Page 88 of The Story Between Us

“Good. Send it to me.”

“What?”

“I want to know what we’ve got.”

“I can’t do that—not without Nate’s permission. And he’ll never let me send it until it’s finished.”

“How long?”

She was pacing now, free hand pressed to her forehead. The dogs had stopped playing and were watching her, heads tilted, sensing the tension.

“I don’t—a couple weeks? Maybe less, if he keeps up this pace⁠—”

“You have five days.”

“What?”

“That’s your deadline. Five days. That’s what we agreed on. If he doesn’t have a complete, deliverable manuscript in five days, Starlight’s canceling the contract, demanding the advance back, and you—” A pause, weighted. “You won’t need to bother coming back to the office.”

“Richard—he can’t get it done in five days!”

“Five days, Livvie. Make it happen.”

The line went dead.

She stood there, phone in hand, heart hammering against her ribs. The morning sun was warm on her face. The birds were still singing. The dogs were sniffing at her ankles, confused by her stillness.

Five days.

Nate, no matter how much of a roll he was on, couldn’t write half a book in five days.

“What was that?”

She spun around.

Nate stood on the porch.

He was rumpled from sleep, or from not sleeping—the same Henley he’d worn yesterday, hair a disaster, bare feet on the worn boards. He looked exhausted. Vulnerable. And he was staring at her with an expression she couldn’t read.

“Oh—nothing, just—” The lie died in her throat. His face told her he’d heard. Maybe not everything, but enough. “Nate⁠—”

“Did you just promise them I’d have the manuscript done in five days?”

She opened her mouth. Closed it.

“Livvie.” He came down the porch steps, moving toward her, and something in his posture had changed. Tension coiling. A storm building. “Did you tell them it was done?”

“I was trying to help⁠—”

“I trusted you with that.” His voice cracked on the word. “I told you—I let you read it because I trusted you. There’s no way I can finish this in five days.”

“I know.”

He stared at her. “They’re going to pull the contract.”

She swallowed.

He drew in a breath, and his voice turned low, almost shaking. “This manuscript is everything I have. Everything Emma and I built together.”