He really could get used to a table for four.
ChapterSixteen
That evening, Raven called a few volunteers and arranged for them to take shifts the next morning.Then she called Lance.
“Hello.”His voice sounded like his hugs felt.Warm.Comforting.Glad to hear from her.
“I’m sorry, but I have to cancel our lunch meeting,” she said, the familiar specter of guilt descending and blotting out the warm sunshine.“Wren is coming home, and I think she’s going to need her mom.”
“Oh.”He paused a moment, and she could hear the disappointment he didn’t quite manage to hide.
“I know you want to get the work started as soon as possible.I’ll see you as soon as I can, to go over the plans.”
“The plans?”
“Yes, that’s why we’re going to meet.”
He let out a quiet breath.“I thought that was the excuse.Though I don’t know why we need an excuse at this stage of the game.”
“Excuse?”
“Raven… every time I feel like we’re getting closer, something comes up.The center, cats.And now Wren.”He didn’t sound angry.Just tired.“I’m starting to wonder if we’re moving at the same pace.”
She blinked, caught off guard.“I’m just worried about Wren.”
“I know you are,” he said quickly.“And of course you should be.I’m just not sure where I fit into all this.Or even if I fit at all.”
“You have daughters.You know how it is.”She knew she sounded defensive, but she was talking about Wren.“Wren has been my only priority for so long and I feel like I’ve let her down.If I had just been paying better attention I would have known she was in trouble.”She could not stop thinking about that.If she hadn’t spent the past few weeks blithely building a relationship with Lance, she might have known Wren was struggling.Maybe she would have even gone to visit her, seen her for herself.Prevented the pain that Wren was experiencing now.
He didn’t answer right away and then quietly said, “yes.I have daughters, and I also know life never stops being complicated.If we wait for everything to be perfect, we might be waiting forever.”
She didn’t reply right away, letting the silence on the line grow.
He spoke again.“Look, how about I give you time to sort things out with Wren.We can talk after that.Okay?Let me know if… when, you want to meet.”
The warmth from the beginning of the call was gone now.In its place was the voice of a distant acquaintance.
Not the voice of a lover.
His words settled uncomfortably in her chest.
“I’ll call you soon,” she said, shivering as she clicked off the call.She smiled grimly.It was like she had told Wren only a few hours earlier.It was better to find out now, when she could still extricate herself, that he didn’t have patience for her daughter.
Tears threatened to rise, and she tamped them down.Best to go slowly with Lance.She had thought they were building a relationship, but maybe, despite her hopes that it could be something lasting, it was only a fling.
She fought the tears again and shifted her focus to the clock on the wall.Wren’s flight would arrive soon, and she told her she would go to the airport to meet her.Plus, there were a few more volunteers to call, some tidying to do around the house, and she was confident she could come up with five to ten other things to do besides think about Lance and the pain of losing him.
The pain that, after her ex left, she had sworn she would never allow a man to cause her again.
Three hours later, she stood at the airport outside Sunshine Bay as the tiny plane landed on the runway, as the stairs were rolled up to the plane, and as a pair of men in business suits emerged and walked into the terminal, one waiting by the sole baggage carousel while the other went to the car rental desk.An older woman arrived next, squatting and opening her arms to a trio of excited children screaming “Grandma!Grandma!”
Raven smiled at the scene and turned her attention back to the plane, watching others emerge from the dark interior, pausing to adjust to the bright sunshine, then make their way down the stairs, some skipping, anxious to reach their destination, others picking their way down carefully, one painful step at a time.
The flow of people was receding and the crowd around the baggage carousel had grown, and still she hadn’t seen Wren.Had she missed the flight?Raven checked her phone for messages but saw none.She was considering asking at the check-in counter when Wren emerged, paused to shift her backpack over her shoulder, and made her way slowly to the tarmac.
Raven waited, willing her feet to stay put behind the rope barrier.Now Wren was close to the building, and through the glass doors Raven surveyed the changes to her daughter.
She was thin.Bordering on frail.Was she ill?
