Her voice carried a heaviness it never had before. Light and effortless used to be synonymous with Sarah’s memories ofBeth, but now she sounded like someone holding a concealed weight. Whatever Sarah was sensing was hidden well behind Beth’s composed exterior—and unless someone knew Beth in all the ways she did, they would never be able to tell.
“Change of plans, Moms,” Lily interjected, looking up from her phone. “Wren has some free time and if I call a car now, I’ll be able to see her for thirty minutes before the Games start, which is great because we didn’t think we were going to be able to.” Lily spoke quickly as she tucked her phone into the back pocket of her jeans, first hugging Beth, then Sarah. “Okay, bye! I’ll text you before the opening ceremonies and send you pictures and stuff.”
And just as quickly as she’d breezed in, Lily breezed out of the lobby, leaving Beth and Sarah standing shoulder to shoulder with bewildered expressions on their faces.
“Well, that’s a first,” Beth said with a small laugh. “We got ditched in favor of the girlfriend.”
Sarah laughed too. “I’m sure it won’t be the last time…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at Beth, unsure what to do next.
“You want to grab breakfast? Just us? There’s a place around the corner that does amazing breakfast tacos.”
Sarah hesitated for a moment as her mind flipped through all the variations and meanings ‘just us’ had held over the years. The ‘just us’ of their unlikely friendship forged in college, or the just-us-against-the-world mentality they had brought to their marriage until it no longer worked, and ‘just us’ in the half-silent dinners they had shared out of a mix of obligation and a desire to raise their daughter with as much love as possible. Every version of ‘just us’ they had lived together was so different. Sarah surmised that this was simply another version to add to the pile.
“Breakfast tacos sound great.” She smiled, following Beth out the door.
“Order number 79!” a man’s voice called fifteen minutes later. Beth stepped forward, grabbing their food as Sarah pulled napkins from a dispenser before joining Beth at one of the brightly colored picnic tables nearby. She slid into her seat across from Beth, a little uneasy. They had already moved through what Sarah deemed theirsafetopics, and they hadn’t even eaten yet.
She pulled her paper tray towards her with her order, scrambled egg and avocado tacos.
“Still no spicy food for you before noon, I see,” Beth observed as she bit into a spicy chorizo and egg taco.
“Not unless I want to feel like I swallowed the sun all day. I’ll keep to my extremely bland tacos. It’s best for all parties involved.”
Beth grinned, dabbing sauce from the corner of her mouth. “It’s nice to know some things never change.”
Her smile this time, Sarah noticed, was brighter. Seeing it made the tension she had been holding so tightly begin to slowly uncoil as she relaxed into shared space with Beth again.
“So what’s new with you? I feel like every time I see you, you’re either off to an important meeting for the foundation or a cool trip with Nell. Give me all the details so I can live vicariously through you.”
Sarah took a moment to finish chewing before speaking. “Aside from the trip to Minnesota last week, travel has been a little light, but I anticipate it’ll pick back up in the fall. Nell and I have some strategizing to do for the rest of the year.” She felt the words leave her lips, but they didn’t sound like her; instead, they came off robotic.
“Sounds…official,” Beth said, taking another bite.
An awkward silence stretched between them before Sarah broke it.
“I’m also dating again.”
What? No.That wasn’t what she had meant to say.Shit. Fuck.
Beth blinked, a puzzled expression spreading across her face. “So you and Nell broke up then?”
Sarah nodded.
“You okay? With the breakup, that is?” Beth asked, concern for Sarah’s well-being hanging in her question.
“Yup. We decided to end things together.” Sarah really didn’t want to get into details because, yes, she was perfectly okay, and she hoped Beth still knew her well enough to read between the lines. If Beth had more thoughts about her and Nell breaking up, she chose not to share them. Instead, she followed up with another question, her genuine curiosity on full display.
“So then, how’s dating going, I guess?”
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief, taking a sip of her water, thankful Beth didn’t press her for more details about her split with Nell. Okay, she could work with this. This didn’t seem to be treading on any ‘unsafe’ territory.
“Honestly? It’s weird as hell. I’ve gone on a few okay dates, but no sparks yet.” Sarah took a bite, thinking for a moment before continuing. “Nell hired a matchmaker for me.”
A wide smile cracked across Beth’s face, which loosened Sarah’s tension even more. “That feels exactly like the kind of thing she would do. What’s that been like? Working with a matchmaker?”
Beth seemed genuinely interested to hear more about it, so Sarah gave her the rundown of her meeting with Janet the week before.
“So now that the matchmaker has everything from me, I just wait for her to call and tell me where to meet my next date,” Sarah finished.
