Page 39 of Breadwinner
Gray, moody sky pressed against the windows as she listened to the pleasing sound of rain tapping lightly against the glass. Her next appointment, a mineral soak, wasn’t for another thirty minutes. Right now, nothing sounded better than sipping her tea, letting her mind go blissfully quiet. She was inhaling the heady aroma when movement on the far side of the atrium caught her attention.
Voices, younger and far too animated for the peaceful setting, rose above the tranquil hush.
“Lily, please, you have to watch the stream with me this week,” one of them said. “Mother Goth is amazing. She does, like, these full Sims builds on a livestream, and she wears this sparkly cat mask the whole time. It’s iconic.”
Nell recognized the voice before she recognized the face. Wren Parker.
She appeared first, her height making her easily identifiable. Her hands moved in expressive gestures as Lily Gallagher, Sarah’s daughter, caught up to her. The girls were closely followed by two adults: one she instantly recognized as Jamie Lyons, and the other a blonde woman who looked just like Lily, who could only be Beth, Sarah’s ex-wife.
Nell stilled, the porcelain cup resting just shy of her lips, her gaze locked on the group as they passed by, unaware of her presence. Beth turned her head to say something to Jamie, and Nell got a clear look. Bright blue eyes. Fair skin dusted with freckles. Something about her was so incredibly inviting.It wasn’t hard to understand why Sarah loved her, at least on a surface level. Beth was striking in that unassuming way. There was a kind of calmness to her, a steadiness that—No. Don’t do that.Nell caught herself.
It wasn’t her place, and it certainly wasn’t her business, to dissect Sarah’s past relationships—to look at them like they were case studies in emotional patterning which she could use toform her strategies on. Still, she had to acknowledge that seeing Beth was causing something to stir inside her. Not jealousy—she didn’t do jealousy—but maybe curiosity? A reminder that Sarah’s world was bigger than she remembered sometimes.
She took another sip of her tea, letting the warmth settle.
Beth’s voice called out. “Sar, you coming?”
Her eyes shot back toward the door to the changing room, and sure enough, there was Sarah, her robe cinched tightly around her waist, open just enough to show a tantalizing peek of collarbone.
“Yup, I’m right behind you. Just need a minute.” Sarah said it, but it didn’t sound like her. Not to Nell, at least. Her voice was missing something she couldn’t quite identify.
“Don’t take too long,” Beth said, as she and Jamie exited the atrium through the door to the tea bar.
She watched it happen—the moment Sarah’s gaze swept the room and landed on her like a sudden storm rolling in across a flat bay. Nell expected surprise, maybe even irritation, but what caught her off guard was the way a dozen emotions chased each other across Sarah’s face—shock, confusion, annoyance, something wounded—before disappearing behind a carefully placed mask of poised composure.
Of course Sarah would be adept enough to pull herself together that fast. That was part of her brilliance. Sarah squared her shoulders and began walking toward Nell like she had every right to. And she did.
Nell stood, setting her teacup down with practiced elegance.
“Sarah,” she said warmly.
“Nell.” Sarah’s voice was calm, a little cold even, and underneath it, she could hear the thread of something else. Restraint?
“I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” Nell said, trying to read the space between Sarah’s expression and the words she wasn’t speaking.
“That makes two of us.” Sarah glanced around, lowering her voice. “I saw you before the girls did. Thought it might be best if I said something.”
Nell tilted her head. “And what would that something be?”
Sarah hesitated a moment before continuing, “This thing between us, whatever it is we’re doing, it doesn’t happen around Lily. That’s not a line I blur. Understood?”
Sarah’s statement wasn’t delivered in a raised voice or as a threat. It was a clear, quiet boundary that landed like a weight in the middle of Nell’s chest. She didn’t recoil, but something in her did pull back as she nodded carefully. “Understood.”
Sarah studied her for a long moment, eyes narrowing, almost like she was assessing her. “You didn’t tell me you were in town.”
“No, I didn’t,” she admitted.
“And I haven’t heard from you in a few weeks,” she said, quieter this time. “Why?”
Nell paused before gesturing vaguely around them. “Because I’ve been busy. I needed some quiet, and, truthfully, I didn’t think I had the energy to be around you when I’ve been feeling so depleted from my work. You deserve more than my divided attention.”
Sarah blinked. It wasn’t the answer she expected, and Nell hadn’t planned to say it, but that didn’t make it any less true.
“Besides,” Nell added, “I didn’t anticipate running into you like this. I thought you lived in the city.”
“No, I live here,” Sarah said.
Her eyebrows lifted in surprise. “You live here?”