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Why wasn’t the way clear?

She couldn’t drag Graham into this. He was a nice guy. He’d get over her and find someone whose life wasn’t such a mess. Someone who wasn’t in need of rescue but could come to him on a more equal basis.

Paisley breezed into the duplex. “Hey! I wondered where you’d gotten to.”

“I thought I’d make dinner in tonight. I got Nadine to add a few supplies for me on her last order. You’re welcome to join me if you like.”

“Aw, you should have given me more warning! I’m here to shower after playing running games with the tweens all afternoon, and then I’m meeting Kaci and Heather in the dining hall. I thought you’d join us.”

Cadence shook her head. “Nah.”

“You’ve been missing in action a lot lately, for someone whose job is social media.” Paisley air-quoted the words. “Doesn’t that require being sociable?”

“Not feeling it today.”

“Or yesterday. Want to talk about it?”

“Not really. It’s stuff from back home.”

“The Paul thing.”

“Partly, yeah.”

Paisley harrumphed. “I thought you’d told him no, go away, don’t come back.”

“I did, but he’s nothing if not persistent.”

“Has he vowed his undying love?”

“He has not.” Far from it, actually. If he thought his increasingly pushy wording was going to sway her, he was more of a loser than she’d ever thought possible.

“I thought you blocked him.”

“I did, but I’d have to get a new phone myself to block every number he calls from.” Trust him to have access to everything he needed to keep stalking her.

“So, do it.”

Cadence rubbed her thumb against her fingertips in the it takes money gesture. “And before you ask, my parents need my number, and they’d give it to Paul again, anyway.”

“I want to say I don’t understand how your parents could be such jerks, but then I think of my own mother, and I remember most of us don’t have an ideal family.”

“You’ve never mentioned your dad.” Maybe she could turn the conversation away from her own issues, since there was nothing her roommate could do to solve them, anyway.

Paisley shrugged. “Never met the guy.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, well, that’s my reality. I have a couple of sisters, but I doubt we have the same fathers. Mom was, well, a piece of work.”

“Was?”

“She kicked her addiction about five years ago. She’s trying to be a mother now, but it’s too little, too late, you know? You can’t get back all those years of neglect.”

“I can’t imagine.”

Paisley managed a wan smile. “Be thankful you don’t have to. Your parents, now. They’ve got problems, too, and it’s wrong of them to drag you into them. To count on you saving them from their own lousy choices.”

Was that all it was? Maybe? All Cadence knew was that the guilt was real. She had it in her hands to solve their problems two different ways, and all she was doing about it was digging in her heels while wringing her hands.