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Even the furniture seemed to somehow say New York, though I wouldn’t have known that was a way to describe something until I saw it. The couch and chairs were a dark, soft-looking leather, and there were dark-red woven rugs on the wooden floors. Everything was angular and cool—it certainly no longer seemed like we were in the middle of the desert, outside Las Vegas.
“What?” Chloe asked. “Is it okay?”
“I—”
“Because normally, I could move you, but the other guesthouses are occupied at the moment, unfortch. Montana and Priya are staying in Hana Highway, and Kenya and Doug are in Beale Street.”
“No, are you kidding? It’s amazing. It’s a whole house!”
“I know. Much nicer than any house I ever lived in before I met Wylie.” She crossed into the kitchen, and I followed. There was a large basket of snacks and fruit on the counter, and just seeing it, I felt how hungry I was. But I didn’t know how this worked—was I allowed to have these snacks? I was basically a pity guest—they were probably reserved for important visitors.
Chloe opened the fridge and pulled out a glass bottle. “Topo Chico?” I nodded. She took out two, opened them both, then slid one across the kitchen counter to me.
“So,” I said, after I took a long drink, letting my canvas bag rest between my feet. My mind was turning over what she’d just told me about who was staying where, not to mention what I’d seen back in the house. Now that I was going to be here for a bit, my curiosity was starting to get the better of me. “How does it all work?”
Chloe reached into the snack basket and pulled out a bag of chips. I was relieved to see that it would apparently be okay for me to eat something from it too. “How does what work?” She opened the bag and held it out to me.
I ate three—salt and vinegar, very good—then wiped my hands on my jean shorts. “Well… that Kenya and Doug are here. And Paula, too…” And you, I thought but did not say. But she seemed to be… living here? Co-parenting with her ex-husband? And somehow on good terms with Wylie and his kids—many of whom were older than her—and his ex-wives.
She nodded as she crunched down on a chip and then shook the bag. “You think it’s weird that we’re all here together?”
“Well… yeah.”
Chloe laughed, and I felt myself relax a little. Her phone beeped and she pulled it out of her sweatpants pocket. “Astrid’s awake now too. I swear, the kids know the second I’m out of the house.”
“Do you need to—check on her?” I didn’t want to be the one who was taking up her time, even though she didn’t seem like she was in any kind of a hurry to leave.
“I’m sure she’s fine. And if she’s not, there are a ton of people who can help. It’s the benefit to all of us being together.” She plucked another chip from the bag. “That’s what you were asking, right? How we manage to do it?”
“I’ve just never… known about something like this, that’s all. It’s not what I would have expected.”
“I mean, normally there aren’t this many of us. We turned the festival into an occasion to all get together—but we do try to get together as much as we can. Wylie was very clear about it from the beginning. Said he had no interest in siloed families, everyone separate. He likes siblings to be in each other’s lives, even if they don’t all have the same parents. He likes the noise and the chaos, everyone running around together and getting into trouble.”
“I can see that with the kids,” I said slowly. “But…” Their mode of living just seemed so separate from anything I’d seen in my own family, or in my friends’ families who were divorced, that I didn’t quite understand how it was happening.
“Wylie just says that if you chose to partner with someone, it was for a reason. He was clear with me about the time he spends with his exes, all of the kids… and we all make it work.” She arched an eyebrow and leaned forward, like she was about to give me the gossip. I leaned in to get it. “Sometimes, it works a little too well, in Paula’s case.”
“You mean…”
“Wylie and Paula got back together,” she said with a laugh. “After we were divorced. We joke that he’s had so many wives, he’s back around to the first one. And it’s better, honestly. He needs to be with someone his own age. He was getting tired of me not knowing who Burt Lancaster is. Was?”
“And everyone just… gets along?”
“I mean, for the most part. Like anything worth doing, you have to work at it. It doesn’t just happen. And his ex, Candace, hates him. As you’ve probably read. She’s not on board with any of this. But for the most part… it just works.”
I nodded slowly, trying to process this—that a millionaire rock star with a string of exes and a passel of kids could have these functional, happy relationships. But me and my dad were totally separate from Gillian and her new family—and I didn’t know my half-siblings at all.
Well, Didi chimed in. You’ve also never really… tried?
“What?” Chloe asked, and I realized she was looking at me closely, like she was reading something on my face.
“Nothing—I was just thinking about how I wasn’t sure that would be possible for me. With my mom’s new husband and family, I mean.”
Chloe nodded, crunched down on another chip, and held the bag back out to me. I’d just taken a bite when she asked, “Was that who you were yelling at in the driveway? It looked like mom yelling.”
“You saw me?” I felt a dull flush creep into my cheeks. I just hoped that it was only Chloe, and not the entire household.
“Why do you think I sent Andy out to get you?”
