Page 69 of Sublimate
“Why don’t you sleep with Beau, then?” I asked. “I’m sure he would want to.”
She came out after a moment, patting her cheeks with a towel. “Do you really think so?”
“I mean, are you talking about just having sex or do you still want more?” I wondered.
Cadence didn’t speak but she started to turn red again and she reached for a non-existent curl. That was my answer right there: she wanted more.
“Do you think that he might want that too?”
She answered me with a question. “Why would he?”
“He does have a lot going on, with a new baby and a new business,” I agreed. “Nolan told me that Beau and his wife were awful together and the girlfriend he had before he got married was also a big jerk. It sounds like the mother of his baby is perfectly fine, but he didn’t like her.”
“That’s Victoria,” she said. “No, they’re not together.”
“Maybe he only goes after mean people. That happens. Most of my mom’s boyfriends and husbands were terrible, like, abusive and scary. One was ok but she dropped him fast. Another died before we knew too much about him. I bet he would have been equally bad if she’d given him the chance.”
“Do you mean that she…did he…was it a natural death?”
“As natural as a knife in the ribs can be,” I said. “The police questioned Patchouli, but I don’t really think that my sister was involved.”
“Good Lord in heaven.”
“I also have a very bad track record with boyfriends,” I continued. “Up until now, that is.”
“And the relationship you have with Nolan isn’t the most conventional,” she said. “Have you guys ever talked about the future?”
“I never focus on that,” I reminded her. “I don’t want to think about bears and dying alone.”
“Why would that happen? You have your paperwork and you’re starting an on-the-books job soon. You have a bank account…” She trailed off and stared out into the distance.
“If you’re worried about your mom getting into your joint account and stealing your money, well, that’s a legitimate concern. My mom always took everything that Patchouli and I made, up until my sister threatened her with a knife.” I paused and thought for a moment. “No, I really don’t think that she stabbed that guy.”
“My mom is able to access my bank account, but I was just thinking that she’s also able to access other things.”
“Like your painting supplies?”
“Yes, because she was lying about not being able to use the stairs so she can go into my room whenever she wants. That means she could have been using my laptop, too. She hated our friendship because it pulled me away from her,” Cadence told me. “What if she…no, she couldn’t have done that. No, that would be crazy.”
“I’m not trying to talk crapola about your mom. But if she threw you out of the house on Christmas Eve because she doesn’t want you to have a boyfriend when you’re twenty-eight? She already moved into the crazy lane,” I answered.
Cadence nodded a little, but she was obviously distracted. I would have been, too, if I’d thought that my money was going astray. It was a terrible feeling to watch it walk away from you. And I wondered about her mother—could she have been the one following me? No, I decided. She wasn’t spry enough to run away and she didn’t drive, either. She made her daughter take her around.
“Beau just texted to say that he’s running late because the baby blew out his diaper. I asked him not to share what that means,” Nolan said as I returned to the kitchen. He was removing the roast from the oven because, like bread, it was supposed to rest. “How is Cadence doing?”
“She’s worried about her mom stealing from her and I also think she might be in love with Beau. Would he be interested?”
“In Cadence?” He considered it. “He’s always had terrible taste in women. She might be too nice for him.”
I sighed. “That was what I thought, too.”
“In the past year, he has managed to make some amazing changes in his life,” he went on. “He’s working hard for the first time. He’s now a cautious driver. Very, very cautious. Excessively cautious. He takes care of his son better than he ever took care of himself. If he’s doing those things differently, thenhe might also have changed the way he thinks about partners and he might choose better. That seems to be part of maturity.”
It seemed to have been for me, since I was now with him. “Did you have to mature like that too?” I immediately shook my head. “No, because you already had good taste. You thought your fiancée was wonderful.” I wasn’t sure why I had brought her up again, since I knew that he didn’t want to talk about her. “Sorry. I’m sorry I mentioned that.”
“It’s all right. You’re correct that she was much too good for me.” He covered the meat with foil, frowning.
I got involved in making the salad and Beau arrived soon. He seemed happy to see Cadence when she came out of my former bedroom, and I watched how he, she, and Finley interacted. I could only spot friendship on his side but maybe he was hiding things. She did a good job of disguising her own feelings toward him and about how upset she was over the argument with her mother. We had a nice dinner with no more blow-outs, and they helped clean up the fancy china and crystal.
