“Shut up. I’m being serious.”
“I can’t help Cadence has a hot friend. And she’s nineteen. Perfectly legal. And she’s my dream come true.”
“You played cards with her one night. How is she your dream girl? This is purely chemical.”
“Nope. Her brain, man. I figured out how she operates. She’s incredibly intelligent. She’ll keep me on my toes. She’ll challenge me. She’ll entertain me.”
“She’s not a circus animal, Dylan. She’s an actual girl. With feelings. And you’ll hurt hers. And I won’t let you do it because I cannot deal with that kind of aftermath.”
Mark could see it now: Avery bursting through his door crying her eyes out. An all-night sob session about how awful and stupid and callous men are, and he’d have to sit through the whole thing and agree. All while handing out tissues for tears and spoons for ice cream.
Fuck. That.
“It’s not happening,” Mark decided. “You can forget it.”
“We have a date Friday.”
“Damnit, Dylan!”
“I love when you alliterate.”
“Fuck you.”
“Relax, bro. Everything will work out just fine. It’s only a date. She may end up hating me by the end of it.”
“I hope so,” Mark muttered.
“Is it that you don’t like her?” Dylan asked. He dropped the playful tone.
Mark shook his head. “It’s not that at all. I just foresee a lot of messiness in the future. She’s very connected. Do you understand? If you hurt her, you hurt Cadence. And by default, you hurt me. That’s how it works. I don’t wanna deal with juggling people’s feelings. Managing emotions. I mean for Cadence, yes. But not for you or Avery.”
“I get that. But Avery isn’t your business,” Dylan replied.
“Well, I disagree, but you’re gonna do what you want.”
“Trust me, Mark. I wouldn’t go out of my way to make your life difficult. And it’s just a date.”
“Fine. But can you refrain from sleeping with her?”
“I don’t sleep with anyone on the first date,” Dylan said.
Mark nodded. That was true. The STD fear. “Knowing you, it’ll end up working out.”
Dylan chuckled. “Would that be so wrong?”
Mark shrugged. “Maybe not. Still weird, but who the hell am I to tell anyone who to date?”
“Wiser words were never spoken,” Dylan replied.
Mark thought for a moment. “You really didn’t try to discourage me.”
“Huh?”
“When I told you about Cadence. I mean, you said I was crazy and heartbroken and all that. You did say bad shit could happen, but even then, you said you’d still be my friend and visit me in the slammer.”
Dylan nodded.
“Why?”
“Because people don’t have the right to choose a life for someone else.”
“Sure, but there are still rules,” Mark pointed out.
“You only broke one. And it wasn’t illegal.”
“Cost me my job,” Mark said.
“You didn’t even like your job,” Dylan noted.
Mark chuckled. “That obvious?”
“Well, correction. You liked one aspect of your job. And her name is Cadence,” Dylan said.
“Tell me the truth. What did you think of her when she came here to listen to records?”
Dylan sighed. “You really wanna know?”
Mark nodded.
“I thought, how can one little person carry around that much sadness?”
Mark tensed. Dylan eyed him thoughtfully.
“You’ve gotta tell her, Mark,” he said quietly.
“I know.”
“It’ll be awful, but you can’t keep it from her much longer.”
“I don’t wanna see her sad like she used to be. I’d do anything to keep her happy forever,” Mark said.
“I know. But it’s not fair to her to keep her in the dark. And you know it.”
Mark took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, trying to purge with it any fear of revealing his past to Cadence. Didn’t work. He was consumed by it all afternoon, long after he left Dylan’s store. He determined to tell her. He did. He just couldn’t put a date on it yet.
Cadence expected swords and shields. What she got instead were handbags and hats. These women were going to be her protectors? Um, no. They were sassy. She’d give them that, but she wasn’t sure they’d be able to get the job done. After all, there were five of them, but hundreds of everyone else.
“Remind me again why this is important?” Cadence asked. She stood huddled outside the sanctuary doors, unwilling to walk inside. Mark stood beside her, his arm wrapped around her waist.
“Cadence, honey, you’ll be okay. You don’t run, remember?” Martha said.
“Yes, I do,” Cadence argued. “I sure do.” She broke away from Mark’s grasp and started towards the parking lot. Mark went after her.
“Hey,” he said, taking her hand and forcing her to stop. “It’s okay. We can go home.”
“You’re just saying that because you don’t wanna be here either,” Cadence replied.
“Cadence, I don’t mind being here. And I know church is important to you. I wanted to come. And I won’t let anyone be mean to you. I don’t think they will, but you’re safe either way.”