Lost Along the Way(95)

“Completely. You don’t have to tell me now, but think about it. If you really want a fresh start, I think this is a great way to get going. I told you I was impressed with you the other day. You’re really very talented.”

Cara was stunned. She’d been through a crazy amount of change for one twenty-four-hour period, and this didn’t help calm anything down. Still, the offer seemed too good to be true.

“You’d do that for me?” Cara asked.

“Yeah, I would. Like I said, it would help me out, too. But I think you need some stability and something positive in your life right now. I’ve been there, so I get it. I think it could work out great.”

“I don’t know what to say,” Cara said, feeling a sudden urge to hug him.

“Think about it.”

“I will. Thank you, Nick. If someone would’ve told me that this week would end the way it has, I never would’ve believed them.”

“I didn’t think this week would end like this, either. I just spent my night photographing a naked celebrity with a comatose man, and my morning pretending to be a lawyer. How is any of that normal?”

“It’s not. But you’d better get used to the abnormal if you’re going to be friends with us!”

Two hours later, she drove through East Hampton and onto the stretch of Route 27 that would lead through Amagansett and then to Montauk. What she would do when she got there she wasn’t exactly sure, but oddly enough, even though she had just left her husband, her life, and her house, she felt like she was coming home.





thirty-one


I wish I could’ve seen his face. That might have been my greatest performance yet. He’s going to lose his f*cking mind!” Jane said. She slapped the dashboard so hard in her excitement that she winced in pain. She had to admit, she was proud of herself. True, maybe her methods weren’t ethical by social standards, but this wasn’t a normal situation. She’d found a way to solve Cara’s problems, to feel like she was useful, and to put her acting skills to good use. If she had to get naked to do it, so be it. Most people in Hollywood stripped for much less.

“Where do you get your courage from? I could never in a million years do what you just did,” Meg asked, wondering how girls who grew up as close as they did could be so completely different.

“It has nothing to do with courage. It’s spite. He doesn’t deserve her, and now, hopefully, he’ll let her go. What could be a better reason than that?”

Meg drove east on the highway, staring at Cara’s taillights in front of her, but her mind had been wandering for the better part of the ride. She couldn’t stop thinking about Reed and how awful he’d been to Cara, and Jane and how her husband had betrayed her and ruined her life because he was selfish and greedy and arrogant. Then she thought about Steve and about how he had done absolutely nothing—not one single thing since the day they’d met—except love her and support her and value her. And she’d thrown it all away. Jane and Cara were alone because that was what was best for them. But what was best for her? Could this really be the way her life was supposed to play out? Did she really toss away everything that mattered to her willingly? She had chosen to be alone this past year, and for some reason, until now, she couldn’t see how very, very stupid that was.

“Are you okay?” Jane asked. “You’ve been quiet, even for you. What’s on your mind?”

“Steve, actually,” Meg said.

“It’s not too late,” Jane answered.

“I was so awful to him. He tried so hard and I pushed him away. Why would he even want me back? Nothing has changed. We’ll never have kids. Not our own, at least.”

“So what? You’ll have each other. Why can’t that be enough?”

“It’s not what we had planned. It’s not how things were supposed to happen.”

“Meg, you need to adapt. So what if it isn’t how things were supposed to happen? Look at the rest of us. You think this is how any of us thought our lives would work out? You have a great guy who loves you. I’m really sorry about your medical issues, I am. But you’re not the first woman in the world to have fertility problems, and honestly, if he’s okay with it, then that’s his decision. He’s a big boy. He can decide for himself. Do you think that being separated is the better option? Really?”

“No. I’ve known that it’s not for a long time, but I can’t bring myself to call him. I mean, what will I even say? Sorry? Sorry I left you and moved to Montauk and made you worry about me nonstop for a year? Sorry that I can’t have kids and because of that I abandoned you? Seriously, what do I say?”

“Nothing. You don’t say a word,” Jane said. She paused, then added, “You let me do it for you.” Jane removed her phone from her bag and scrolled through her contacts.

“What are you doing?” Meg asked.

“Today seems to be my day for solving all of my friends’ problems. I’m calling your husband.”

“Jane, hang up the phone! Stop it!” Meg yelled, remembering a similar conversation they’d had when Jane had called the boy Meg liked in fifth-period French class and tried to get him to come to a party. That hadn’t ended well, either.

“I will do no such thing. I’m taking matters into my own hands. You need my help.”