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Apparently, Elise was both terrifying and fascinating—nothing she’d been back in Los Angeles.
When Elise entered the Bloomfeld bed and breakfast, she opened the double-wide balcony door and stepped into the glittering light of the late-morning. She closed her eyes as an autumn breeze crept over her cheeks.
Just breathe.
Elise decided to take it easy over the next few days. She had time, space—a free place to stay—and she hadn’t even booked a flight back to LA. She kept a low profile, wearing a baseball hat to the grocery, making little salads for herself in the kitchenette, writing on the balcony, and going for early-morning or evening walks.
Twice, she stopped into The Grind to say hello to Wayne. Each time, she felt blown-over by her feelings for him.
Shut up. Don’t feel this way. It’s too messy.
She sat in the corner at The Grind and typed out more scenes for her screenplay, spending hours on little details about certain characters and writing and rewriting dialogue. Although the screenplay had begun as a story about her, she soon found a way to push it into other dimensions, making it both romantic and thrilling at once.
Of course, she couldn’t help but keep a guy very similar to Wayne as the love interest.
Look at him. He basically stepped out of the pages of a romance novel.
I can’t help that.
As days crept past, the leaves on the trees seemed to leap forward to autumn foliage, crisping up with browns and oranges. She described this as best as she could on a phone call to Penny.
“You wouldn’t believe what the air’s like here,” she said. “It feels clean and chilly and alive, and the trees look just like they do in movies...”
“Sounds magical, Mom,” Penny said, although her voice remained flat. “You know, I figured you’d be back by now. It’s starting to worry me that you’re still out there. Did you get a good deal on the bed and breakfast or something?”
“Yeah. Something like that,” Elise said.
“I looked at the island on the map. It looks so tiny. Haven’t you run out of people to meet?”
“You’d be surprised, I guess,” Elise said.
Penny grumbled to herself. “You know, I wanted to tell you this in person, but I got that part.”
Elise froze. “You didn’t. Honey, congratulations! This is fantastic news...”
Penny was silent.
“Honey, aren’t you thrilled? Come on. I figured this would knock your socks off...”
“I am,” Penny affirmed. “I just. I haven’t heard from you as much lately. You’ve felt kind of, far-away from my life. I wasn’t sure you would actually care about this.”
“Don’t be crazy, Penny. This is one of the only things I care about.”
Penny heaved a sigh. “Then won’t you come home? I know it’s been hard on you, with Grandma dying and everything. But we need you in California.”
Elise dropped her head to the side.
Her daughter, pleading for her to return.
“Penny. You know what. If I could go back to the way things were, I would be back in a heartbeat. If I could go back to you, in high school, coming home to eat popcorn and gossip with me, and us going to Bradley’s soccer games, and all of us piling in the car together all the time to head to the beach—I would run to the airport right now.
“But that life isn’t there for me anymore. Yes, I miss you. I miss Haley and Mia. But I have to find a way to build something for myself. And right now, Mackinac Island intrigues me enough to stay a little bit longer. Can you understand that?”
Penny was quiet again. Elise wondered if she’d pushed too hard.
She never wanted Penny not to care.
“I understand, Mom,” Penny said. “Just promise you’ll be around for opening night?”
