“I gave Georgia Rory a hero, but he’s not the right man to end her story with.”

“Has he done anything wrong?” Jake said.

“They don’t suit each other’s needs. She’s deciding what to do.”

“Oh.” He reached over and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Do you know who the right man should be?”

Liv shook her head. “Not yet. I’m really struggling.”

“I’ve brought you something. I thought it might help.” Jake took the notebook he’d made, when they’d first met, out of his pocket. It had lain unused in her bedside drawer for over twenty years. “You said you’d use it for something special one day.”

Liv’s spirits lifted a little. “Thank you,” she said.

For the next couple of days, she continued to battle with the ending for the book. She tried to write different scenarios for Georgia and, again, they didn’t feel right.

Jake continued to appear with food and drink for her. He left to go back to their home and didn’t put pressure on her to join him. He didn’t ask her anything about Essie, and Liv continued to keep the author’s death to herself.

One evening, after Liv had rewritten two new chapters and deleted them, her eyes were red and sore when Jake arrived. She sank down on the mattress and felt like crying. He had brought her a photo of the boys and her slippers.

“I think I’m going to lose my job with Essie,” she said with a sniff. “The boys have gone, and it feels like me and you are losing each other, too.”

He sat down beside her and took her hand. “You’re never going to lose me,” he said. “I know we’ve been going through a hard time. But you’re kind of stuck with me. Unless you don’t want that?”

“I don’t know what I want.”

“Then stay here until you do,” he said softly. “I’ll wait.”

When he wrapped his arms around her, she’d forgotten how good he smelled and she nestled against his chest. Throughout life, their haircuts might change, their skin would grow looser, and there would many more ups and downs, but his heartbeat would always be the same. She felt it thrumming soft and strong against her cheek.

She thought about how Anthony was Essie’s rock, the love of her life she didn’t realize she had. She wondered, in that moment, if Jake was hers. Did love always have to be about golden sunrises and raging ravines?

Perhaps life was divided up like a book, into scenes and chapters. Liv and Jake were making their way through the bumpy middle and heading into the second half of their story.

She spoke to his chest. “There are some things about my job I’ve not told you, about Essie. Big, weird things.”