Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter
Thirty-Four
Two days later, reality intruded.
They had spent most of the Fourth in bed, which was just fine with Dylan. She had no desire to see anyone but Ramona, and when Ramona suggested they meet Olive and April and Leigh at the beach for fireworks that night, Dylan agreed because she wanted to give Ramona anything she wanted.
She wanted to give her the world.
If she could.
Later, they had sneaked away to their cove and kissed under the moonlight, just like they had eighteen years ago. This time was different though. This time they whispered their real names against each other’s mouths. This time, they didn’t let go. This time, they left together, fingers tangled.
It had been a perfect night. A perfect day. A perfect month with Ramona, and Dylan never wanted it to end.
But the next morning, both of their phones started buzzing at seven a.m.
“What the actual fuck,” Dylan said. Her hair—or maybe it was Ramona’s—was spread across her face, and her eyes felt gummy. Ramona stirred next to her, gloriously naked, and slapped at her own phone on the nightstand.
“It’s me,” she said.
“No, it’s me,” Dylan said, not moving. “Death awaits the caller.”
Ramona squinted at her phone. “Mine’s a text.”
Dylan’s phone stopped buzzing, only to start up again a second later.
“Fuck, it’s Laurel,” she said.
Ramona sat up, her hair a beautiful mess. “How do you know?”
Dylan still didn’t move. “Repeat calls. Gotta be her.”
“You better answer, then.”
Dylan just groaned and closed her eyes again. Repeat calls from Laurel were never a good thing, and she’d enjoyed her day off yesterday in sex-addled, romantic bliss far too much to start this bullshit so early.
“Who’s yours?” she asked, her phone already starting to buzz a third time.
Ramona was quiet for a second.
Dylan cracked open an eye. Ramona blinked at her phone, then caught Dylan’s gaze.
Smiled.
“It’s Noelle,” she said softly. “She needs me to run to Concord for some boots.”
Dylan nodded, but she felt her shoulders go tight, even lying down in the bed. They still hadn’t really talked about Ramona’s new job. Dylan had wanted yesterday to go on and on, simple as that, but now that same terror from before was back, that small sensation in the center of her chest that made her feel like she was shrinking.
“You should get going then,” she said. It just came out. She knew she needed to be honest, needed to just tell Ramona what she wanted, what she wondered, what she was so afraid of. But being honest with people about how much she cared about them had never been easy for her. Deflecting, as her therapist would call it, was natural, a reflex.
And as her phone buzzed for the fourth time, she knew she didn’t have the time or energy to get into this emotional minefield with Ramona right now. She sat up and grabbed her phone—sure enough, Laurel’s name flashed over the screen—while Ramona got out of bed and headed for the bathroom.
“Yes, darling?” Dylan said into the phone after sliding her finger across the screen.
“Hey, wanted to give you a heads-up,” Laurel said, wasting no time. She was used to Dylan’s deflections by now, and rarely called attention to them unless absolutely necessary.
“About what?” Dylan asked. “Should I be nervous?”
“Depends. Are you over Jocelyn Gareth?”
Just the name made Dylan’s stomach tense. Not that she’d tell Laurel that.
“ Over her?” she said.
Laurel sighed. “You know what I mean.”
“Why are you—” Dylan froze. Closed her eyes. “She’s coming to set, isn’t she?”
“She is. Today. I just got the confirmation. She’s been out in North Carolina with Ruby’s family.”
“How lovely.” Dylan pressed her fingers into her eyes and squeezed.
“Look,” Laurel said softly. “I’ll be on set today too. You don’t even have to speak to her, but…”
Dylan groaned. “But I should.”
“It would be a good look, yeah.”
“God, I don’t need this right now,” Dylan said. “My parents are still here too, which means she’s going to be parading around with Jack, talking about romantic song lyrics to match my kissing scenes.”
Laurel was quiet for a second. Ramona came out of the bathroom in a plain lavender tee tied at her waist and formfitting black pants that hit at her ankle. She looked retro and adorable, and Dylan wanted nothing more than to pull her back into bed.
