“Politeness is a habit that lasts a lifetime,” said the teacher, the same as she had when Cadence had been in her class. “And yes, I believe you were a few years younger than Miss Meadows. I did kindergarten in those years.”
“Me too,” Cadence joked. The older woman laughed.
“I must say, it looks like you’ve been doing some water activities of your own this morning,” Miss Priestly said, gesturing to the damp patches in Cadence’s hair. She’d had timeto change clothes before leaving the house but hadn’t bothered drying her hair.
Cadence hoped her smile didn’t look like a wince.
“Ah, yes, we had a little mishap with the dishwasher today, and my husband was always the one who dealt with all the household maintenance stuff. Cooking and cleaning? That I can handle. But plumbing? Appliance repair? That was always Tyler’s deal and it sometimes just… gets to me, trying to learn to do all these new things at once, the burdens that I used to share, and?—”
She cut herself off. She had long since passed over into babbling territory.
“Sorry,” she said, kneading her forehead. “That was… a lot of information.”
Miss Priestly reached over and gave Cadence’s arm a squeeze.
“You are going through the hard part of life right about now, Mrs. Meadows,” she said. “You know it. I know it. But you have done a good job of keeping that from young Miss Izzy, and that is no small thing. She’s a happy kid, and that comes from you—and her father, I daresay—being good parents, no matter what you’re going through.”
“Thank you,” Cadence said quietly. If she said anything more, she would cry, and all her good work hiding her distress from Isabelle would be wasted.
“You are welcome,” the teacher said warmly. “Now, not to kick you when you’re down, but I’m guessing you didn’t see or sign Miss Meadows’ beach trip permission slip.”
“You would be guessing correctly,” Cadence said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I am fully at ‘I’d lose my head it if weren’t attached’ status recently, so a piece of paperwork in a six-year-old’s backpack? No chance I know where to find that.”
“Well,” Miss Priestly said, “you are in luck, because I just so happen to have a spare copy right here.” She pulled a folded paper from her pocket. Miraculous, she was still perfectly dry, despite the water chaos still unfolding on the school lawn.
“Amazing, thank you,” Cadence said. “Of course she’s can go.” Her eyes caught on something on the bottom of the page. “Oh, do you still need chaperones?” There was a second section on the page asking for parent signups.
Miss Priestly brightened. “Indeed, I am,” she said. “We’d be happy to have you.”
Cadence quickly signed the second portion of the page too. Finally, this was something uncomplicated that she could do for her daughter. It was the first step in her renewed commitment to be there for Izzy in every way, no matter what life threw at them.
Tyler loved the Riverstone Kitchen… but part of him was starting to hate the Riverstone Kitchen.
“Hey, Tyler,” Jared, the owner called jovially when Tyler came into the building. “I thought it had been a while since I’d seen you.”
Tyler raised an eyebrow. “I think it’s been like a week.”
Jared shrugged. “You know, comparatively,” he said.
Tyler tried not to grimace. He could cook, but cooking for one… well, it was downright depressing, especially when he had to do it more than half the days. He put in an effort when Izzy was with him for dinner, but that left him feeling too wrung out to pull something decent together for himself on the nights when he was alone.
He missed nights around the kitchen table with his wife and his daughter more than he could say. He missed the chaos ofgetting a kid through the evening routine, missed mopping up what always seemed like an impossible amount of water on the floor after bathtime. He even missed scrubbing that dinged-up old baking pan that really, really needed to be replaced but which Cadence had an absurd attachment to.
Tyler had threatened to “accidentally” throw out that stupid pan more times than he could count. And now he missed it.
“Yeah,” he said wearily. “I guess I have been eating here a lot recently.”
Jared gave him a sympathetic look. The two had known one another when they were younger, but they hadn’t really connected until the past few months, when Jared had returned to Magnolia Shore after years spent dedicated to his culinary career. Jared had cooked in all the great culinary cities, and now he had brought those talents home, much to the appreciation of the residents of Magnolia Shore.
“Don’t sweat it,” he said. “You’ve eaten your way through everything on my menu, so I’ve been using you as a tester for new recipes for the past few weeks. Didn’t you notice that I haven’t been charging you for any food?”
Tyler had not noticed, and his sheepish expression said so.
“Sorry, man,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate your culinary skills…”
“But you’re hankering for something a little more home cooked,” Jared finished for him. “Listen, I get it. You know, if you don’t mind me saying it… I’m kind of surprised that you and Cadence haven’t worked things out by now.”
“No, I don’t mind,” Tyler said, half because it was true, half because he needed a minute to think through his answer. “And I guess… I’m surprised too but also not.”
