Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98789 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 395(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
I stared at my phone. I looked around, expecting someone to jump out and say it was a setup. I listened to the message again, trying to decide if it was actually Katherine Carroll’s voice or one of my friends playing a joke.
Could this be real? Was the universe just fucking with me now?
I dialed my agent.
“Hello?”
“Izzie. You’re not gonna believe this.” Too agitated to sit still, I popped out of my chair and paced back and forth while I told her about the message. “Do you think it was really her?”
“I know it was, because I’m the one who gave Olivia your number yesterday,” she said excitedly. “I was dying to tell you, but she asked me not to say anything because she wasn’t entirely sure what Katherine was going to do with it, but Dash! This is amazing!”
“I don’t even know what to do with myself.” I put a hand on my head. “I’m about to get on a plane to go back to Michigan and tell this girl I love her. I was ready to give up on Hollywood.”
Izzie squealed. “Get on that plane, Dashiel Buckley! Hollywood will be here when you get back, and we’ll figure it out.”
I heard my zone being called. “I gotta go change my life, Izzie. I’ll call you later.”
After I picked up my rental car at the airport, I drove straight to Xander’s house. It took every ounce of willpower I had not to go directly to Ari’s, but I stuck to the plan. We hit the road in his SUV before eight, both of us chugging coffee in groggy morning silence.
When we turned into the drive at Abelard, I texted Gianni.
Hey, just pulling in.
Great! I pulled the truck into the Etoile lot, so just head there.
See you in a few.
I directed Xander where to go, and then I saw Gianni standing next to the truck, talking to Ellie as two kids jumped in and out of the driver’s seat. They looked a little younger than Owen and Adelaide, maybe not quite school-age yet.
We parked a safe distance away and approached the truck. “Morning,” I said, shaking Gianni’s hand. “Thanks for doing this so early on a Sunday.”
“Are you kidding? We’ve got two kids under six. We’re up early every day.” He turned to Xander and offered a hand. “Xander, right? We met at the wedding.”
They exchanged a handshake while Ellie corralled the kids and brought them over. “Morning, guys. This is Claudia and Benny.”
I smiled at the carbon copies of their parents. Benny especially looked just like I imagined Gianni did at that age—floppy dark hair, dimpled smile, and a look of complete recklessness in his eyes, like there was no dare he wouldn’t take. The girl was pretty like her mom, with big blue eyes and long brown hair. “Nice to meet you.”
They mumbled hello, and Gianni put an arm around his wife. As I looked at their family, I felt something that might have been envy tug at my insides. They made it look so easy. So nice.
“This is so exciting,” said Ellie. “I cannot tell you how horrible I felt when Ari called yesterday.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “I had no idea that would happen.”
“I was so flustered! Thank God Gianni had told me the entire thing was a surprise.”
“See? I do listen sometimes.” Gianni looked smug.
We chatted for a few minutes before Xander took off and Ellie shepherded the kids into the inn, where they were going to see their grandparents. Gianni handed me a file folder containing service records for the truck as well as manuals for the kitchen equipment. There would still be paperwork to complete and insurance issues to deal with, but Ari would have the keys in her hands in just a couple of hours.
“Thanks for everything, man.” I shook Gianni’s hand once more and opened the driver’s side door. “Fuck, I hope I can drive this thing.”
Gianni laughed. “You’ll be fine. Take it slow.”
“I will. Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” He stood with his feet spread, arms folded across his chest.
“How did you know it would be like this—what you have?” I gestured in the direction his wife and kids had gone.
“I didn’t. I had no fucking clue.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ellie got pregnant after we were stranded in a snowstorm at a motel for a couple days.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I said. “Really?”
“She couldn’t stand me,” he said, laughing. “I was the last guy on earth she thought she’d end up with. And I had no interest in being a husband or a father at the time. But the universe is funny like that. Sometimes it just hands you a plate. And you can be like, ‘Excuse me, I didn’t order this,’ and the universe is like, ‘Just eat. You’re gonna love it.’”