Somehow, despite her focus on her interview, she’d overheard everything he and Calvin had been talking about. He was sure of it.
“Figure it out,” Calvin said. “Send us a business plan by the end of the week, and we can arrange for a wire transfer. But Theo, we aren’t messing around on this. We’re business professionals, and Bluebell Cove is very important to us. It isn’t a game.”
With that, Calvin traipsed back through the double-wide doors, leaving Theo in the shadows of the hallway, his heart thumping. Celia’s interview was winding down, and she raised a finger in his direction, as though to ask him to stay put—for just a moment. Theo wanted to wilt.
But when Celia approached him, pocketing her phone and wearing a beautiful and earnest smile, Theo never could have imagined what she’d say next.
“I think I have an idea,” she breathed.
“I’ll take anything you’ve got,” Theo said, trying to laugh but finding he couldn’t.
But he hadn’t heard her proposal yet. When it came, Theo had no will to laugh at all.
15
It wasn’t that Juliet wanted to move into the little two-bedroom house down the road from the Bluebell Cove Eco-Lodge. Moving was always a hassle, and what was the point when they were already going to head back to Manhattan in September? But all at once, maybe because of her failed (and miserable!) date with Hank Bartholomew, or maybe because Ivy and Celia still looked at her with distrust, Juliet decided to spring for the rental house, hoping that a bit of space with Danica and Juliet alone would draw mother and daughter back together.
Of course, within the first few days (maybe within the first few hours) at the new place, Juliet realized how wrong she was. All Danica did was hide in her bedroom, writing in her blog and reading her books and leaving Juliet to her own devices. Juliet’s schedule was dismal: walking to the Eco-Lodge, working the front desk, applying for jobs in the city, and making healthy, sad-looking dinners for herself and Danica.
But all that would change today, Juliet was sure, because it was Danica’s fifteenth birthday—and she’d decided to throw her a party.
All morning, even as Danica hid in her bedroom and willed the day to end, Juliet prepped the little house. She baked a cake and decorated it with literary figures she knew Danica liked, then blew up balloons and decorated the front porch, and texted Ivy and Celia to make sure they knew when to come by. She’d even arranged for Wren to call Danica and wish her happy birthday, which Wren was very willing to do, despite never having met Danica in real life.
Juliet’s pulse was as quick as a rabbit’s. Everything had to go smoothly.
But a half hour before Ivy and Celia and the rest of the Harper family were meant to come over for tacos and cake, Danica burst from her room, blotchy-faced and tear-stricken. She collapsed on the sofa and wept into her hands. Panicked, Juliet sat beside her daughter and rubbed her back, asking her, “What happened, honey?” And when Danica couldn’t bring herself to answer, Juliet added a clumsy, “Being fifteen is incredible. One of the best ages! Truly, it’s going to be a great year.”
But these tears were too powerful to be the result of getting older alone. Juliet knew something else was behind them. And eventually, Danica spit it out. “Dad didn’t call. It’s already tomorrow in Singapore. Dad forgot.”
Juliet’s heart cracked open. This was low, even for Alvin, although she couldn’t say she was fully surprised. She threw her arms around her daughter, whispering, “I love you, honey. We’re here. We’re together. We don’t need him.” But she knew that this wouldn’t work on Danica. To Danica, her father was king. Her father was the one supposed to whisk her off to a better life, away from this strange rental house and this tiny town where she knew no one and spent her days locked away.
Juliet had no idea what to do with her. Eventually, Danica pulled out of Juliet’s embrace and went to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Her heart thudding, Juliet opened her daughter’s blog to see the most-recent entry—a short story in which Danica and her father (a fictional version, obviously) celebrated Danica’s birthday in Singapore. They ate street food and went to a baseball game and sang karaoke. Her father treated her to a shopping spree.
Beneath the blog, Danica had written: Finally, I’m living my dream in Singapore! I start school in the fall. Guess it’s about time to master the local language…
Juliet wondered why Danica had to live in daydreams rather than making a better real life for herself here in Bluebell Cove.
But then she remembered herself at that age—plagued with daydreams, probably annoying everyone else with her inability to talk about anything else.
Oh, how she wished she could go back and tell herself the secrets of the future. But then again, that might have wrecked her for good. There was a reason the future was unknown to us.
“Callie,” Juliet whispered, surprising herself. “I must have annoyed you so much.”
And Theo! The way he’d looked at her at The Dockside on the Fourth of July haunted her nightmares. He’d looked at her the same way he had all those years ago—as though she were still beautiful, as though she still mystified him. She’d wanted to drown in how wonderful it was to be seen that way. But in a moment, she’d revealed herself to be a massive loser. Hank had stood her up! He’d walked out the door of the restaurant without looking back! She couldn’t believe it.
It was the kind of thing she might never get over. It was also the kind of thing she could never confess to anyone, as it was too embarrassing. The great Juliet Harper, ghosted mid-date at her ex-best friend’s failing restaurant. What storyline was this?
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Juliet got up and opened the door to find her two sisters, both of them carrying wrapped presents and wearing pained smiles. She could feel how much they’d been talking about her on the way here. She could feel their speculation about what had happened back in New York City, about her marriage, about her relationship with Danica.
Juliet told herself not to lose it. She matched their strained smiles and said, “We’re going to sit on the porch! Can I get you something? Some wine?” She sounded like she was on the edge of a breakdown. She took their presents and gestured toward the table outside, which looked rickety and on the verge of collapsing beneath them.
“Is everything all right?” Ivy asked.
“Everything’s great,” Juliet lied. Don’t break down. Don’t show yourself to them. They already pity you. Don’t let them pity you even more.
“And where is Danica? Where’s the birthday girl?” Celia asked. “I want to hug her!”
Juliet glanced back down the hallway where Danica had only just disappeared. “She’s, um. She’s having a hard time, I guess.” She let her shoulders droop.
