17
The sound of bouncing tennis balls greeted us when I dropped Luna off at her first tennis lesson. I watched her walk toward the weathered-shingle tennis center that stood between the parking lot and the courts in her matching pink outfit, twirling her racket bag.Should I go in there and make sure she goes to the right place?
I was about to unfasten my seat belt when a similarly clad little girl ran up to her. They hugged, racket bags clanking against each other, and a smile appeared on my face. When they reached the top of the porch steps, a teenager in an all-white outfit holding a clipboard guided them inside.
I exited the parking lot to head to the YMCA.
Shortly after Luke explained Luna’s enviable summer schedule, I worked out my own. Every day after I dropped Luna off at tennis, I would go to the gym for an hour or so. Then I’d pick her up, we’d have lunch, and I’d drop her at the sailing center downtown on the harbor at 1:00 p.m. While she was sailing, I would write, either at a café, back at Mimi’s, in the library, or at Luke’s house. He told me I was welcome to hang out there whenever I wanted.
Max continued to text me consistently, and we usually saw each other every few days after I left Luke’s house in the evening.
About a week into the new routine, Luke texted me in the middle of the afternoon when I was writing at his kitchen table.
Luke
I’m picking up burgers to grill tonight. Want to stay for dinner?
A smile stretched on my face as I read the message again. I hadn’t had dinner with them since we went for pizza after Luna’s last day of school, but I felt the tug to stay more often than not after Luke relieved me each day. It was Wednesday, so Mimi had mahjong and dinner with her friends tonight. And I didn’t have plans with Max, either.
Val
Sure, that sounds great!
Luke
What do you like to drink?
I got up and looked in his fridge. The only beverages were orange juice, milk, lemonade, and domestic beer. I could do a beer.
Val
I’m easy! Whatever you’re getting for yourself.
Luke
Oh c’mon. Tell the truth.
I laughed. Was there a camera in here? How could he tell?
Val
Okay, fine. I like rosé wine.
He liked my message.
My eyes landed back on the open spreadsheet on my laptop.I’d decided to expand my insider trading story—the betrayed lawyer would form some kind of connection with the investigator after he offers her a deal that helps her avoid prison, and somehow her losing her job and having to reevaluate her entire life would end up being a good thing. I was still working out the finer points, but it was sofun—having the time to imagine the potential scenes like a movie in my head, getting hit with an idea at the gym or while out running errands and jotting it down in a note on my phone. Even the book on story structure I’d been working through sparked plot points and dialogue and character backstories, turning crackling embers of ideas into flames of inspiration that had me ripping open my laptop and typing for hours.
Envisioning writing instead of doing corporate deals was the easiest therapy homework Wendy had ever given me—I could absolutely picture myself doing this every day instead. I didn’t know if I could ever make any money from it, but for now the first few babysitter checks were enough to quell my financial anxiety.
I still hadn’t told anyone besides my therapist and my mom and Mimi about my newly discovered penchant for writing, but maybe I would at some point. I thought it was a little odd Max hadn’t asked.
I wondered what he thought I did every day.
Luna ran inside, dropping her bag by the front door and rounding the corner into the kitchen like it was some kind of race. She must have noticed the classic rock playing through the speaker system—an irrefutable clue that her dad was home.
“Hi!” she yelled over the music, plopping down on a stool at the kitchen island, where Luke was chopping vegetables.
A wide smile transformed his handsome face into a beacon of light as he looked at her. “Hey, Luns! How was sailing?”
