Page 49 of Willow in the Wind

Taylor raised her eyebrows. “You’ve talked about it!”

“We talk about you,” James said. “You’re our only kid.”

Taylor laughed and blushed.

“Your mother is proud of you,” James stated. “Maybe Bad Habit isn’t her favorite band in the world, but you’re her favorite person. She’ll follow you to the ends of the earth.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Taylor said. Her eyes welled with tears.

After a pause, Taylor said, “It’s weird to learn about your parents’ secret pasts.”

“We were all young once, too,” James said.

“Do you think you want to see Stella again?” Taylor asked.

James thought of the business card. His heart was heavy. “Maybe. Maybe not. The tabloid debacle is annoying. I don’t want my private life on display like that.”

Taylor nodded and pressed her lips together. “I won’t tell my followers anything.”

“Thanks,” James said.

“But I do think you should see her,” Taylor said. “She wrote an entire book about you, for goodness’ sake. She never really got over you. Maybe you never really got over her, either.”

James raised his shoulder. “It was a long time ago.”

“Life is all about second chances,” Taylor reminded him. “At least sit with her. Ask her how she is.” She paused. “Maybe you could at least apologize.”

James looked at his daughter and found a mischievous smile. It was clear she was teasing him.

“You’re lucky. You met a nice guy like Aiden early on,” James said.

“I know. We’re the least dramatic couple in the world. It’s why I have to get involved in your drama.”

James waved his hand. “Okay, Drama Queen. Can you please set the table? Dinner in ten.”

Taylor hurried to the cabinets to fetch plates and cutlery for the pasta. James’s heart felt lighter than it had in weeks.

He thought,For years, I’ve had a daughter, and now, she’s become my dearest friend.

But that night, after Taylor left to meet Aiden and the rest of Bad Habit, James checked his phone. A number he didn’t recognize had called and left a voicemail. His hands shook as he listened to it.

“Hi, James. It’s Stella Sutton. I wanted to let you know, um. I’m sorry about all the chaos with the tabloids. I never meant for anything like that to happen.” She paused for a long time. There was such tenderness in her voice. James could picture her aboard the sailboat in the Grecian sunlight.

“I wanted to let you know I’ll be in Manhattan. I’m driving up tomorrow to start the first leg of my book tour. I’ll be around for three days. Let me know if you’d like to meet up. But no worries if not.” She took a breath. “Okay. Good night, James.”

James pressed the phone against his chest and blinked back tears.

His past had caught up to him. The sorrow of it all sat with him there in the kitchen.

Chapter Nineteen

September 2024

Stella left Nantucket Island at seven in the morning and reached Manhattan by one. Feeling like a movie star or a diva, she handed her keys to a valet driver at The Lucerne Hotel in the Upper West Side—one her agent had booked for her—and passed her suitcase to a bellhop. She entered the double-wide doors. The foyer was immaculate, decorated in Art Nouveau stylings and one-hundred-year-old gold-laid mirrors. A woman at the front desk smiled. “Good afternoon, Miss Sutton. We’re so pleased to host you.”

Stella was accustomed to being known wherever she went. That was the nature of living in Nantucket. But she hadn’t imagined anyone would recognize her in Manhattan. Her book had been on the market for a little over two weeks. That was nothing.

It’s all thanks to the drama with James.

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