I take a breath, and I can pretty much hear Savannah’s jaw swinging in the wind. “And worst of all,” I continue, “he didn’t say it, but I’m getting this feeling that hemightbe considering moving back to L.A. So it’s not like I can just enjoy the best vacation sex of my life and then forget about him when I go home, like a normal person!”
Savannah is still quiet, and I begin to worry our call has disconnected. Then she says, “Margot, listen to me very carefully. I know you’re supposed to be working on your manuscript, but as far as I’m concerned, not fucking this thing up with Dr. MD is your new number one priority.”
“His name is Forrest,” I cut in.
“His name is Dr. Mountain Daddy—MD for short—and I haven’t heard you sigh over a man since, like, 2016, when that barista offered you a free refill on your matcha latte.” I give a weak laugh, but she rolls right over it. “Margot, I’veneverheard you talk about someone like this before. Not even Adam. And he’s moving to L.A.?Thisis your HEA. I just feel it!”
I switch the phone over to my nonsweaty ear, trying not to get caught up in Savannah’s excitement. My sister “just feels” a lot of things. “Van, do you know the last thing I saw before getting offsocials? It was a Bookstagrammer theorizing that I’m the hate child of Miranda Priestly and Voldemort. I was literally canceled for not believing in love.”
As soon as the L-word is out of my mouth, I want to suck it back in like a piece of spaghetti. To cover up my slip, which I willnotbe examining later, I give her something else to latch on to. “But I do like him. Despite all my desperate, flailing efforts not to.”
She makes a squealing sound that probably lifts the ears of every wild animal within a ten-mile radius. “This is literally the best news I’ve ever heard in my life,” she gushes. “I knew I was brilliant for sending you to Alaska, but I didn’t know I was agenius! I need to contact Mensa!”
I’m letting her ramble on about all the secret tests I need to give Forrest to confirm he’s not a sociopath, still in awe that I’m talking to my sister, when I realize she never answered my question from before. “Van, you never said if Cooper is staying over,” I interrupt. “Heisstaying with you, right? Or Mom is?”
There’s the barest hint of a pause. A millisecond of hesitation before she says, “Of course I’m with Coop. Mom has been around too. They’re quietly but viciously trying to outcook each other for my approval, it’s hilarious. Thanksgiving is going to be a bloodbath next week.”
Thanksgiving. I’d nearly forgotten that was happening. My homesickness nearly chokes me, but I won’t be derailed again. I let my own pause draw out until she knows I’m suspicious. “Okay. And no hint of a flare-up?”
“No, I’mgood. And even if I did have a flare, I’d be fine, Margot. I’m hashtag thriving.”
There’s an edge to her voice I don’t like. It’s not the usual frustration she has with me when I coddle her. It seems more nervous. I don’t think she’d lie to me about a flare, but shemightlie to me if things were on the rocks with Cooper. More than anything, she wants me to believe in love everlasting.
“That’s so good to hear,” I say, trying to sound relieved. After a moment, I add, “So what have you and Cooper been up to besides defiling our house?”
This time there’s no mistaking her nervous laugh. “Me and Coop? Oh, you know. Going out to eat. Training forAmerican Ninja Warrior. The usual. But listen, he’s coming back in for lunch, and I’m not allowed to be talking to you! Force majeure adjourned!”
I try swallowing down the lump of worry that has wedged itself in the back of my throat. I know how much Savannah loves Cooper. A breakup would absolutely send her into a flare, and I wouldn’t be there to help. The urgent sense that I’ve been away too long tightens in my chest.
“Right,” I croak. “Well, you know you can email or call me for anything, right? I will get on a plane in a heartbeat and come back if you need me.”
There’s an exasperated huff. “I know you would. Which is exactly why I’m ending this phone call before I let slip that I have a paper cut and you show up in a helicopter.”
“Van, I haven’t even thanked you for your letters,” I say, stalling our goodbyes. “You have no idea how they’ve gotten me through—”
“Stop! Stop that right now! NO talking about the letters until you’re finished with all of them, Margot!”
I roll my eyes. How can one person be so bossy and endlessly giving at the same time? “Okay, fine. Sorry. I love you.”
“I love you more,” she says, and I close my eyes.
“Impossible.”
24FORREST
Alright, alright,” Alice says, tapping her knife to the edge of her wineglass to get the attention of everyone oohing and aahing around the Thanksgiving table. “I’ll make this quick, so we can all stop drooling.”
Everyone quiets down with appreciative smiles, and I catch Margot’s eye. During the last sleep-deprived week, my almost primitive urge to care for her has become an empty well that’s impossible to fill, but this dinner is my latest attempt. I had to kick her out of the kitchen no fewer than six times over the course of the afternoon to keep my labors a secret, but it was completely worth it to see her jaw drop as every dish came out. She isn’t the only one impressed by the spread, either. In the warm glow of the candlelight, I’m struck by my mother’s old insistence that every meal for a guest should be given like a gift. It feels that way now, and a fondness for everyone who chose to spend their holiday here radiates out from me. It even extends to Ollie, but probably only because it’s his last night here. After tonight, he and the rest of the guests will be gone, all except for Margot.
“First,” Alice says, raising her glass, “to Trapper, Jo, and Forrest.”
“Don’t forget Scout,” Yoon whispers loudly, and I see Scout’s fluffy ears perk up from where he sits beside my dad.
“Scout, too, of course,” Alice amends. “I can only speak for myself and Yoon—”
“You can speak for us too!” Ollie cuts in, elbowing Topher and Margot, who nod their agreement.
Alice winks at them before looking back at me, my dad, and Jo in turn. “Then I guess I speak for all of us when I say that there’s nothing we could be more grateful for than North Star Lodge. You three have turned this place into an extension of what we call home. But tonight I really need to call out Forrest.”
