Free Leaving by Karen Kingsbury

her phone vibrate. She pulled it from her back jeans pocket and for half a second she wondered if it might be Cody. Maybe he’d heard about her audition and wanted to tell her he was praying for her, believing in her …
    But as the phone’s screen came into view, she reminded herself that Cody hadn’t been in touch with her for months. She smiled as she opened the text message. It was from her old friend Tim Reed.
    Big audition tomorrow, right? Can we have breakfast in the morning? At your hotel maybe?
    “Who is it?” Her mom took a sip of her ice water and settled back in the chair, looking as tired as Bailey felt. They hadn’t walked more than a few miles, but the city had a way of wearing out a person. Just the pace of it.
    “Tim.” Bailey read the text out loud. “What do you think? Do we have time for breakfast?”
    “Maybe.” Jenny pulled an itinerary from her purse. “We need to be at the studio at nine … so, yes, if Tim wants to meet us at the hotel restaurant at eight, that should work.”
    Bailey texted back the time and location.
    Perfect.
    Tim’s response came almost immediately, and Bailey read the message out loud. “He says he’ll bring his girlfriend. He’s dying for us to meet her. I guess she knows Francesca Tilly, so she can give me pointers for tomorrow.”
    Her mom raised her brow slightly. “So he does have a girlfriend?”
    “He’s mentioned her a few times.” Bailey didn’t want to sound affected by the fact, but she was. “I guess they’re official.”
    She glanced at her phone and once more she let her eyes runover the word
girlfriend.
The girl was in
Wicked,
same as Tim. She was pretty and talented — an ensemble dancer with long legs and short blond hair. Bailey had seen her in the show when Brandon Paul had flown them to New York City toward the end of their
Unlocked
shoot.
    “Does it bother you … Tim having a girlfriend?” They were seated at a quiet table near the window, the chaos of the city blocked out for now.
    “A little.” She angled her head. “I mean, sort of, I guess. But maybe more because he’s happy and in love and I’m …” She shrugged, and a smile lifted the corners of her lips. “I’m alone.”
    There were a dozen things her mother could’ve said at that point, bits of wisdom they’d discussed a number of times before. She could’ve said this was a season for Bailey and God — that He was all she needed. Or she could’ve said that Bailey’s future husband was out there somewhere, so maybe this was a good time to pray for him. She could’ve reminded Bailey that this was a time to pursue her dreams and not worry about a guy in her life, and she could’ve pointed out that God had great plans for her, like in Jeremiah 29:11. That sort of wisdom. All of that would’ve been good and true.
    But in this moment her mom did something even better. She reached out and gave Bailey’s hand a squeeze and said absolutely nothing for a long moment. “I’m sorry, sweetie.” She sighed and her half smile touched Bailey to the core. “I know it’s hard.”
    Bailey nodded. “It is.” Her throat was suddenly too tight to say anything more. What was there to say? Cody had disappeared, Tim had moved on … and there were no guys whatsoever pursuing her. She thought of her father’s comments about Matt Keagan from last week. Matt didn’t count. He was a Christian hero — not a guy she might think about dating.
    The waitress came with their dinner, and Bailey’s emotions settled back into place. They thanked God for the food, and then
    Bailey looked at her mom. “I’m happy for Tim. Really.” She ate a bite of broccoli. “He wasn’t the right guy for me.”
    “No.” Bailey’s mom moved her fork through her chicken Caesar salad. “He didn’t cherish you, honey. He could walk out of the room while you were singing.” A dreamy look came over her face. “I sometimes picture the guy you’ll marry. I mean, his face isn’t clear, but I can