Page 18 of A Love Song for Dreamers

“Six...Why does this feel likegoodbye?”

The nickname makes my heart swell and shatter atonce.

I force my mouth to smile, and every muscle hurts. “It’snot.”

But I know thetruth.

Deep down, I knowit isgoodbye.

5

Two and a Half YearsLater

“Why isit always prodigal sons and never prodigal daughters?” Elle’s voice comes over the phone as I shift into the limo outside the terminal atDFW.

“Maybe women are smart enough not to goback.”

“Or they didn’t leave it so long in the firstplace.”

As the car pulls away, I slide my sunglasses up my nose. “Going home might be the worst idea you’ve had since becoming myroommate.”

“It wasn’t my idea. Haley invited you on behalf of her and your dad. I just played the dead dad card and reminded you that it sucks not to have a dad in the firstplace.”

“You’re right. And I’ll be back in New York first thing Monday. You won’t even notice I’m gone,” I say as we wind our way through the mass of ramps andoverpasses.

“Well, someone noticed. He’s been knocking on the dooragain.”

Just what I need. “I’ll handlehim.”

“Oh, I don’t care about that. But I think he’supset you’renothandlinghim.”

Silence grabs the line for a beat,two.

“It’s only been a month,” Elle goes on, softer this time. “Youokay?”

“Emotionally, yes. Ian and I are over. But dating someone you work with—someone you can’t stop working with even after you split—is like getting bangs. It seems like a great idea and then three months later, you’re crying into abucket.”

Elle’s delighted laughter makes me smile. “You’ve been living with me toolong.”

We hang up, and I settle into the drive, unsure of whether I want it to go faster or slower as we pass familiar buildings andstreets.

I have a career in entertainment I’ve built myself. Playbills with my name on them, even if I was only onstage twenty minutes a night. An actual apartment in New York. Friends I can counton.

But life is about to ask me aquestion.

I feel it in theair.

And right now, the air has metingling.

Too soon, the car pulls up the driveway, and I punch in the gate code. The winding drive is the same as I remember, but now there’s a second laneway that runs parallel on the other side of the fence. It runs up the property and around thehouse.

Interesting.

On that loop, a valet is parking cars, and there are at least fifty—mostly expensive late-model, with a few classics thrownin.

“Go to the front,” I instruct mydriver.

By the time I’m out of the car, Haley’s already emerging from the double doors. She’s wearing a yellow dress that’s feminine and no-nonsense at once and looks gorgeous with her dark hair. I can’t help butgrin.

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