Chapter 16 - Diane Came Back
Three years after the spa incident, Diane returned to Santa Fe.
She called first.
That mattered.
We met for coffee.
She had aged.
So had I.
“Paige is doing better,” she said.
I nodded.
I did not ask for details.
“She knows I’m seeing you.”
“That’s her business.”
Diane smiled faintly.
“She said to tell you she’s sorry.”
“She already wrote.”
“I know.”
We drank coffee.
Then Diane said:
“I spent my whole life rescuing her.”
I waited.
“When she was a child, when she was in college, when she got into debt. Every consequence—I softened it.”
Her eyes filled.
“I thought that was motherhood.”
I understood more than I wanted to.
Grant’s mistakes had been different.
But I had softened things too.
“We can love our children without standing between them and every consequence,” I said.
Diane nodded.
Before leaving, she reached across the table.
“Are we okay?”
I considered the question.
“We’re honest.”
She smiled.
“I’ll take it.”
“So will I.”
We hugged outside.
Not best friends.
Not enemies.
May you like
Two mothers who had learned expensive lessons about love.
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