Chapter 15
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Is it normal to be this excited about a window?” Eleanor asked, looking happily at her newly installed picture window.
Miriam scoffed. “At my age, little lady, you learn that ‘normal’ is overrated. Let the excitement come. You never say no to happiness in this life.”
Eleanor looked half pleased by this, half horrified.
“Did you just call me ‘little lady?’ Miriam, I am forty-two years old.”
Miriam scoffed again. “At my age, anybody under sixty is ‘little.’ Try me again when you qualify for retirement benefits, huh?”
Eleanor shot Cadence a scandalized look. Cadence held up her hands in a defenseless gesture.
“You’re not going to see me battling Miriam on the merits of age,” she told her friend. “I think she called me ‘missy’ until I was, like, twenty-eight.”
She didn’t add that she’d only gotten Miriam to relent because Cadence had been married, pregnant with Isabelle, and, ahem, a touch emotional.
“Fine, fine,” Eleanor groused, although there was no real heart in it. “Tell me how young and spry I am.”
“I didn’t say spry,” Miriam teased. “You’ll have to earn ‘spry.’ Consider jumping jacks. Then you can strive for spry.”
“Tough crowd,” Eleanor murmured.
Miriam, who was quite spry at seventy, pressed up on her toes and gave Eleanor a peck on the cheek.
“Speaking of young whippersnappers,” Miriam asked as they settled into their seats, “how did Isabelle’s field trip go, Cadence? It’s nice to see kids these days still interested in coastal preservation.”
Cadence took a sip of her margarita before answering. They’d gone with Mexican-inspired snacks that evening, with chips, a bunch of different dips, and empanadas that Diana had brought from a new place that had opened up a few towns over.
Cadence had already eaten more of them than she cared to admit, but she planned to have a few more since they were irresistibly good. Maybe after she’d had more of her drink though. Eleanor made a simply delicious margarita.
“Well,” Candence said, indulging herself in building up a little bit of drama.
She knew, after all, that her friends would be excited to hear this.
It was why she had waited until book club to tell them about it.
That, and she had wanted some time to herself to muddle through her feelings.
Unfortunately, the next book club meeting had rolled around before she’d gotten any clarity.
“It was good,” she said after a pause. “Izzy had tons of fun with her friends, the weather was great except for a quick little burst of rain at the end, and… oh, yeah, Tyler was there.”
“What?” Diana yelped.
Eleanor very nearly choked on a mouthful of margarita.
June froze with a guacamole-laden chip halfway to her mouth.
But it was Miriam who got all the way to her feet.
“You,” she accused, pointing at Cadence. “You withheld important information.”
“You’re just jealous that I stole your thunder, drama-wise,” Cadence countered.
“Okay, yeah, that’s true,” Miriam allowed, sinking back into her chair. “Anyway, spill.”
“I second the request that you spill,” Diana chimed in, raising her hand.
“Did you get to talk to him?” June asked.
“How do you feel about it?” Eleanor added.
“You do all realize that I can’t tell you anything if you keep talking over me, right?” Cadence asked, pointing at each of them in turn.
June made a great production of zipping her lips and throwing away the imaginary key.
Cadence explained everything, starting with her surprise at finding Tyler waiting among the students, how nice it had been to see Isabelle’s delight when he showed up, how the three of them had enjoyed lunch together.
There was quite a lot of wide-eyed exchanging of glances and sucked-in breaths as she relayed the time the three Meadows had spent in the little cave, hiding out the storm.
Still, the group remained silent, as if they feared any interruption would stop her from telling the remainder of the story.
“And then,” she concluded, leaning back in her chair, “he asked if he could ‘take me out’ sometime.”
June was leaning so far forward that she looked like she was about to fall out of her seat.
“Well, what did you say?” she demanded when Cadence had the audacity to take a pause long enough to sip her margarita.
Cadence grimaced. This was the part she felt most conflicted about. She’d gone over the exchange again and again, the musings keeping her awake at night, as she tried to decide if she’d done the right thing.
