Page 64 of Through the Snow Globe
“Of course.”
Diana reached for Addy’s phone on the bedside table and handed it to Addy. “Unlock this for me.”
Addy’s smooth skin wrinkled as she scrunched her face. “Why?”
Diana tipped her head toward the phone. “Just do it.”
Addy complied and then Diana took the phone, pulled up the contacts, and found Sierra’s name. “Sierra Reynolds?”
“That’s her,” Addy confirmed, reaching to swipe her phone back.
Diana tapped the contact and stepped away from Addy’s reach.
“What are you doing?” Addy asked, eyes going wide with panic. “Are you calling her? Please don’t say anything.”
Diana listened to the ring tone until a girl’s voice answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Sierra Reynolds?” Diana asked.
“Um, yeah. Who is this? And why are you calling from Addy’s phone?” Sierra asked. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. I’m calling to tell you that friends don’t make plays on the other friend’s guy when the other friend is down. Or ever for that matter. Friends are supposed to be there for one another.” Rochelle had always been there for Diana, but maybe Diana hadn’t always reciprocated.
“Diana . . .” Addy whined. She stood off the bed and reached for the cell phone again.
Diana whirled to keep her back to Addy and continued talking. “You should be glad to have such a great person in your life like Addy.”
“What are you even talking about, lady?” Sierra said on the other line. “Are you spying on me or something?”
“If I was, would I see you hitting on Addy’s boyfriend?”
There was a silence on the other end of the line. “We’re just hanging out, okay? There’s nothing else going on, I swear,” Sierra said. “We’re mostly talking about how much we miss Addy.”
Diana turned back to Addy, who was close enough to hear what Sierra had said through the speaker.
Addy took the phone finally and held it to her ear. “Is that true?”
“Of course, it’s true,” Diana heard Sierra say as Diana stepped back. “You stopped talking to both of us, and I guess Jay and I have that in common. I mean, other than you being the only thing that we have in common because we both love you,” Sierra told Addy. “Otherwise, he’s kind of annoying, if you ask me.”
Diana blinked the burn from her eyes. A misunderstanding? Days of enduring Addy’s bad mood was over something that wasn’t even true? “You two talk it out. I think my work here is done,” Diana said quietly.
Addy looked at Diana and offered a tiny smile as she continued to talk to Sierra. “She’s my physical therapist,” she explained. “She’s pretty cool. And maybe a bit weird.”
Diana waved and headed out of Addy’s bedroom. Then she walked down the hall and out the front door without talking to Mrs. Pierce like she normally would. It didn’t matter. She was stuck in an endless loop of this day anyhow.
As soon as Diana got into her car, she pulled out her cell phone and called the florist. Rochelle’s crush hadn’t made a move yesterday because Diana had missed that step, and maybe she was a crappy friend, but she could at least send her best friend flowers on her birthday.
With the call behind her, she put her car into DRIVE. Next stop, Mr. Powell’s office.
Diana blew out a breath and drove toward the edge of town. She wasn’t even nervous this time, and she certainly wasn’t about to race home to polish up. Not after the last several debacles. She wouldn’t even have gone except she’d feel like she’d wasted the entire last couple of months if she didn’t. She’d been pouring all her energy and time into getting into management, climbing the success ladder, and making something of herself.
Fifteen minutes later, Diana arrived at the rehabilitation center and sat in her car before getting out. Every other time she’d been here, she’d been beside herself with nerves. Not this time. Before going inside, she grabbed her phone and tapped out a text to Linus.
Diana:Hey, just want you to know that ...
What did she want him to know? For the last three weeks, she’d been going to see him in the hospital, wanting so much for him to open his eyes and look at her. There was so much she wanted to say, but if she had to articulate it all . . . she really wasn’t sure what she wanted to tell him.“I love you”seemed too simple. Too clichéd. But it was the most there was in the English language. Or any language.
