Page 103 of Movers and Shakers

As I pulled away from the curb, I was only sure of one thing: I was desperate to hear Lila’s voice. I turned on her music, letting it fill the quiet car.

She sounded as she always did, but familiar in a new way. It had to be because of how much time I’d spent with her. She’d infected everything, making me hear her even in Rose.

But that was a ridiculous idea and I didn’t know why I kept returning to it.

Because they wereobviouslytwo separate people.

Right?

Chapter Twenty-One

Rose

Islammed the door when I got inside the Airbnb, making Juno jump. My heart was in the depths of hell and I felt like I’d ruined everything.

No, IknewI had.

“Is everything okay?”

“He wants Lila,” I muttered, falling face-first onto the couch. “He turned me down so nicely because he’s too hung up overher.”

“Oh,” she said slowly. “So, you can reach out to him as Lila—‍”

“No,” I said. “No more lies. Going back and forth feelsawful.”

“You’re protecting yourself.”

“With lies? This is wrong, Juno.”

“But there isn’t another option.”

“Of course there is. I could havetoldhim—‍”

“No,” she said. “Do you know how much that would upset people?”

“People? Like who?”

“Your mom, for one.”

I opened my mouth to tell her Mom wouldn’t know, but then I paused. “How do you know my mom would be upset?”

“I—‍”

“I haven’t told you anything about her.”

Juno sighed. “You didn’t, butshedid when she tracked me down.”

“How?”

“It started when I went looking—‍”

“No. I didn’t want you to go looking.”

“What if you had a husband and kids and they needed protection? I wanted to know the whole story and I found out about a woman named Linda Hill in Canada. She was the reason you’ve been leading a double life, right? You wanted her to have peace.”

“Yes, which is why I didn’t tell you.”

“I didn’t plan to do anything with the information. I only called her to see if she was a real person.”

---