“I told him that I was really busy with the gallery,” she said. “Which… I don’t know if I was wrong to put him off, but, phew, am I wishing I’d come up with something a little less goofy to say.”
“Oh, sweetie,” Eleanor said, reaching out to grab one of her hands. “It’s not an easy situation. Be gentler on yourself.”
“Thanks,” Cadence said. “I just… I just don’t know. I keep thinking about it and thinking about it, and I can’t get any more clarity. It’s not that I don’t care about him. I do. But…”
“There’s always a risk in loving someone,” Eleanor said.
“It’s not the same, I know, but I’ve had my share of worries about letting Garrett in, not because of anything he’s done, but because sometimes my mind likes to throw up these little worries, like, What if things go the way your marriage went? ”
Cadence rubbed her forehead. “But if there’s always a risk, doesn’t that mean I should take a chance?” She wasn’t certain if she was asking her friends or herself.
Eleanor still held one of Cadence’s hands, but now Miriam reached out and clasped the other.
“No,” she said. “It means you should take the chance if you want to, if you feel ready to. It’s been years since I lost Harold, and though I never say never, not when it comes to happiness…
Well, so far, the time hasn’t been right for me to seek that kind of relationship again.
Maybe it’ll never happen. Maybe it will. But there’s no rushing being ready.”
Cadence appreciated Miriam’s words, but privately, she thought things were different.
Miriam had lost her husband because he had passed away.
June too, had suffered such a painful, meaningless loss.
If either of them sought love again, it wouldn’t be with Harold or Keith.
It simply wasn’t possible, horrible thought that was to think about.
But Tyler…
He was here. He’d extended a hand.
She was just so scared about what might happen if she reached back, not just to her, but to Izzy too.
Even if she did still love him.
And she did. She just… couldn’t bear to think about it too much.
Not just in general, but here, specifically. Unless she wanted to tear up in the middle of book club, that was. Which, shockingly, she did not.
“You’re all amazing,” she told her friend gratefully. “I think I’m just… going to sit with it for a while.”
“Well, we’re here when you’re ready to talk,” Miriam reassured her. “Whenever that may be.”
“Thanks,” Cadence said, taking her turn to squeeze the older woman’s hand.
“And hey,” she added, forcing some lightness into her tone, “I wasn’t totally full of it when I told Tyler I was busy with the gallery.
I’ve been doing some reorganizing and things are looking good.
I’m thinking about having an exhibition so that everyone can marvel over my labors and impressive eye for design. ”
“Okay, okay,” Diana said. “I would like to be clear that I am happy for you, but let’s be clear who is the design queen of this little club, okay?”
“My apologies, my lady,” Cadence said, sketching a bow from her chair.
“Apology accepted,” Diana said primly, making everyone laugh.
“Are we currently accepting ideas?” June asked. “Because I feel like people would totally come out for some limited time exhibitions. That would help you get locals coming in a few times, rather than just once in a while.”
Cadence snapped her fingers and pointed at June.
“Yes. That’s a great idea. Keep ‘em coming.”
“Okay, well I only had the one idea, sheesh,” June said, sticking out her tongue. “But if you have any more pearls of wisdom, I am happy to contribute to making them into reality.”
“Seconded,” Eleanor said.
“Thirded!” Diana chimed in.
“My heavy lifting days are behind me,” Miriam said, “but I am available for snack providing, moral support, and, of course, gathering the locals to attend.”
“Some say gathering, others say bullying,” June teased, holding up the hands like she was weighing the scales between the two.
“Say what you want,” Miriam retorted, her nose in the air, “but they are both effective at getting butts in seats. So laugh it right up, little missy.”
“Drat,” June muttered. “I’ve been knocked back down to ‘little missy.’”
As everyone laughed and the conversation gradually turned toward the book they had read for that evening’s meeting, Cadence thought about her good luck.
Things with her husband might be complicated, and she might feel pangs of hope and longing whenever she considered the idea of repairing matters between them.
But she had a wonderful job, a wonderful kid, and wonderful friends.
And when you put all that together, it added up to a pretty wonderful life, indeed.