He wasn’t absorbing what she was saying. He shook his head. “Maybe when they’re older, when they don’t need you as much, you can pick it up again.” He rubbed his eyes; he looked like Sebastian did when he was tired. “I want you to shut it down,” he said. “We never talked about spending money on a babysitter, when we still owe my parents, when we have a lot of expenses, Lu. We had an agreement, where for now I make the money and you take care of the kids. You can’t just opt out of the agreement.”

“But that agreement is four years old. Things change!”

“I don’t want some stranger raising our boys,” said Jeremy. “Neither did you, when we would’ve had to find a new nanny for Sebastian. And a new baby? I don’t want a stranger taking care of a baby. For now, you’re going to have to shut down the blog.”

Lu thought of all the sponsors she’d gathered, the cookbook deal, the invitation to the conference, the advertising dollars, the momentum. She’d never get it back, not years from now, not if she turned it all down now. She had to build her empire before she could live in it—she couldn’t show up in ten years or more and say, Where’s my empire? I thought I left it right here.

“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t do that, Jeremy. I’ve given a lot to the family, but I can’t give everything. I won’t.”

And then she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Chapter 56

ANTHONY

THE EVENTS COORDINATOR at Island Bound Books was a small young woman with a wide smile and suntanned skin. If eyes really could be said to sparkle, hers did (cliché). She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt that said I’m a Bad Girl. I Read Past My Bedtime and a name tag that said BRIDGET. The T-shirt made Anthony think of Maggie.

“Oh, I’m sorry! We’ve had to cancel our event for this afternoon!” Bridget said when Anthony rapped on the door. It had taken him some effort to get to the store. The wind was whipping off the water something fierce, and there was a point on Water Street where the air seemed to be pushing him back just as strongly as he was pushing himself forward. Bridget pointed dramatically at a handwritten sign that said AUTHOR EVENT CANCELED. “With the ferries stopped, it just seemed silly to continue.” She leaned toward Anthony as though she were about to divulge a great secret. “We don’t always get such big names here, you know, and the owner understandably would rather postpone until we can really fill the house.”

“And then some, I’m sure,” said Anthony. “I mean, Leonard Puckett! He’s a big deal.” He tried to make his voice sound affable, but really he was thinking, Fraud. He was thinking, Liar.

“One of my favorites,” Bridget confirmed. “I’ve just had a few minutes to speak with him. A real treat! An unexpected treat, I might add. Sometimes the big ones just blow in and blow out without so much as a sideways glance. But he’s quite the gentleman.”