“Okay,fine,” I whined.
He laughed at me. “Text me when you get home. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
We arrived early for our reservation and went to the bar in the corner of the dining room for a drink. The windows were all open, water views on three sides, wind flowing through the room in a pleasant cross-breeze.
Mimi and I ordered Cosmos, and Cathy and her husband ordered glasses of wine. We took seats at a high top, watching boats arriving and departing the harbor outside the row of windows behind the dark wooden bar. I scanned the room: tables with three generations of families—grandparents, adult parents, and children in little dresses and collared shirts. My eyes snagged on an older couple at the end of the bar and my stomach dropped.The Phelpses.I stared long enough to confirm it was just Brianna and Ed. No sign of Max,thank god.
I returned my attention to the conversation with Mimi and her friends. They were discussing their plans to head back to their winter residences in the fall.
“What are you doing in the fall?” Cathy asked me.
I considered telling her the truth, even though it would be news even to Mimi—that I was planning to stay on the island, I wanted to write instead of going back to corporate law, and I wanted to keep living near Luke and Luna. Instead, for some reason, I said, “I haven’t fully decided yet.”
“That’s okay, dear,” she said. “No need to wish the rest of the summer away.”
But the summer was nearly over, and while I wanted to stay here, I didn’t have a plan for how to support myself. My only source of income was Luke’s babysitting checks, and I needed to tell him I wouldn’t accept those anymore. We were together now, and it would feel wrong to let him pay me to spend time with Luna.
I’ll just need to dip into savings for a while,I thought with a gulp of stress.
The hostess came over to tell us our table was ready. I went to the bar to close our tab, telling my dinner companions I’d meet them at the table.
I checked the corner of the bar where the Phelpses had been sitting as I walked over, hoping they’d left, and accidentally caught Edward’s eye instead.Crap. He gave me a nod of recognition, so I compelled myself to go say hello.
“Hey, Ed.”
“Val, right? My son isn’t very happy with you.”
“Oh yeah, that… I’m sorry.” Why didn’t I just wave instead of coming over here?
He batted his hand into the air. “He’s a grown man. He’ll recover.”
I smirked. So much for sympathy from the romance-novelist father. But something told me Max had had many girlfriends, so maybe his parents didn’t think much of his breakups. Ed didn’t seem the least bit concerned.
“I hope so.” His wife was thoroughly engaged in conversation with the person to her left. I waited to get the bartender’s attention, facing the bar instead of Edward Phelps.
“So, you’re heading back to New York at the end of the summer?” he asked.
I took a deep breath. I’d told his parents I was only taking a sabbatical from work because I was too embarrassed to tell them the truth—that I was on an anxiety-induced medical leave and may or may not quit by the end of it. Which, of course, I had.
“No, I—I actually left my job, for good.”
A flash of surprise crossed his face. He looked so much like Max, with the sandy brown hair and blue eyes. I smiled, trying to display confidence on the outside even though, on the inside, I was feeling the opposite. But when will I get another chance to talk to a famous author? Luke kept trying to get me comfortable with calling myself a writer, so what the hell. “I’ve actually been writing. I’ve always wanted to. I’ve been working on something this summer.”
“Novels?” His brows went up further.
“Yes.” I held my breath, hoping for some golden kernel of advice from one of the most successful novelists of all time.
“What a shame to waste the skill set you already have. You’ll have a hard time making half as much money as a struggling novelist. I wish you luck, though.” He raised his glass in my direction. The din of conversation and glasses clinking and cutlery scraping against plates sounded far away, all of a sudden. All the air left my lungs.Did he really just say that?
Confusion overtook my features. I said, “Thanks” meekly, grabbed my drink, and bolted for Mimi’s table in the corner of the crowded dining room. The bartender would have to find us with the bill.
I found it hard to focus on the conversation for the rest of dinner.
That night, I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep. A few sleepovers and already it felt strange to be alone at night. I missed Luke. Maybe I should have gone over there anyway.
Edward Phelps’s voice echoed in my head.“A shame to waste the skill set.”His words tangled with his son’s.“Your life is such a mess.”
