Page 66 of The Glass Dolphin

A smile graced her face, because with the current breeze, and the sound of the lapping waves, and this lazy day where Julia wasn’t working at the Cliffside Inn, pure happiness had found a place inside her.

Once upon a time, she didn’t think this feeling would ever belong to her again. After raising three boys and being married for twenty-five years, Julia should’ve known that feelings and emotions were fleeting and quick. There were good times and bad, and they each only stayed for a season.

“Black and white,” she whispered, and she reached into her shoulder bag to retrieve her phone.I’m meeting Maddy for lunch at The Glass Dolphin today. Do you want to join us? Her ferry should be here in about ten minutes.

She sent the message to Robin, wondering if she should invite Laurel or Alice. They both lived right here on Diamond Island, and she’d enjoyed spending time with Alice in a smaller group. They’d even gone to lunch together—just the two of them—a few times since Julia had moved here.

Alice just picked me up, and we’re headed to the Dolphin for lunch too. Do you want to join us?

Julia’s first inclination was to say yes, of course. She and Maddy would love to join Robin and Alice for lunch. But hesitation pulled through her, because there had been no friend luncheons since Kelli had her baby.

The conversation at the hospital had played through Julia’s head every day since it had happened. The texts had been slow and nothing important. Julia missed the closeness she’d been developing with the women here, and so, yes, she wanted to go to lunch with Robin and Alice.

Then, the fact that Robin and Alice were going to lunch, just the two of them, without inviting anyone else told Julia that clearly, some relationships were continuing around her. She just wasn’t part of them.

So that hollow space inside her shouted at her to definitely deny the invitation to lunch. She’d only been told about the lunch because she reached out first and they’d end up in the same place.

So what?she thought. Before she could let the pinch in her stomach rise through her throat, she tapped out a response.I’ll talk to Maddy, but I can’t imagine she’ll say no.

A sense of longing pulled through her, and she added.I miss you guys.

Julia didn’t care if she’d revealed too much. She should’ve said things throughout her marriage that she hadn’t. She wasn’t going to hold back important things anymore, and her thoughts wandered to Liam.

Their relationship had been progressing along just fine. Julia sensed he was a little frustrated with her, but he hadn’t said so. She’d talked to Maddy about him, and Maddy had questioned why she was holding back.

It was a good question, one Julia didn’t have an answer to. With Maddy getting married soon, Julia wondered why she was dragging her feet with Liam. She didn’t want to break-up with him. She sure enjoyed spending time with him, whether they cuddled together on her couch or they went out for the best lobster rolls in Five Island Cove.

She looked down at her phone and realized she hadn’t sent the text to Robin. She quickly tapped to send it, the express ferry from Rocky Ridge appearing on the horizon.We’ll be there in about twenty minutes.

Perfect, Robin said. Julia hugged herself against the weather, a little shiver working its way through her body. Before she knew it Maddy had arrived, and she took one look at Julia’s face and said, “What’s going on?” Her footsteps slowed and she approached, and Julia wished she knew what her expression said.

“Robin texted,” Julia said. “She and Alice are going to lunch at the Dolphin too. They invited us to eat with them.”

Maddy’s perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose a little higher with every word Julia spoke. “Okay,” she said.

“I said we probably could,” Julia said, her heart pounding a little harder now. “But if you don’t want—”

“I do,” Maddy said. “I’m just surprised.”

“I was too,” Julia said as she turned to head out to the RideShare line with Maddy. She didn’t know what else to say, at least about this fractured group of friends she and Maddy had somehow found.

“When are the kids coming in?” she asked instead.

Maddy brightened. “Bea and Kyle will be here on Friday. Chelsea isn’t coming until Saturday, because her relationship with Robert is getting serious, and she has a date with him that, in her words, is very important.”

Maddy grinned and grinned as she spoke, and Julia should probably check in with her sons more often. They could go weeks without talking over the phone, as none of them really liked to discuss their lives in great detail.

She’d text, and get a line or two, but nothing like Maddy got from Chelsea. Men and women were different, and all Julia could do was work on her own relationships with her children, no comparison necessary.

“Why doesn’t she bring him to the wedding?”

“I guess he has an important meeting on Monday morning, and she doesn’t want to leave the cove right after the wedding.”

“She knows you and Ben are leaving the cove right after the wedding, right?” Julia asked.

Maddy’s smile faltered, slipping away like a faded sunset swallowed by the encroaching indigo of night. “She does,” she said, immediately clearing her throat. “She might be staying at the house on Rocky Ridge for a few days.”

Julia opened the door of the car that pulled up to the curb. She sank into the sedan and then slid across the seat to make room for Maddy. Once they were settled, with the doors closed and the car on the way to The Glass Dolphin, she looked over to Maddy, clearly telling her to finish the story.

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