She decided not to reach out to Vronsky and let him know she’d broken up with Alexander but would instead give herself another day or two of boy-free drama. She’d share her news on the plane to Coachella. A musical festival on the other side of the country seemed like the perfect place to start off her new life as a single girl who could dance with or kiss any boy she chose, though there was only one boy with whom she’d wanted to do either of those things. Anna asked Steven if he had convinced Dustin to come along as well, but her brother said he felt it was too soon for him to leave his mom. “Not to worry, Dustin won’t be alone. Kimmie showed up on the seventh day of shivah after we left, and the two of them have been spending some time together.”

Anna felt an incredible rush of warmth at this news. Perhaps something good would rise out of the ashes of Nicholas’s death after all. The coincidence of Kimmie spending time with Nicholas and his girlfriend in the weeks before his untimely death, as well as the letter that Nicholas had written to Dustin, had inspired Anna and played an influential part in her decision-making process. She believed love was a power greater than all else, and everyone who was under its spell had no choice but to be beholden to its capricious and magical whimsy.

Anna had a selfish interest, too, in rooting for Kimmie and Dustin. If she ever decided to start to date Vronsky, it would be far less awkward now that Kimmie and Dustin were together. As she finished packing her suitcase for Coachella, Anna felt a spark of hope within her that perhaps everything was going to work out for everyone after all.

XXI

Vronsky asked Beatrice to let Anna know he was going to Coachella but he’d fly back for her at a moment’s notice. Beatrice rolled her eyes and told her cousin this was the last time she would get involved with them. In her entire life, she had never grown weary of “the drama,” but this was getting a little ridiculous. Their sordid affair and subsequent separation wasn’t just bumming him out, it was bumming Beatrice out, too, which frankly was just unacceptable.

Beatrice arrived at the plane early, wanting to make sure it was properly stocked with the food and beverages she had special-ordered for her friends. She loved California and wanted everyone to get in the right mood for their four-day holiday in Indio hobnobbing with the Hollywood elite. Beatrice was bored of the East Coast’s usual suspects and was itching to pry salacious la-la land gossip from the pretty people of the West Coast.