“You’re leaving soon, and you were also never the kind of person to get all worked up or make a fuss in the face of trouble. You put one foot in front of the other, just like Ruth did.”

It made her sound a little robotic. “I’ve made a fuss before.”

“When?”

“When I was in New York, I got worked up all the time.”

“When your restaurant cut your salary, what did you say?”

“There wasn’t much I could have said.”

“Exactly. I would have been throwing plates. I threw a few after you left.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Like I keep saying, you did us all a favor. And all your hard work put that place on the map.”

“How do you know what I did for them?”

“I was already following your career when Ruth told me you were winning awards.”

“Why?”

“You were my friend. And believe it or not, I was rooting for you. What happened between Matthew and me wasn’t meant to hurt you.”

A dozen years and success in her own right had allowed her to appreciate how her anger had propelled her during New York’s early dark days. When the anger had faded, work had filled the void. She hadn’t realized until now how alone she’d been.

Ivy tightened her hand on the steering wheel. “Is your vision the reason why you didn’t move out of North Carolina?”

“Not at first. A baby and then a divorce within eighteen months were reasons enough. And then Matthew and I signed a custody agreement. We both agreed to live in North Carolina. Then I negotiated a deal on the gallery, and that took all my spare time to get it up and running. And then Dad hired me as the decorator for the company, which I really liked. I built a great life despite my dreams.”

“When did you start to notice a change in your vision?”

“On Bella’s eighth birthday party. We held it at night in the backyard, and as the sun set, the shadows were almost too deep and dark to navigate. Then it improved a little, and I convinced myself it was a onetime thing. When it came back, Ruth was the first person I told.”

Her grandmother, in customary fashion, had not said a word. “What was her advice?”

“Live your life. Don’t let the past or the future ruin right now.”

“She gave me the same advice several times.”

“And that’s what I’ve done. But it’s getting trickier to hide it.”

Ivy heard Dani’s fear and steered around it to the practical. “You won’t be able to do it forever. And you have to tell Dalton and your dad.”

“I will.”

“When?”