Page 126 of Tender Heart
“I know. I’m sorry, it felt like the story is more impactful, more authentic being a duology. The character arcs come to completion just so easily...”
Livvy sucks in a breath.
“It’s not that I don’t love the writing or the story as is.” She leans forward now. “Evie, it’s a breach of contract. That’s what worries me most.”
“I-I...” Heat consumes my chest as I flail through hopeless thought after hopeless thought. “I can’t write what I don’t feel. Not anymore. I’m sorry.”
Livvy raises a hand. “Don’t apologize. But Evie, you have made a career in the fantasy romance genre. What story would feel right for you?”
I huff out a breathy laugh. This is the part where I stand up for what I want. For my dreams.
And I can just hear Cal calling me out on my bullshit.
Emotion flares, sending my last breath out with a choke.
Fuck it.
God, I really have spent far too long on that beautiful island. Even my inner monologue sounds like him.
“So, I want to write contemporary romance. The meet-cutes that imitate real-life happily-ever-afters that are relatable, reachable.” My chin quivers when my words contradict my own love life.
The sentiment burns, and I can’t stand to be in my own skin right now. I push from the chair and wander to the wall of shelves to the left.
Livvy sighs.
“Do you have anything to submit?”
I reach the shelves and run a hand over the leather-bound books.
“No. But I would love the chance to.” I study her shelves, not game to turn back and see the look of disapproval on her face. The office chair creaks and soft footfalls close in. I turn back to plead my case. The sunlight streaming through her wide windows catches a gilded frame. Livvy comes to stand beside me.
I pluck up the frame.
“Recognize the place, hey?” Livvy says with a smile.
I turn to her. A little confused, I stare at the photo in the frame. Two people stand on a beach, and is that... a lighthouse in the background? Cal’s lighthouse.
My lighthouse.
Cal and Iris stand with the biggest smiles on their faces, although Cal’s face is half hidden. But I would recognize that man anywhere.
“Livvy?”
She chuckles and takes the frame from my hand. “That was a great day.”
“I know I saw this last time I was here, but I didn’t know them then. Why do you have this?”
“Oh, those are my cousins. If it wasn’t for Iris, I wouldn’t have been brave enough to come to New York. They’re good people.” She gives me a sad smile. “You needed good people, Evie.”
Tears well in my eyes as everything comes together. She sent me to Cal, knowing what he’d been through, losing Ava. She knew Iris would take me in like a sister, and her fire for life would rub off on me.
I slap a hand to my mouth.
“Oh, hon. You were so lost. It broke my heart watching you try to piece things back together after the accident. And you shut yourself off from everyone. Cal maybe a tough nut to crack, but he is one of the few people I knew might have had a chance to pull you out of the place you’d fallen into. Did he?”
Did Cal drag me kicking and screaming from my grief?
Maybe.
