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Something in Rachelle’s gut twisted.
“I’d like to introduce you all to someone very special to me,” Ryan said, eyeing the woman beside him lovingly. “This is Stacy. She’s a wonderful woman, an animal lover, and a sublime vegan chef. And I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we’re falling in love with each other. Aren’t we, Stace?”
Stacy beamed. “When I first met Ryan, he was dark and angry. I hated seeing you like that.” She blinked up at him. “But I knew that through our shared love of food, I could bring you back into the light.” She spread her skinny arms and sighed as though she’d just drawn a literal rainbow.
Rachelle’s mouth was wide open. One after another, pieces from the events of the week fell into place.
“I can’t believe this,” Rachelle muttered.
“What did Diana say?” Darcy asked.
“Nothing,” Rachelle said. “But I can’t imagine she’s feeling so good about it.”
“Didn’t you say she was sick? Maybe it’s because of him?” Sam shook her head. “I can’t believe he would move on so publicly like this. It always felt like he wanted so much attention. But this is something else.”
“He’s addicted to the spotlight,” Darcy said.
Rachelle thought of Valentina and Diana, alone in that big Victorian just five minutes' drive away. Valentina must have escaped her boarding school when she learned about her father’s upcoming show. He was shameless. He didn’t care about his family’s feelings.
But things got even worse when Rachelle looked online for additional details. The majority of the Cooking Channel fans sided with Ryan, saying:
“Diana has already been publicly flirting with that twentysomething guy on Nantucket. I support Ryan as he searches for happiness elsewhere.”
“I can’t imagine what Ryan felt the past few weeks, watching Diana move on.”
“Why would Diana leave a handsome man like Ryan? She’s clearly in the wrong. And he was always better than her, anyway.”
Rachelle muttered angrily before finally explaining the situation to Darcy and their mother.
“I think it’s misogyny through and through,” Rachelle said. “When I first met Diana, I remember thinking she was the less talented of the married couple. But I’m pretty sure that’s just what the network wanted the public to think!” She chewed her lower lip contemplatively. “Diana’s been in a prison of what the public thinks of her for too long. And now, all this Eddie stuff has made it even worse. I hate it.”
“Do you think this romance with Stacy is also fake?” Darcy asked.
“I don’t know,” Rachelle admitted. “It’s so hard to tell, isn’t it?”
“Fake or not, it’s an attack on Diana,” Sam said.
“Yes. It’s the Cooking Channel trying to use Diana leaving Ryan for their own personal gain,” Rachelle said.
Rachelle got up and walked into the next room to try Diana on the phone again. It rang and rang and rang. Over and over again, Rachelle winced at the memory of Diana trying to warn her about Eddie. She’d been through so much with Ryan. And it seemed Ryan would still make her pay for ever falling in love with him for as long as he could.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Diana had never been so thrilled to see anyone in her life. When Valentina arrived on the doorstep of the rental in Siasconset, she was on the brink of tears, a quivering mess of a girl, and Diana drew her into the coziness of this home—so far away from the one in which she’d raised Valentina—and tried to think of ways to heal the both of them. The Nantucket Factory television show was the last thing on her mind.
The reason Valentina had run away from school was simple. She’d learned about her father’s upcoming “romantic cooking show” with another woman. News of such a public breakup was startling for the entire United States—which made it akin to a natural disaster for the daughter of the parents who were breaking up.
The other girls at boarding school teased Valentina about Diana’s apparent “flirtation” with a twentysomething named Eddie. They deemed it pathetic that Diana was flirting with some younger man while Ryan moved on with someone “real.” Nobody mentioned the fact that Stacy and Eddie were approximately the same age. Nobody mentioned the double standard—that men were “allowed” to date younger women (and often congratulated for it), while women were said to be “cougars” and “pathetic.”
“Mom? Like, he’s way too young for you!” Valentina had wept.
Diana had done her best to explain the mechanics of the television industry. She said that it was all a part of a fictional narrative that the producers were cooking up. “It’s all about getting people to tune in,” she said. “They don’t care if it’s real or not.”
It had taken a while for Valentina to calm down. Diana had done her best to help her along, cooking her favorite foods—grilled cheeses, soups, macaroni and cheese. Perhaps because she’d been raised going to some of the most artful and top-rated restaurants in the world, Valentina’s palate resisted anything but comfort foods and “junk.” When Diana tried to dress up the macaroni and cheese with blue cheese or red onions, Valentina cried out, “I want it simple! Don’t get all chef about it.”
During the first days of Valentina’s trip to Nantucket, Diana didn’t mention returning her to the boarding school once. Instead, she called the principal and explained there was a family emergency. The principal's tone told Diana she knew everything about Diana and Ryan’s public breakup. Everyone loved gossip.
But now that Ryan’s new television show had officially aired, Valentina and Diana were at a loss for words. They sat out on the back veranda overlooking the ocean, wrapped in blankets, their eyes on the star-dotted horizon. Far in the distance, a freighter traced a line over the water, stoic and dark.
