Page 101 of A Bookish Story

“I would have never put those two together,” I admit. “But funny how they somehow fit.”

“Geneva is good for Eddie. Gracias a Dios he’ll have someone now and I won’t worry when I die.”

“Why? Are you dying?”

She laughs. “A little bit every day, mi amor, but that’s life. We are all getting older. Best to enjoy every day and stop making happiness so hard. It’s everywhere if you look. Look at those two. Your papi is smiling down from heaven with love.”

I smile too when I see Eddie kissing my mother’s hand as he finally, thank you Jesus, hands over the microphone to Diego because he’s done.

Like Ryan, the second-chance trope has always been a favorite.

And a second chance at love is alive and well at the Santana house.

CHAPTER 32

On Monday morning, I arrive at Ryan’s, eager to be his human dictating machine. I want to tell him all about this weekend, how I stood up for myself and my own needs. He needs to know I am done with Chris. It’s over. I don’t expect Ryan’s feelings for me will change in any way but at least he won’t feel guilty about kissing me anymore. Should the opportunity arise, that is, and I hope that it will.

The door is open when I arrive and a strange woman I’ve never seen before is cleaning in the kitchen.

“Hello,” she says, looking up as I walk inside.

“I’m looking for Ryan? He’s staying here, and I work for him.”

“You must be Luci,” she says, handing me an envelope. “He said to give this to you when you came in on Monday.”

“He’s not here?”

“No, he went back early.”

He’s…gone.

I clutch the envelope. This contains bad news and I should be alone when I read what he has to say to me after clearing out of the house like he’s running from the law. But I don’t get far before I tear open the envelope and read his note.

Dear Luci,

I’ve left you a check that should cover the remainder of your salary. Your help has been invaluable but I’m going back to Pasadena to finish this book. It’s become too difficult to focus and I don’t mean my ribs. Kate will be in touch regarding the sequel. You should have an agency agreement in your inbox soon. I have no doubt you’re going to write a much better book than I did. Keep in mind that whether it sells a lot of copies won’t have anything to do with the story or your writing. There’s a lot of luck involved in this business and you already know this.

Let me make something perfectly clear. Love doesn’t mean you chase someone. I know that’s what you expect. Chasing after someone like Grayson did in the book, begging them to love you, is nothing but desperation, insecurity, and loneliness. That’s not true love. Love can simply be the effort of standing still and having the sense to recognize it when it rotates around you like the sun.

Sometimes real love means letting someone go when you realize they’d be better off without you. Because you see, big declarations of love can be quiet. They can be still. I know that’s not how it works in romance books. This is how it works for me.

I’m in love with you, and nothing is ever going to change that.

Write your books and be happy. You deserve it more than anyone I’ve ever known.

Have a good life.

~R

Have a good life?

Have a good life?

What the actual…ugh! I press my back against the wall and dramatically slide to the floor in a heap. And no, I would not write it this way.

Ryan loves me, so he’s leaving. This is how he’s written our ending. I guess that’s what you get with a man who isn’t a true romance writer. He’s a one-hit wonder. I read his stupid note again and again hoping I missed the part where he tells me to join him. Where he tells me he wants to see me again. This all makes about as much sense as his Soulmates ending. It’s no ending at all. Incomplete. A cliffhanger. Author, please elucidate! More feeling here, go deeper. Don’t leave the reader hanging, a cardinal sin. I am on the edge of a scream.

“Are you okay?” the woman says, gazing at me with narrowed eyes because I’m now sitting on the floor. “Bad news?”