"Are you hungry?" Stevie trailed into the room with two saucers that had the finest tea cups resting on top, along with a napkin full of cookies she'd made earlier that day.
She was in a flowing black dress, a sweater covering her shoulders and her long hair was pulled back into a clip. She always looked so put together, even though both women knew that wasn't always the case.
"No," Carol was sitting on an accent chair in the sunroom, legs crossed and nearly as quiet as a mouse. "But thank you." She shook her head, the softest smile on her face.
Sometimes it was crazy how long they had known each other, yet really knew hardly anything about one another.... They weren't best friends, but they really weren't enemies anymore either. They were just two women who happened to love the same man at one point in their lives and through the years, they'd learned to understand each other for the sake of their own sanity.
"Here, honey." She carefully handed over the plate, trying to be as sympathetic as possible.
"Thank you, Stevie." Carol repeated, feeling a little out of place, but it wasn't nearly as terrible as you'd imagine.
They had been in that same situation before and at that point in time, there really wasn't any hostility or anger towards one another... It was what it was.
Stevie carefully took a seat on the sofa on the other side of the coffee table, still cradling her cup. "What makes you think he's seeing someone?" She wondered, voice soft and eyes weak.
She really felt for her... she always had, but something drew her closer that afternoon than ever before.
With a really faint sigh, Carol's eyes fell to the fur rug as she tried to decide what to say. "He's been staying at the condo for the last couple of months." She announced, which was news to Stevie. "Well, longer than that, really..." she recounted, not even exactly sure when he left home... it had been so long, she couldn't even remember. "But we've spoken every day." She added, almost embarrassed that she even came over at that point. "I told him last week that we were having dinner with Ann and her husband tonight and he didn't show up." She felt like she was rambling by then, but Stevie still holding eye contact is what told her that her words weren't going unnoticed and she didn't sound totally crazy. "He didn't even call to tell me that he couldn't make it." She was more mad than anything else... maybe a little worried, but mostly just annoyed with his lack of effort.
Stevie stayed quiet for a moment, not sure how she was supposed to reply to all of that... Didn't seem like her place to make remarks. "You think he's with another woman?" She repeated, going back to the concern Carol voiced in the doorway.
She paused for a second and then let off a soft nod. "I kind of hoped he would be here..." She admitted, even though they both knew it wasn't that easy. "But it appears like you have your hands full and I shouldn't have come over and worried you with-"
"Don't be sorry." Stevie cut her off, not to be mean, but not wanting her to feel like it was an inconvenience. "You know how much I care..." her voice was so gentle as she cradled her cup close to her lips.
Nodding her head, the other woman let out the softest laugh. "I know and I'm thankful for that." In all honesty, she was, even though it could be hard at times to understand her place in their world.
Even though they hadn't always seen eye- to- eye, Carol had been very appreciative of the support Stevie had given them and their children. She had always been there for Adam and Ann, no matter what the situation was and sometimes it could be ugly.
She was a good person and Carol couldn't argue that.
"I don't think he's with anyone else..." Stevie announced after a moment of silence had come and gone.
Lindsey might not have been the best husband in the world, but he had never been that type of man... Stevie was one thing, because they'd been on the same roller coaster forever, but for him to seek someone new didn't sound like something he'd do- not to Carol.
"Lindsey and I will never be able to make it work again." She had never said anything like that, but especially not to Stevie... she wasn't exactly someone she'd consider a confidant. "But I wish you two would..." she lingered, which caused Stevie to let out a really light gasp almost immediately.
Her china glasses clinked together as she scrambled to set her cup down on the coffee table before she dropped it. "Carol..." Her eyes were slightly large as her heart beat sped up insanely.
"You can only give someone so much, Stevie." There was something so eerily calm about the tone that lingered in her voice. She was done and it was obvious. "Lindsey and I have done that for each other..." she paused for a moment, gaze falling once more. "We've shared as much as we can, and I can tell by the way you look at one another that there's still some spark there." Carol had always known something was happening, even though she'd never been able to pinpoint it... A house in Maui was the last thing she would have ever imagined. "It's your time to make each other happy..."
~~~
After Stevie had made sure Carol got to her car okay, she closed the front door, the heaviest sigh escaping her as she fell back against the wood to keep herself up.
Her heart was beating a mile a minute, stomach in tight knots as she replayed their conversation a million times over in just a split second.
"Karen?" She shouted, pushing herself away as she quickly began to travel up the stairs. "Karen?" She repeated, pushing open the door at the end of the hallway with so much force, it almost swung back and got her.
Looking up from the screen with wide eyes, the younger woman froze. "Yes...?" Karen had been up in the home office all evening, typing away on the keyboard... She was totally unaware of what was happening downstairs.
"I have to get to Hawaii."
