Grace cannot sleep. As much as she wants Lee to be happy for her, she knew it would go just like this. But as angry and hurt as she is, can she really blame her?
She has replayed her and Noah’s relationship over and over, as if on a calendar. They’d met years ago at a coffee shop. He’d been dating someone else at the time, and Grace wasn’t romantically interested in anyone. Then they’d joined the same gym. Once she found out he was an occupational therapist, she’d taken Luca in for a few sessions. After years of casual run-ins, occasional drinks, and professional referrals for her friends’ kids, he’d asked her on a real date. She didn’t even know if she was interested until she was.
She should have told Lee the first time she and Noah went out, but she knew Lee might find it problematic for her best friend to be dating her son’s therapist. Grace didn’t yet know how strongly they’d both feel or how fast they’d fall. She didn’t want to add to Lee’s worries if their relationship fizzled out before it had even started.
Their first date, they’d met at Lockeland Table, a sweet little slice of hipster heaven in East Nashville. She’d worn a form-fitting dress. As she walked through the door, searching for him in the dim light among laughing guests, she realized that she wanted more than friendship.
She spotted him at a high-top by the window. Streetlight poured in and illuminated his strong features. There was a new intimacy to meeting like this, on purpose, alone. For a startling moment, she wondered if she could go through with it. There was Lee. There were boundaries. There were lines friends didn’t cross. But that early on, she had no idea Lee liked him romantically.
Grace felt like she deserved some fun too, something just for herself. She spent so much time worrying about Lee and Mason that she owed it to herself to go on a real date with someone she already trusted. As she sat across from Noah, tossed back drinks, and flirted, something awakened for the first time in a while: genuine interest.
He’d kissed her that night, before they separated toward their cars, lingering on the front walkway. The new boutique hotel across the street thrummed with tourists spilling onto the porch, listening to music and getting rowdy, and just as she was making a comment, he’d gripped the back of her waist and leaned in for a deep, intensely intimate kiss. His thumbs grazed her cheeks. Her entire body—which had been dormant since her divorce—sprang to life. She left in such a giddy stupor that she’d speed-dialed Lee before she even knew what was happening. She made up some lame excuse as to why she’d called and hung up before she told her where she’d been.
Looking back, she should have. They should have had it out then, so it wasn’t a secret now, so she could have shared every step of their relationship instead of treating it like some sinister secret. It could have even shifted Lee’s interest in Noah, made her realize he was unavailable. Grace had seen the crush forming but had done nothing to stop it.
She sits up. Despite Lee’s anger, she can’t leave her out there. Grace thinks about the confession from the party and a protective rage settles over her. Though Lee puts on a good front, she’s still fragile. She tries to bury all that sadness, but it’s there. Grace recognizes it.
She tiptoes downstairs and listens for signs of Lee in the house. On the back deck, the chairs are empty and the blankets refolded. She scans the backyard, then heads inside. She searches the downstairs couch and the empty guest room and even walks up to their room again and hunts for the bathroom light shining beneath the closed door.
No Lee.
She checks her phone for a missed text and decides to go back outside. She’ll do a quick loop, see if she can find her so they can talk. One way or another, they are working this out.