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Chapter Two
Elise was surprisedyet overjoyed that Wayne walked her all the way to her door at the Bloomingfeld. There beneath the moon, as the wind rippled through her jacket and rushed through her long locks, she blinked up at his handsome face and bid him goodnight.
“It’s been one of the wildest days of my life,” she said with a shrug. “And to think—I thought I would be off the island by the end of the day.”
Wayne spread his muscular arms out beside him and gestured around the dark Main Street. “Do you regret it?”
Elise glanced down the far road, at the gorgeous old-world buildings with their painted shutters, the parked and now empty carriages that awaited their drivers out front, the banisters that lined the little walkway down toward the far docks.
“If you look at it in just the right way, you can really feel it,” Elise murmured.
Wayne followed her gaze. After a long moment, he said, “Feel what?”
“You can feel the past,” Elise breathed.
Wayne gave her an incredulous look. His lips opened as he studied her face. For a moment, Elise thought he might finally do it: bridge the distance between them, kiss her the way she longed to be kissed.
But he held himself back.
He’s had a full day of memories of his wife, Tara. I’m sure he’s just as confused as I am, in a different way.
“Thank you for walking me home,” Elise said. She slipped a strand of hair behind her ear and bit her lower lip. “I’ll see you soon.”
Back in the foyer, Rhonda greeted her with a lion’s roar of a yawn. “I thought you were headed off the island?”
“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Rhonda,” Elise said. “Besides. I’m writing better than ever, and I’m too superstitious to give that up.”
Back upstairs, Elise sat before her computer to type out a few ideas, notes, and fresh plot points for her screenplay. As she typed away, her phone buzzed. She lifted it absently.
“Haley! Hey. What’s up?”
Haley, her best friend from college, felt like a life force from a different planet. Los Angeles, her beautiful home of fame, money and utter chaos, had nothing to do with Mackinac Island.
Mom must have felt this way, too. So far from home, with no real reason to return.
“There she is. The woman of the hour,” Haley said.
“Are you on speakerphone? Your voice is scratchy,” Elise said. She couldn’t help it as she grinned and leaned back against her chair, grateful to hear her friend's voice.
“Yeah, actually. I’m here with two people who know you well and miss you terribly,” Haley boomed.
“I see...” Elise said.
“That’s right. Mia, of course, is right beside me, and we’re here with our other friend, Matt. Matt has just offered us a few seats in a new writer’s room.”
Do I miss this? Am I jealous?
“Wow. That’s fantastic,” Elise said. “What’s the show?”
“It’s a fantasy epic on Hulu,” Matt interjected.
Elise’s heart slowed. Throughout the past year, Matt Gauthier had made it incredibly clear that he was interested and very serious about Elise—asking her for coffee, asking her delicate questions about her writing process, trying to prove in every single way that he cared about her.
Elise had always brushed it off, though.
“I think it would be right up your alley, Elise,” Matt said. “I was just talking to the girls about it, and they say they always work best with you. We all do. You have that sizzling creativity energy.”
“If that’s what you want to call it,” Elise said with an ironic laugh.
