Page 69 of Make Room for Love

“I know.” Isabel kissed her again.

“Do you think I was right?”

“If you think it’s the right choice, it probably is. You made a lot of good points. You’d know better than me.” Mira looked dissatisfied. “I mean that. You know that’s true. You know your own coworkers and your own union better than I do. I’m proud of you for speaking up.”

Mira had a hard time making up her mind. She was too used to being disregarded, and whenever her decisions mattered, it scared her—that much was clear. Isabel would keep being patient. These things took time. But there was one question where she knew she couldn’t be patient forever.

And Isabel didn’t have all the answers, even though Mira occasionally seemed to think she did. Sometimes it felt like a burden, and Isabel had so many burdens already. She couldn’t protect Mira from the real risk that they’d lose the election after so many years of hard work.

The grueling uncertainty was the worst part, Isabel knew from experience. But there wasn’t much she could do to ease that for Mira. It was up to Mira and her coworkers now.

And Isabel didn’t like the thought of Mira being constantly busy for the next several weeks. It was selfish, and she had no right to feel that way, but the sense of loss made her ache. “You’re going to be out all day tomorrow?” she asked.

“And Sunday.”

Isabel tried to not show any disappointment. They’d barely had any time together all week, but Isabel would just have to deal with it. “You’re going to do great out there,” she said, and held Mira a little tighter.

31

Time to bethe bigger person. Isabel had to text Grace. She couldn’t leave their argument hanging like that forever.

But she didn’t know what to say. Every time she thought about it, the pain and shame washed over her again. How was she going to move on from this? She’d been afraid to ask Mira for help and hadn’t had time to work up to it, and now Mira would be canvassing all day. Isabel was on her own. Sitting on the couch, dread gnawing at her, she took out her phone.

Huh. James, Alexa’s widower, had texted her. She couldn’t think of any obvious reason. They’d already caught up over text last week after they’d wished each other a happy New Year.

As it turned out, James was seeing someone new. It was getting serious, and he wanted Isabel to hear it from him. He would always treasure the years he’d had with Alexa…

Isabel put her phone down halfway through reading the text.

This was great for him. She was happy. She truly was. It wasn’t that she begrudged him this. But somehow, in the last two years, everyone seemed to have moved on faster than she had. She constantly had the sense she was still picking up the pieces, both her own and everyone else’s. But Grace was getting married in a few months, and James had found someone new.

Maybe it was just Isabel. Alone and left behind. She looked out the window at nothing in particular. Bare branches, slush and salt on the street.

Texting Mira was out of the question. She was busy—and, anyway, Isabel was too lost to know what to think, what to feel, what to say. If Mira were here, and they had all the time in the world, she might help Isabel untangle it all. But she wasn’t here.

Isabel picked up the phone to call Cat, who had probably known about her older brother’s new girlfriend for some time. As soon as she pressed the button, she regretted it. What was she even going to say?

Cat answered, looking frazzled on their video call. She was in her bedroom with piles of laundry on her bed. Loud, rhythmic thumping came through Isabel’s phone speaker. “Hey,” Cat said. “Sorry, one sec.” The music stopped. “What’s up?”

“Is this a good time?”

“Yeah, it’s good.” Cat sounded distracted. “I have a big set tonight, and I got behind, so I’m a little stressed. But it’s fine. Is this about James?”

“Kind of. If you’re busy?—”

“No, no, what’s up?”

“I’m not upset or anything. I’m happy for him. I just…” Isabel shook her head. “Finish what you’re working on. Let’s talk later.”

“You can feel however you need to about it.” Somehow, Cat’s sympathy made Isabel feel even lonelier. “We can talk now. What’s going on?”

“Let’s talk when you’re less busy. Good luck tonight.”

“Uh, thanks. If you’re sure. Okay, I think my work schedule is… Let’s just do our usual time on Wednesday. Is that okay? If you want to talk sooner than that, I can?—”

“That’s fine. Talk to you then.” Isabel hung up.

She made instant ramen with eggs, dumped in some frozen spinach for nutrition’s sake, and ate it standing up atthe counter. The apartment felt empty without Mira. It was almost like those endless months of last year when she’d been completely alone.

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