Page 79 of Every Star that Shines

Delanie looked back at her friend, who seemed lost in thought as she stared at her white paper to-go cup. Though they walked next to each other, Stephanie seemed a million miles away. Ten years ago, Stephanie would have been the first person Delanie would have talked to about boy troubles, family troubles—any troubles. Now there was a wall of time and distance between them chillier than the autumn air.

And whose fault is that?

“I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch, Stephanie. It’s not that I didn’t want to. I’m not sure what happened . . . I got busy and distracted, I guess. But that’s no real excuse.”

Stephanie peered at her, smiling sheepishly. “Yeah, I guess I could have done a little better too. I’ve heard phones ring both ways.”

Delanie returned her smile, understanding passing between them.

“It was Noel Butler,” Stephanie said.

“Pardon?”

“The guy I dated. It was Noel.”

Delanie nodded. When Stephanie didn’t volunteer anything further, she decided that was as much as she was going to share. Maybe it was Delanie’s turn.

“I thought Caleb cheated on me with Monica. But I was wrong.” She brushed some hair out of her eyes. “Turns out, I’ve been wrong a lot lately. But I’ve managed to do a few things right.”

She smiled, thinking about the message she had received just that morning from Nathan Tait’s publicist. After hearing the news of his innocence, she had taken a page from Amber’s book. First, she had removed her video condemning Nathan from her channel and posted an apology video for her part in the mob that had attacked him, empathizing with him after her own recent experience. She had also encouraged her fans and viewers to learn from her mistake and think twice in the future before picking up their phones to cast virtual stones, just as she planned to do.

The message the publicist had sent on Nathan’s behalf wasn’t mushy by any stretch, but it expressed Nathan’s gratitude that she had been big enough to retract her previous stance and to say so publicly. It also expressed well-wishes for her future success. She had sent a note expressing similar well-wishes and gratitude for his forgiveness. Nothing more was likely to ever come of the interaction, but finally, her conscience was clear on the subject.

“Yeah. I heard about what happened to you on social media.” Stephanie’s expression was sympathetic. “And you lost your job, too. That’s awful. No one deserves to be treated like that.”

“Thank you. But it could have been worse. And the job thing was kind of a blessing in disguise.”

“How’s that?”

Delanie looked skyward and smiled. “Because now I get to be here with Caleb and Emma. Besides, it showed me I’m not as powerless as I thought I was.”

Her agent had sent Crystal McLean a scathing indictment of Josh Rosenburg’s behaviour, along with the recording Delanie had taken, copying the email to every executive at the studio and threatening a wrongful termination suit. So far, the studio had been dragging their feet on their response, but Sandra said to give it time—at the least, the recording would ensure Delanie got a decent payout to smooth things over. And that the executives wouldn’t believe the lies Josh was probably telling about her behind her back.

And somehow, that recording and the story of Josh’s behaviour—and what Delanie was doing about it—had leaked to everyone on set. Delanie had her suspicions, but Desmond had never admitted to anything. He had relayed Xander’s news that one other girl had already come forward with accusations of sexual harassment against Josh. Delanie had a solid hunch that it wouldn’t be long before there would be more. And she had another solid hunch that the studio wouldn’t want to associate themselves with that kind of controversy either. One way or another, Josh wouldn’t get out of this scot-free.

She smirked. Des might only have a yellow stripe belt in Taekwondo, but he made a pretty fabulous guard anyway.

“You know what?” she added. “In a weird way, I’m glad it happened.”

Stephanie glanced at her in surprise. “You are? Why?”

Delanie smiled and turned to her friend. “Because if I hadn’t crashed and burned that way, I never would have learned what I really wanted. Who I really wanted. Or, you know, who I am.”

Stephanie nodded. They walked several paces before she spoke again, a pensive look on her face. “Sometimes, I think I need to do that.”

“What? Crash and burn?” Delanie laughed.

Stephanie cracked a rare smile. “No. Figure out what I want. I have a hard time getting to know people. I’m always afraid they’ll let me down, so it’s easier to keep them at a distance.” She glanced away so Delanie couldn’t see her face. “I think it’s what came between me and Noel. He probably thought I was too much work.” She squinted into the distance. “Sometimes I think I’m better off alone.”

Delanie stopped and laid a hand on her friend’s arm. “Hey, no. You don’t mean that. No one is better off alone.”

And if something turned Noel off of Stephanie, it wasn’t a fear of hard work. Maybe she’d hear his side of the story someday.

Stephanie turned and looked at the pavement beside her. “But being with people is so risky.”

“Not every person, right?” Delanie ducked her head to catch her friend’s eye. “You’ve still got me. I’m sorry I let you down before. But I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise.”

Stephanie nodded and dabbed at her wet cheeks with her knit gloves.

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