“Exactly. So distract me with your plate.”

Her gaze roamed throughout the diner. Cora wondered why she hadn’t chosen a different one. This was where she and Alec used to go on lunch breaks. The place was old with cracks on the linoleum floor. Water stains trudged along the tables, and the smell of somewhere people used to smoke hung in the air, damp and bordering on sickly sweet.

But the sandwiches were the best-kept secret in Perth, and the place gave a discount to hospital employees.

“Cora.”

She forced herself to make eye contact. “Yeah?”

“Spill.”

“I told Alec I wanted a divorce.”

“Again?”

Cora answered with a nod. “Again. But seriously this time.”

“Did he listen?”

“No. But I stuck to it. He said we’d speak when he got back, like it was negotiable.”

For a moment, Lisa didn’t say anything. When she answered, her words were measured. “I hope you meant it.”

Cora’s mouth fell slightly open as she stared at her. “You…you do?”

Lisa’s words were a gift, wrapped warmly in Cora’s chest, quelling the insecurity. “You haven’t been yourself for a long time.”

They went back to their sandwiches. The bite Cora took was big, the food tasting better than it had five minutes before.

“Don’t let him get in your head, Cora.”

Cora looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”

With a sigh, Lisa’s fingers touched Cora’s wrist, her fingertips just brushing the skin. “Each time you guys have an argument, it starts out with you angry, but then the next time I speak to you, you’re suddenly feeling like it’s your fault.”

“That—that’s not true.” The tips of Cora’s fingers felt like ice.

“Sometimes it is. Unless he’s done something he knows he can’t twist around. Then he comes back and makes you feel bad for him.”

“I…” Cora didn’t know what to say to that, how to confront the fact that Lisa’s truth was as sharp as a splinter and was digging into Cora as if to make her gasp at the sudden shock of it.

“What are you going to do?” Lisa asked, fingers slipping off Cora’s wrist.

At that, Cora floundered for a moment, covering her lack of planning by taking a long sip of water. “I don’t know. I just—I need to stick to it. I need a distraction.”

Her mind went to Frazer, to drinking too much, and to being hung-over at work.

Something almost cheeky flashed in Lisa’s eye. “You need a toy boy.”

Eyes wide, Cora felt a flush along her cheeks. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

“A toy boy. Someone younger, fresh. I mean, just to look at, clearly. Your marriage is up in the air. But just something to keep your eye on the prize?”

All Cora could do was stare.

“The prize being freedom,” Lisa said as if that was the part Cora had been confused by.

“Got that, thanks, Lise.” The wicked glint was still in her friend’s eye. “What have you done with my best friend?”