you. Gabby and Nathan are going to the new splash pad at the park on Tuesday, and they asked me if I could come too. Can we go?”
Isabelle’s two closest friends were twins who lived only a few blocks away, and the three kids played exceptionally welltogether, something that was a huge relief to both sets of parents when it came to trying to fill the endless hours of summer vacation.
Izzy had only been out of school for a week, and Cadence was already struggling to come up with ideas to keep her daughter from getting bored and kicking around the house. Izzy was a smart kid, and she was great at entertaining herself, but every kid had limits. The Magnolia Shore elementary school offered a summer session to keep kids engaged, learning, and having fun during the long summer months, but there was still the break to fill before that session began in another week or so.
All of which was to say, that this was one of the easiest answers for Cadence.
“Absolutely,” she said, grinning at her daughter. “We can work that into the schedule for sure.”
“Yay!” Izzy did a little happy dance in her chair, which filled Cadence with that kind of motherly contentment that only came from seeing one’s children filled with joy. “Can Daddy come?”
Cadence’s contentment popped like a balloon. She should have seen this coming.
It had been a few months since Cadence and her husband, Tyler, had separated, but it was still hard on the whole family, Isabelle especially. She couldn’t understand why her once-happy family unit was now fractured.
Honestly, some days Cadence couldn’t understand it either. Oh, she knew the mechanics, knew how their fertility issues had driven a wedge between her and her husband, how their mutual desire for a second child had driven them apart, instead of bringing them together against a common challenge. She understood, at least intellectually, how that divide had grown wider and wider until she and Tyler couldn’t see one another across the chasm.
It made a horrible amount of sense.
But, emotionally, she often felt like Izzy clearly did, confused and hurt and left wondering how in the world they’d gotten here.
Still, she put on a brave face for her daughter, because that was what mothers did.
“I think this one might be a ‘Mommy and Izzy’ trip, baby,” she said gently. “If you want though, you can wait for Daddy’s day and go with him. I can text Gabby and Nathan’s mom to ask if she can switch the schedule a little.”
Izzy’s lip poked out a little, a childish pout that the girl tried to quickly contain. It broke Cadence’s heart to see her daughter try to be so brave. She wished she could change things so that everything was easy and happy and perfect for her daughter.
But that wasn’t real life, alas.
