Jared made an inquisitive noise.
“Okay, so… well, it’s hard to explain, I guess. Because, yeah, when we decided to separate, I also thought we’d figure it out.That the time apart would clarify things. But also… the reason we separated in the first place was because we couldn’t find that clarity. Couldn’t figure out how to connect. And it’s starting to feel really crazy that we thought that being apart would bring us together.”
Jared nodded along sympathetically. “Well, I’ve never been married myself, but my parents did go through something similar when I was in middle school. I didn’t ask for all the details because, you know, they’re my parents, so I don’t exactly want to think about them being romantic…”
Tyler chuckled when Jared pulled a face.
“But,” the chef went on, “when they got back together fully and my dad moved home, they told me that they’d found a way to get back to their roots. And then they joined a bowling team, but I think that was only eighty percent about recommitting to being a team. The rest was just because they bothreallylove bowling.”
This time, both men laughed.
“All I mean is… maybe teamwork is the way to go,” Jared said. “Being a member of a team can really remind you how to love selflessly.”
Tyler paused to consider these words. His friend was making a lot of sense, but there was only one problem.
“I just don’t know when we’d practice being a team,” Tyler admitted. “The only time we see one another these days is when we’re doing handoff with Izzy. And we don’t want to work out any of our stuff in front of her. We agree that we’re trying to present a unified front for her. We don’t want to cause her any more worry than we need to.”
He had found that it was becoming harder and harder not to discuss the issues that had fractured their marriage during those drop-offs. This wasn’t because he was any less committed to making things as clear as possible for Izzy, of course. It wasjust because every time he saw Cadence, it was hard to think of anything except for how much he missed just talking to her.
Behind him, the door to Riverstone Kitchen opened and a young couple entered, already mid-laugh at something one of them had said. It was almost too easy to picture himself and Cadence in their shoes, in the years before their troubles had driven a wedge between them.
The idea made him even more melancholy than he’d already been.
“I’d better take that order to go,” he told Jared. “Give me whatever you’ve got that you’re going to try out on me. I don’t want to wreck the atmosphere with my bummed-out energy.”
“Your energy is always welcome here, bummed-out or not,” Jared told him warmly. “But I’ll wrap something up for you. Try not to retreat too much though, okay, man? You’ve got friends who care about you.”
Tyler wrapped his knuckles against the counter in acknowledgment, then took the parcel of food that had appeared almost instantly when Jared had gestured to his kitchen staff. His friend ran a tight ship.
“Thanks, man,” he said.
He wasn’t certain, however, that he’d be able to follow his friend’s advice. Sometimes it was just easier to be alone with his sadness.
CHAPTER SIX
It was a miracle that Eleanor heard her phone ring, given how loudly she was playing music as she painted the trim for one of the rooms for the bookstore. The first room she’d done had taught her that she did not like painting trim at all. It was too fussy, and if you made a mistake, you tended to ruin the beautiful, perfect wall you’d just painted.
Not that she’d learned this from experience or anything.
Now, she made herself get through the dreaded task by playing her pump-up playlist as loudly as she dared, lest she annoy her neighbors.
When she caught sight of the name that flashed across her cell phone’s screen, however, she hurriedly turned off the music and put her brother, Shane, on speakerphone.
“Hey!” she called cheerfully. “Long time no chat!”
“Hi there, big sis,” he said, sounding just as pleased to connect with her. “I know, it’s been too long, and it’s totally my fault. I’ve owed you a call for… way too long now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she countered, balancing the phone so that she could hear and speak clearly while still painting. A call from Shane was better than the best music to distract her from a dreaded task. “It’s not like you’re busy or anything.”
Shane was a computer programmer who lived in California, where his exciting job kept him hopping. This was, Eleanor knew, a good thing for Shane, whose adventurous spirit meant that he was extremely well-suited to the fast-paced career he’d chosen.
Still, his schedule plus the three-hour time difference between his home in California and hers in Magnolia Shore meant that finding time for phone calls could be tricky.
To Eleanor’s surprise, however, her brother didn’t sound quite so pleased with his hectic lifestyle.
“Yeah, it keeps me going,” he said tiredly.
“You okay?” she asked, her brushstrokes stilling.
