Page 30 of Willow in the Wind

Stella supposed she was right.

Stella and Chloe stayed up late that night. Logan stayed the night at a friend’s place, leaving the girls to eat snacks, watch romcoms, and watch the counter go up and up and up on TikTok. Stella’s agent called around nine to scream into the phone with excitement. “We got more than five thousand pre-orders tonight! And theNew York Timeswants to interview you! It’s going to be a bestseller! And we aren’t even for sale for another two months!”

Stella couldn’t stop grinning despite the ache in her heart.

Chloe and Stella went to bed a little past one. Because she hadn’t slept a wink last night, Stella was exhausted and slept like a rock. When she woke up the following morning, a bouquet of lilies and roses was on her front porch. Her heart lurched.Bruce? Has he decided to stay?She imagined racing to his house and leaping into his arms. She imagined taking Chloe out of Nantucket High and enrolling her in a high school in Paris. She imagined them living a happy and beautiful life.

But it was impossible. She knew that, too.

But the card wasn’t from Bruce Tyler.

The card was from her agent.

Congratulations on fifteen thousand pre-orders last night alone! We owe your daughter a million dinners out. Much love and I can’t wait for the book launch! Gwen

It was Stella’s future: a career as a novelist.

This was the relationship she needed to hone.

Chapter Eleven

June 2024

It was raining in Manhattan. James grabbed his bagels with cream cheese from the bagel shop employee—a twentysomething with three rings in her left eyebrow—and ducked under his hood, headed for the apartment in Greenwich Village. It occurred to him that the rain had followed him from London to the States. Maybe his doom and gloom generated the storms rather than the weather patterns.

The streets were crowded with tourists wearing ponchos they’d purchased for cheap in Times Square. They looked silly, as though they were extras in a play set in Manhattan. James briefly made eye contact with a woman who looked sort of like Kinsey, and the idea that the real Kinsey was just uptown, performing the rituals of her everyday life without him, nearly shattered him. He’d genuinely thought they were getting back together when he left London. He’d genuinely let himself believe that she was pregnant with his child and that he’d get a do-over when it came to romance, family, and life.

But that book had foiled his plans.

Orhe’dfoiled those plans when he and Kinsey had broken up in the first place, and he’d gone back to London.

What was it Kinsey had said? That he seemed so cold? That she’d never known if he really loved her?

What was he supposed to do about that?

James got home at ten past eleven and returned to his article about Frank Baxter. It had been five days since the interview, and he wanted to send it off to his editor by the end of the day. It was a fine article, yet something about his writing felt strained and unnatural.

He knew it was because he was distracted.

He knew it was because of the turquoise book he kept on the corner of his desk and did not read.

The bell rang at noon. James stood to answer it, surprised by their punctuality. Back in his day, rock stars showed up whenever they felt like it. They didn’t agree to meet at noon for bagels and actually arrive on time. But Taylor and Aiden were clearly in a different league.

“Dad!” Taylor passed a bouquet to Aiden and hugged him tightly. Aiden shook his hand.

“Great to see you again, man,” Aiden said.

James looked at Aiden, remembering their first meeting—how he’d assumed Aiden was a scummy rock star who would ruin his daughter’s life. But now, Aiden was pulling the bagels out of the bag and spreading them with cream cheese with the air of someone who was accustomed to taking care of others. He asked James how his flight back from London was. Aiden asked, “Which city do you prefer to live in?”

Taylor arranged the flowers in a vase and set them in the center of the table.

“London or New York? Man, I don’t know,” James said.

“You headed back soon?” Aiden asked.

James thought,What about the baby?Then I remembered there was no baby.

“Maybe,” James admitted. “I get a little more work over there.”

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