“No. Yes. It’s fine. Just a small change of plans. Can you take me to the Chateau Marmont? It’s on Sunset, you know where?”

“No problem,” he said.

“We’re meeting on the terrace,” she said. “For dinner.”

“That’s good. You gotta eat, right?”

“And it’ll be crowded. If people see us talking, that could be good. For the film.”

“Absolutely.”

She’d been grateful not to be driving, happy to leave James in charge of making the miles disappear song by song, intersection by intersection, down Wilshire to Santa Monica, east to La Cienega. She tried to think of something she could promise herself, the way she used to do before finals. A reward for making it to the other side of this meeting. A hot bath. A full night’s sleep. A bowl of kimchi jjigae.

They turned onto Sunset, the Chateau Marmont visible just ahead, a Gothic-looking castle perched on a rise overlooking the street.

“Actually, I got one more tip,” James said, as he pulled into the driveway of the hotel. He pulled the Lexus to a stop and turned to look at her, holding up five fingers.

“Number five,” she said.

“Win. Then you can say whatever you want.”

Phoebe smiled. She lifted her bag from the floor onto her lap and clutched it. “If you want to run some errands or go get a bite, go ahead.”

“I’m good,” James said. “I’ll find someplace nearby to park.”

She got out of the car and, as she shut the door, his five fingers folded into a fist of encouragement.

“Phoebe,” James said now, bringing her back to the present moment on the ridgeline above Ted’s mansion, her face warming, chest tightening, the music hammering below them.

“Yeah?” she said.

“I’m sorry.”

Phoebe knew he wanted to talk about it, but she couldn’t deny the reflex to bat it away. A minute ago, she’d felt light and fizzy. Now she felt bone-tired.

“It’s not necessary,” she said.

There was a pause, and she thought James might drop it, as so many people would have. But James coughed and said, “I’m sorry for taking you to that meeting.”

“But I asked you to.”

“I should have come inside. Let him see that I was behind you. I knew what kind of guy Jerry was. Maybe I didn’t believe all the rumors, but I heard them often enough that I should have.”