Recommended Reading

Epilogue

Play It Again, Bobby

“Your dad and mom seem to be getting along well,” I say to Wanda as we follow our little group through the field toward the stage under the elms. Fairy lights are draped overhead, giving a sense of magic to the summer evening.

“You’re going to stay out of it,” she warns. Even though she’s forgiven me for my chickn_backflip blunder, I know she’s expecting me to pull some stunt to help her parents rekindle their relationship.

But I can tell from the way Wanda’s parents look at each other that my help isn’t required. The kindling is raring to go.

“You don’t need to worry. I finally learned my lesson,” I say. “No more getting involved in other people’s love lives. No one needs me to make a mess of things for them. They’re capable of doing it themselves.”

“It helps you’ve got a love life of your own to keep you busy.” Luke falls into step beside us and slides his arm behind me, his hand resting above my hip. He points with his other hand. “Cass and Andy are over there.”

Evie rushes by, stopping only long enough to say into a walkie talkie, “All actors are to gather backstage in five minutes exactly. Showtime in ten.”

“I guess I better get going. What do you think of my costume?” Roger asks, standing from where he was crouched talking to Jerome and Mya.

“You make a great ass,” Luke says. “Even without the head.”

“The cast party is at our place. You should come too, Bobby,” Roger says. “It would be good to see you there.”

“We’ll see,” Luke says, pulling me tighter against him. He whispers in my ear, “We don’t have to. But now that we’re together, he really wants you to like him.”

I laugh. “I’ll keep him working for it awhile longer.”

Cass looks up from Uncle Andy’s phone screen. “We got a great spot thanks to the Gladyses.”

Gladys and the second Gladys are seated on a bench behind where Cass, Andy, and Wanda’s mom and dad have laid out blankets on the lawn for all of us. As we sit, Gladys pokes Luke in the back.

“You’re tall,” she says.

“I am,” Luke agrees.

“Don’t go being all tall and block my view of the performance.”

The second Gladys takes Gladys’s hand in hers. “He can’t help his height.”

The OG Gladys harrumphs and cranes her neck.

Luke settles down, legs crossed at the ankles in front of him, leaning back on his elbows. I rest my head on his shoulder, one hand placed on his chest over his heart. A spark tingles through me.

Wanda sits in front of us, behind our respective sets of parents. She peers over Uncle Andy and Cass’s shoulders at their phone screens.

“What’s with the real estate listings? You’re not moving. Are you?” Wanda asks.

I shake my head. “We’re all happy living in our own places. They’re trying to find Cass a studio. She’s officially out of retirement. We’re still cleaning glass slivers out of the hardwood.”

The setting sun turns the sky fuchsia and magenta. Hints of lavender creep in.

“Cindy!” I call out to her as she walks by in a group all dressed in yoga gear.

“Looking good, Bobby,” she says with a wink at Luke and me.

One of the women with Cindy looks over her shoulder and then stops to kneel beside me.

“Aren’t you the Book Whisperer?” she asks.

“Not anymore,” I say, sitting up. “I only handle event planning for Corner Books now.”

She tilts her head to the side. “I’m having guy troubles. I could really use one of your recommendations.”

I shake my head. “I’m done with that sort of thing.”

Luke leans close. “Come on, Casanova. For old time’s sake.” He laces his fingers through mine and holds my hand. “You know you want to.”