But then Laurel sighed loudly into the phone, bringing real life crashing down once again.
“Dylan, this is your job,” she said. “I know Jocelyn hurt you, but that’s on her. You wanted to remake yourself after everything that happened with her and the Mondrian. So do it.”
Dylan felt her shoulders drop. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”
“I’ll see you in an hour?”
“Okay. Thanks, Laurel.”
She ended the call, dropped her phone in her lap. Laurel was right. She had to suck it up, stop letting other people’s issues become her own.
“You okay?” Ramona asked, slipping her phone into her back pocket.
Dylan nodded, scrubbed a hand over her face. “Jocelyn’s going to be here today.”
Ramona’s eyes widened. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you…is that…”
“A problem?” Dylan asked, then laughed bitterly. “No. I don’t know.” She looked at Ramona. “I never told you what she did, did I?”
Ramona’s mouth opened, then she sank down onto the bed, sitting on one leg. “No. But Olive mentioned something about a record deal with your dad.”
Dylan nodded. Of course Olive would know about it. The whole world knew about it. Ramona only hadn’t known about it because she didn’t read the gossip sites. Or at least, she hadn’t before she met Dylan.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself,” Dylan said. “It’s just…I didn’t react well. The Mondrian and the helicopter. The champagne and the pool. It wasn’t my proudest moment.”
She reached out and took Ramona’s hand.
“It’s okay,” Ramona said, staring at their fingers.
Dylan squeezed. “Good. And it’ll be fine with Jocelyn. I can be professional. I have to be, right?”
Ramona looked at her. Smiled, though there was something sad in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Dylan asked.
Ramona blinked. “Me? Yeah, I’m…I’m fine. But hey, can we talk tonight?”
Dylan tilted her head. “Talk?”
“Just…yeah. Just, like, talk. Maybe go to dinner?”
“Of course. I always want to talk to you,” Dylan said, though somehow she didn’t think Ramona meant simply shooting the breeze over some fried calamari.
But Ramona nodded, took a deep breath as she stood up. “Good. Great. I’ll…I’ll see you on set? We’re at the lake house again, right?”
“Yeah,” Dylan said as their hands slid apart. “Kiss?”
Ramona came over to her side of the bed, leaned down, and kissed her, framing Dylan’s face in her hands.
“You’re talented and beautiful and good,” Ramona whispered against her mouth.
Dylan’s throat nearly closed up, aching with the effort to hold back a sudden swell of tears.
“Thank you, baby,” she said, her voice shaky.
“And you know what else I think?” Ramona asked.
“What?”
Ramona grinned. “I think that you’ve earned Llama Face.”
Dylan eyes popped. “No.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Have I really?”
“Oh, yes. Definite earnage going on here.”
Dylan wiggled her ass in the bed, eagerly set her hands in her lap like a little kid. “I’m so ready.”
Ramona sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath. “You have to see it from the side.”
“Deal. Yes. Go,” Dylan said, glee filling her up.
Ramona laughed, then turned so Dylan faced her right side. Then she hooked her thumb under her top lip and her forefinger over her bottom lip. She pulled her lips out, opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue, then made a sound like…well…a llama.
Dylan just watched in awe. It was, indeed, a llama face. A laugh burst out of her, because it was also the funniest and cutest and most ridiculous thing Dylan had ever seen.
She clapped, while Ramona stood and took a bow.
“Excellent,” Dylan said, still clapping. “A-plus. Oscar-winning performance right there.” She beamed at Ramona, affection like she’d never felt for another person flooding into her chest. “Encore!”
“Oh no,” Ramona said. “Llama Face only comes out at very special and very specific times.”
“Hmph.” Dylan pouted, folding her arms. “Fine. I’ll accept that under duress.”
“Fair enough,” Ramona said, smiling down at her. They watched each other for a second, soft expressions on both faces, and Dylan felt her affection surge even higher, brimming to the top of her head and the tips of her toes.
Ramona’s smile widened, as though she knew it, and then bent down to kiss Dylan goodbye.
“Beautiful,” she whispered against her mouth one more time, then was gone.