“No.” Her eyes were full of sympathy, and I told myself I wasn’t going to cry again because I was tired of being dehydrated. “But I do tell him some things about you.”

There was a knock at the door, and she went to answer it. Our food had arrived from the restaurant around the corner.

And I knew she’d told me the things she had to make me feel better. Maybe feel not so alone because he was just as sad.

But instead it made me feel worse. I didn’t want him to be suffering, because I knew that I was the cause of that.

She stayed and ate with me, refusing to leave until I’d eaten half a container of beef with broccoli. Turned out I was hungry for real food. Well, takeout food, which was kind of the same thing. I decided I should probably go to the store and get some vegetables and citrus so that I didn’t die of scurvy.

About an hour after she left, my phone rang. A restricted number. My heart lurched so hard in my chest that I was surprised it hadn’t accidentally burst through the side. Hope furiously bloomed inside my chest.

“Hello?”

“Hello? Is this Juliet?”

That hope imploded, leaving me hollow again. I was so desperate for it to be his voice on the other end that it almost felt like losing him all over again when it wasn’t.

“Yes, this is her.”

“This is Lily, Lily Ramsey. We met at Noah’s house?”

I straightened up. “Yes, I remember. How are you?”

“Good, thanks. Yourself?”

Oh, well, famous actress Lily Ramsey, my life is in utter shambles right now and I’ve eaten so much sugar I might actually go into a coma. Thanks so much for asking! “I’m good,” I lied.

“I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I forgot to follow up with you about coming over to groom my dog. Noah reminded me earlier, and that’s why I’m calling.”

My heart went into my throat, beating rapidly. “He . . . reached out to you? Today?”

“Yes. Why?”

Tears blurred my vision, and I was glad we weren’t face-to-face. He didn’t want anything to do with me, but he was calling his celebrity friends to use my services. Just like he’d promised he would when we’d first met. That had to mean something, didn’t it? “No reason. I was just curious. But I’d love to schedule a time to come over and take care of Blueberry.”

“I can’t believe you remembered his name after all this time! I’m impressed!”

She shouldn’t have been. I felt doomed to remember every single thing associated with Noah for the rest of my life. “What day and time would work for you?” I asked, and we set up an appointment.