Page 49 of Between the Lines

Essie took a bite of her salad. The paperwork, the lawyers, the strain of Sophie and Frank’s relationship…it all sat there in her mind, unsaid and unresolved. None of it erased the fact that Sophie sounded lost.

At some point, Sophie would have to figure out that moving forward would mean dealing with those things.

“That’s still something,” Liliana said gently. “Getting through the day, I mean. Sometimes you have to take that as a win.”

Sophie nodded. “Yeah.”

Essie watched as Sophie took another bite and seemed to close down a bit. But then Mattie asked her about her favorite dinosaur and Sophie rested her hand briefly on the back of his chair as she did her best to answer him.

It wasn’t affection, exactly, but she wasn’t ignoring him. That was kind of remarkable.

The tension hadn’t vanished. There were plenty of hard parts still waiting to be dealt with.

But Sophie was here. She was present and more engaged than Essie had ever seen her. Essie took great hope in that.

It was most definitely a step forward. And for right now, Essie told herself, that felt like an answer to her prayers.

Chapter Twenty

Robbie came through the front door with the satisfied slump of someone who’d been on his feet all day and used every muscle he owned. He’d probably used up most of his brainpower, too.

“Hey, Robbo,” Maude said, looking up from her laptop. She was working from her recliner, checking on client websites and doing a little troubleshooting. “How was your day?”

“Good. Got a lot done but I am beat.” He toed the door shut behind him. “Had a man stick his head in to see what I was up to and he bought one of my charcuterie boards on the spot. Said his wife would love it.”

“That’s awesome!”

“I thought so, too. In fact, I decided it deserved a little celebration, so I bought dinner.” He lifted a familiar plastic bag. “Don’t get excited,” he said. “It’s just Pub subs.”

Maude set her laptop aside. “Hey, Pub subs are worth a reasonable level of excitement. Please tell me you got me Italian.”

“Fully loaded.” He set the bag on the kitchen counter and started unpacking it.

She got up to get drinks. He’d ordered his usual turkey from the looks of it and he’d had the presence of mind to grab a bag of kettle chips and a container of potato salad, too. She set two cans of Diet Coke next to the bag and got plates out.

“What else did you get done at the flex space today?” she asked.

“That new table design is finally coming together. I can’t wait to get pics of it so you can put it on the website.” He glanced at his shirt, which seemed to be imbedded with sawdust. “Um, I’m going to shower before I sit down.”

“Good, because I was about to suggest that,” Maude said. “No rush. I’ll wait.”

While he was gone, she put the subs on plates, added a handful of chips and a scoop of potato salad to each one, then popped the top of her soda. The house felt full but peaceful. It was a routine they’d settled into. Robbie’s boots by the door. Her laptop closed. An agreed-upon show streaming on the TV.

At the moment, they were watching a series about cyber-crime investigators. Maude kept finding errors with the plot devices but was doing her best to ignore them because she knew Robbie found the leading woman attractive.

She would have enjoyed it more if they’d hired her to consult and correct their errors.

Robbie came back out a few minutes later, hair damp, clothes changed, and already reaching for his sub.

“You want me to put the show on?” Maude asked.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “Mindless entertainment is about all I have the energy for. That and this sub.” He took a bite of one half before he reached the couch.

She was just about to do the same when there was a knock at the door.

Maude paused. “No idea who that is.”

“Really?” Robbie snorted.