“Hey,” she said, pressing the phone to her ear. “Are you okay?”
“Hi,” Claire said. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Where are you?”
“We’re . . . well, we’re heading over to Wisteria House.”
“What?” Delilah frowned, hitched her camera bag higher on her shoulder. “Why?”
“They broke up. Astrid and Spencer. About thirty minutes ago.”
“Oh.” Delilah sagged against the inn’s exterior brick wall. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah. Apparently, he bought a house in Seattle without telling her, showing her pictures, anything.”
“And that was the straw, huh?”
“I guess so.”
Delilah nodded, even though Claire couldn’t see her. She waited to feel relieved, happy, even. This was what she’d wanted, what they’d all wanted, though Iris and Claire had different motivations from her. For Delilah, she could go back to New York now, get ready for her show at the Whitney. Fifteen grand richer, too. Per her contract, she still got paid in the event of a cancellation, and Isabel would fork over the money without a blink. Her stepmother would be too busy losing her shit on Astrid anyway, the called-off society wedding of her perfect daughter and a bona fide golden boy the stuff of Isabel Parker-Green’s nightmares, no doubt.
Delilah was done.
Free.
She never had to set foot in this town again if she didn’t want to.
So why was her back glued to this red brick wall like it was the only thing holding her up?
“What happens now?” Delilah said, her voice embarrassingly small. She cleared her throat, like a little bit of phlegm was the only reason for the near-whisper.
“Iris and I are going with Astrid to talk to Isabel,” Claire said.
“Yeah. Sure. Astrid will definitely need help with that one.”
“We thought so too.”
A silence pressed between them, and Delilah hated it. If this was going to end, best end it quickly, like a beheading. Painless and fast.
“Okay,” she said. “I guess I’ll—”
“Come with us,” Claire said.
Delilah blinked, then pushed off from the wall. “What?”
“Come with us,” Claire said again.
“Astrid doesn’t want me there.”
“You know how Isabel is. Maybe you could help.”
Delilah laughed, a bright, bitter sound. “Isabel definitely doesn’t want me there.”
“Well, I want you there.”
Delilah closed her eyes. “Claire.”
“Please. Just come, okay? I want to see you. And Astrid’s your family. The only one you have, right?”
“You know it’s more complicated than that.”
“I know. And don’t you wish it wasn’t?”
Delilah frowned, at a loss for what to say to that. Sure, she wished her relationship with Astrid and Isabel was simpler. And once she went back to New York, it would be, nearly nonexistent, just like it always was between visits. But even as she thought this, something else nudged at the back of her mind. A different wish. One where family meant more than awkward encounters and avoided text messages. One where friends meant more than an acquaintance or a colleague or a one-night stand. One where home meant more than a fifth-floor walk-up and IKEA furniture.
But it was too late for that.
Wasn’t it?
“Please,” Claire said again, and goddammit, Delilah didn’t want to say no to her. And if she was being honest, she didn’t want to leave without seeing Claire one more time.
“Fine,” Delilah said. “But meet me outside, okay? I don’t—”
“Want to walk in alone. I know.”
Delilah’s eyes felt suddenly wet. She ended the call before Claire could hear the tears in her voice.
* * *
CLAIRE WASN’T THERE to meet her, though Iris’s car was in the driveway. Still, Delilah stood frozen as her Lyft drove away. She should just turn around, go back to the inn, and book her flight home. She didn’t belong here, and she never would.
And yet.
Delilah had taken her time getting to Wisteria House. She’d gotten a coffee at Wake Up, then walked slowly through downtown until she was sure Claire would already be at Wisteria.
She had stopped in front of River Wild Books, gazed through the window at all the colorful spines, the bare walls Claire couldn’t decide how to fill. Brianne, Claire’s manager, waved at Delilah from behind the counter, a bright smile on her face. Delilah waved back, found herself smiling too, which just made all the confusing feelings gathering in her chest like a storm swirl even thicker.