Page 114 of The Silent Note

“Dutch?” I ask.

Right after that, my phone buzzes.

Cadence smirks. “Zane?”

I cough and hide my phone back in my purse.

Sloane shakes her head, flipping her blonde hair back when the breeze throws it in her face.“What is this? The Wives Running Away From Their Husbands Club? Why do I feel like the most mature one here?”

I give her the evil eye.

Cadence squints at me in a curious and mildly concerned way.

Awkwardly, I gesture to the moon that’s hanging low above the trees. “It’s a beautiful night, huh?”

Her smile is tight. “I guess so.”

Just then, a mother pushing her little girl on a tricycle passes by. The little cutie pedals fast, not realizing that it’s her mom propelling her along.

She laughs and looks back at her mom. “Mommy, look at me! I’m flying!”

Her mother grins.

Watching them suddenly reminds me of my mom and my heart pains me.

Hoping to distract myself, I turn to Cadence. “Hey, you want some ice—Cadence, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” She smiles through watery tears.

“I’m out. If she starts crying, I’ll cry and we both don’t want that.”Sloane announces and then she disappears.

I hesitate, not sure what to do. I’ve never seen Cadence cry. Not last semester, when she was being bullied by Dutch and his brothers. Not when she got kicked out of Redwood. And not even when she saw her mother’s dead body in the morgue.

“Here.” I rush to grab a pack of tissues and hand one over.

She takes it. “This is so embarrassing.”

“Don’t ever be embarrassed about crying. Not in front of me.”

She pulls her lips into her mouth and I can tell those words mean a lot to her.

I want to rub her back, but I decide not to touch her while she composes herself. Cadence reminds me a lot of myself. She forces herself to be strong, even when she’s feeling weak. And when that facade cracks, it’s mortifying.

The tears stop quickly, almost as if she willed it. “Thanks for this,” she sniffs, holding up the tissue. There’s a pretty flush over her cheeks and she manages to look even more delicately beautiful with tears in her eyes.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“No. I mean it’s okay.”

After muttering the words, she says nothing more. So I prompt her. “Did something happen with you and Dutch?”

“Dutch is an idiot, but that’s not why I’m crying. It’s…” She tilts her head back and blinks rapidly, struggling against another wave of emotions.

“Hey, it’s okay.” This time, I do rub her back. “Let’s talk about something else. Tell me why Dutch was being an idiot.”

She sucks in a big breath. “It’s nothing.”

“Try me.”