Page 7 of Willow in the Wind

Stella left the Sutton Book Club and picked up Chloe at her friend Sasha’s place. Chloe bounded out the door, short and pretty with a chubby, happy face. Stella felt a wave of love for her daughter that nearly overpowered her. Chloe was thirteen now, and already, they’d had their fair share of teenage-related problems. Stella and Matt had a running joke about that, mostly via text. They just texted: “BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES” whenever Chloe was in one of her moods.

But Chloe was all smiles today.

“Is Logan coming home?” Chloe asked of her fifteen-year-old brother.

“He’s at Cole’s,” Stella said. “So it’s just us.”

Chloe threw her fist into the air. “Girls’ night!”

Stella laughed. “What should we do?”

“Movie? Pizza?”

“You know me too well,” Stella said.

Back at home, they changed into pajamas and picked out a movie on a streaming site—Four Weddings and a Funeral.Chloe had never seen it, and Stella remembered nearly dying of laughter when she’d seen it in theaters as a youngster.

They ordered pizza and settled in to watch the film with diet sodas. The wind howled louder and more frantic than it had been that afternoon. Stella wore fuzzy socks and begged to find a pair for Chloe, but Chloe insisted she was “fine,” even though she was barefoot. You couldn’t make a thirteen-year-old do anything practical.

OfFour Weddings and a Funeral,Stella hadn’t considered the British accents. She hadn’t considered what hearing them might do to her heart. Memories flooded through her. A big, open road. A pounding soundtrack. Exhilarating kisses that brought her to her knees.

The pizza arrived. Stella hurried to get it, wiping tears from her cheeks.Why am I crying? I’m being ridiculous!

And then she heard Aunt Esme’s voice in her head.“What is the story of your life?”

Stella opened the pizza box between them on the sofa so they didn’t have to stop the film. This was a rather new allowance in the Sutton household—the Sutton and no longer Fallon household. Stella had taken back her maiden name. Back when she’d been married to Matt, they’d been careful about eating on the sofa, wanting to keep it nice. But these days, Stella wasn’t so precious about anything. Who cared about a few stains on the couch?

Unsurprisingly, Chloe adored the film. She laughed raucously, cried openly, and ate more than her fair share of the pizza. When it was over, she turned to Stella and said, “I can’t believe that’s so old.”

Stella laughed.

“I mean, it’sso good,” Chloe added.

“There are plenty of great things in the past,” Stella told her. “You just have to dig a little bit to find them.”

Chloe’s smile was greasy from pizza. Stella rubbed her back, then took the rest of the pizza to the kitchen to put in Tupperware containers and save for tomorrow’s breakfast. Chloe flicked around on the television for a few seconds before turning on some music—a pop album Stella couldn’t remember the name of. But the beats were nice.

Stella was reminded of sleepovers when she was younger. Her friends had put vinyls in their parents’ record players, and they’d danced to Janet Jackson or Madonna. It all felt like eons ago.

“Mom?” Chloe asked.

Stella returned to the living room with more diet soda. “What’s up?”

Chloe’s eyes were shining. Was she crying again about the movie?

“Do you know Dad’s dating somebody?” Chloe asked. There was a sharp edge to her voice.

Warmth flooded through Stella. It mattered to her that her daughter cared so much.

“I do know that,” Stella said, sitting back down. “Mandy, right?”

Chloe nodded and bit her bottom lip.

“You met her last week?” Stella asked. Matt had cleared the meeting with her, of course. But neither Chloe nor Logan had brought it up yet. She’d been waiting.

Chloe nodded.

“She’s nice, isn’t she?” Stella pushed.

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