Laura sat at the kitchen table the following morning, hoping she’d done the right thing. She and Cade had done the morning chores at the stable together, but they hadn’t talked any more than they’d needed to during the routine. He would usually come up to breakfast with her at the main house, but he’d gone back to his apartment over the barn for breakfast instead.
“I think I’ll go sit on the front porch with this for a while,” Josh said lifting his coffee mug and leaving behind Laura, May, and the uncomfortable silence that had settled among them.
Laura stood and began carrying dishes to the sink, then ran the water to warm it.
“Are you going to tell me what happened?” May asked, and Laura wanted to laugh. Or cry. She wasn’t sure which one. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to May about her relationship with Cade.
She shrugged. “Nothing. We just decided it wasn’t a good time to start dating.”
“Hmmm. You’re probably right about that. You have a lot going on, a lot to figure out,” May said.
Laura rinsed the last dish and shut off the water, ignoring the pang she felt in her chest when May agreed it wasn’t a good idea to date Cade. She took a deep breath and dried her hands. This was what she’d wanted. She had wanted to end the relationship, to nip it in the bud before Cade realized he only cared about her because she needed him. Before she was attached and it was too late to protect herself.
Laura didn’t say anything as May sipped her tea and watched her. A few minutes later, May put her teacup in the sink and went to leave the room, but turned back just as abruptly as she’d left.
“You know, though, Laura. I could be wrong. It might just be the perfect time to let someone in. It might be the perfect time to let someone support you and be with you. It takes a lot of strength and courage to lean on someone else, to let them help hold you up when you think you might fall down. To take a risk on something like that. Sometimes leaning on someone else is the strongest thing you can do.”