Page 35 of Through the Snow Globe
Rochelle chuckled at this. “You’d make a good bartender. People could rattle off their sob stories and it wouldn’t get to you at all. Meanwhile, I listen to my patients’ stories all day and I have a slew of things I do at night just so I can get some sleep.” She lifted a brow. “How do you sleep at night?”
“Stop being a therapist. You’re my best friend.”
“Yes, I am. And it happens to be your best friend’s birthday,” Rochelle pointed out.
Diana stood, walked around the table, and gave Rochelle a hug. “Happy birthday. I love you.”
“And I still hate you for ditching the girls’ night later. But I love you too. And since love is an unconditional thing, we can still be friends.”
Diana smiled and returned to her chair. “Glad to hear it.”
“Since you don’t want counseling from me, you can call the receptionist at my workplace tomorrow and get an appointment with one of my colleagues.”
Diana didn’t respond to that. She didn’t need someone to talk to. She was just desperate to get her life back on track. She’d blown her chance at fixing her career, but she wasn’t about to blow the rest of this day. She reached for another fry off Rochelle’s plate, but this time Rochelle swatted her hand.
“We can still be friends, but this friend isn’t sharing her birthday fries with you anymore today.”
Chapter 11
The sun was down and it was dark outside as Diana sat in her car outside Linus’s store that evening. She had this feeling she was doing something criminal even though she was only waiting for her fiancé. She had dropped his bicycle off at home to ensure he didn’t refuse her ride and opt to pedal instead. That would be just like him, wanting to get those extra miles in.Not tonight. Sorry, Linus.
Diana stiffened as she saw him step out of his store. He turned to lock up behind him and then headed forward, noticing her after a few steps. His brow wrinkled. He must think she’s losing her mind today. This was her third time being here, which was more than she usually stopped by in a month.
He glanced over to his bike rack on the sidewalk where his bike was no longer waiting for him. Then he hurried to the passenger side of her vehicle and dipped inside.
“Di,” he said after closing the door behind him, “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve asked you today, but what is going on? Why are you here? And where is my bike?”
“Surprise.” She offered a wobbly smile. “It’s cold and dark and icy. You shouldn’t be traveling on a night like this. So, being a loving fiancé, I came to pick you up.”
Linus narrowed his eyes. “You’ve never cared about cold, dark, or icy before. And neither do I. I like to ride my bike, regardless of the weather. I mean, perhaps a hurricane might deter me, but not this.” He gestured all around him.
“It’s not safe.” Diana shrugged. “And, I don’t know, I thought you and I could use the extra time together.”
“It’s a ten-minute drive to our home,” Linus said flatly.
“Not if we take the long way.” She gestured at his seat belt. “Please buckle up.”
“For a ten-minute drive?”
“It’s the law and accidents happen.” Even though she was changing up all the contributing factors for Linus’s last accident, it couldn’t hurt to be as safe as possible. Perhaps she should have kept his bicycle helmet handy for him to wear in the car with her. He really would have balked at that.
Linus expelled a breath and pulled his seat belt across his chest. “You’re acting peculiar. Is this about last night’s spat? Or about what happened with your boss?”
She reversed out of the parking spot and drove up to the mouth of the lot, waiting for the slight traffic to clear before turning right.
“Our home is to the left,” Linus said.
“I’m taking the long way, remember? And yes, maybe this is about last night’s argument. I don’t like it when we’re mad at each other.”
“I’m not mad at you, Di. I love you. I just . . .” He sighed beside her. “I wish we wereusagain.”
“Us?” She looked away from the road for a moment and then screeched as her vehicle hit a patch of ice. Her fingers reflexively curled around the steering wheel as she righted back in her lane and blew out a heavy breath.
“You okay?” he asked.
She wasn’t. She was trembling from head to toe. Her eyes welled with tears, which was so unlike her. She was usually so in control of her emotions that the tears never surfaced. They’d already surfaced several times today, though. “What do you mean by wanting to beusagain?”
In her peripheral vision, she saw Linus shrug. “You know. The way we used to be before I proposed. We were just . . . us. We’d take bike rides together and lay in bed talking for hours. I miss that. We don’t sleep in on the weekends the way we used to.”
