“I thought you hated me,” she whispered.
“What? Why in the world would I hate you?”
“Because I broke my dad and Eleanor up. I didn’t mean to, really. I’m just... trying to figure out everything. I can’tunderstand how my dad could be happy with someone else after losing my mother. I mean, I really like Eleanor. She’s a good person. I’m just... I feel like I was betrayed,” she confessed.
I thought back to my own mother and the betrayal I felt when she’d announced she was engaged to David. Instant guilt hit me because I knew Eleanor and Greyson had a true connection. Maybe my mother and David did, too. I just couldn’t see it until I looked at someone else’s storybook and saw the similarities to mine.
“If there’s anything I know about life, it’s the fact that love is complicated,” I explained, taking a seat at Karla’s table. “I’m still trying to figure out how it works myself, but if it’s true love, you’ll all figure it out. I swear.”
“I’ve been writing a lot lately,” she told me. “It’s been helping me figure out what’s going on in my head. And I think I’m kind of getting it. I’m thinking of myself as a character like in my books. I’m the heroine who has a lot of character arcs. I have flaws, but I’m trying to see how they make me beautiful.”
I smiled. “I think that’s beautiful, Karla.”
“Maybe you can read my story when I finish it?”
“I’d be honored. I’m proud of you for doing the hard work. For digging deep and looking inside yourself for answers.”
She nodded. “Uncle Landon has been helping me a lot with that. He said the end goal is happiness, and that’s all I want. I want to be happy again.”
“And you will be. I promise. I can’t wait to see you soar.”
“I’ve been making lists of things that make me happy. Like songs and movies and stuff. I think that’s helping me.”
“That’s a really good idea. I think I might do the same thing for myself.”
Perhaps it was time for me to study my own character arcs,because no matter how old one was, there was always room for growth.
After I finished my time with Karla, I headed straight over to my mom’s house. When she opened the door, she had a frown on her face, obviously still upset over my childish behavior.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” I told her, shaking my head. “I’m just so scared of love. I don’t know how it works, or how it moves, or how to stop heartbreak from coming. I reacted so poorly to hearing the news about David, and I am so sorry about that.”
Her frown slowly began to turn around. “I did sort of spring it on you,” she confessed. “I could have prepared you and Mima for it a little more.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I reacted so poorly. I know what Dad put you through all those years ago, and I never want you to hurt like that again.”
“I know. Believe me, I’ve spent so much time living in that world of anger that I’ve struggled with letting people back in. I don’t trust men—I still don’t as a whole, and that’s something I’ll need to do some work on. But I do trust David. Shay... if you knew how he treated me, you’d never doubt his love. Your father’s love caged me, while David’s sets me free. I’m so happy,” she exclaimed, placing her hand against her chest. Her eyes welled up, but this time it was from her joy. My mom was... happy.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her so giddy. The joy poured out of her soul. It landed in her eyes and sat against her lips.
“Can you tell me more about him?” I asked.
“Of course. I’ll need my maid of honor to know all the details, after all.”
“I’m your maid of honor?”
“Oh, come on, Shay.” She shook her head in disbelief. “As if I’d ever choose another.”
* * *
Things were finally feeling as if they were coming back together around me, and I was so unbelievably thankful for that. Karla and I were going to work on getting back into our writing meetings. I asked Eleanor if it was OK if I did so, and she begged me to continue my work with Karla. She cared so much from a distance. I was certain that soon enough, she’d find her way back into Greyson’s world.
Some things were simply meant to be.
All was grand up until I showed up for work to a very unhappy actress.
“What the hell is this?!” Sarah barked as I walked into her trailer. Something about her crystals must’ve been off, because her energy was beyond erratic.
“What’s what?” I asked, confused as ever.