Sky found that it was a relief to have all the ugliness out in the air at last. The reality of Leah’s hurt and anger, while bad, could not live up to the monster she had created in her head.

And she found that it was impossible to work on patching up her mistakes without admitting them first. In retrospect, it was obvious.

She didn’t want to push Leah, who made it clear she needed to take things slowly. So Sky spent a lot of time alone with her thoughts. It was uncomfortable. When she looked back on that night with Xia, the first thing she remembered was how much fun it was. Those were not the kind of thoughts that would save her marriage.

Garry fit right in with the rest of Ghostwriter, and as the only one of them with formal musical training, he was able to nudge the band to make more ambitious music.

The band’s gig at Honeyduke’s became a regular thing. They played every few weeks and began both bringing in a decent amount of money. Some nights, attendance was a bit embarrassing.

But on others, they drew a nice crowd, including some repeat customers who were turning into fans. Sky found the whole idea of having fans incredibly exciting.

Garry usually brought an attractive redhead with him. She seemed to enjoy the music, but she was mostly there for Garry. He introduced her as his fiancee, Arya Bookabet.

Sky found her more than a little bit odd. She wasn’t sure what Garry saw in her.

Hunter, on the other hand, seemed to connect with her immediately.

Sometimes they would stand in the corner and laugh at each other’s jokes instead of really listening to the music.

They fit together so well that Sky almost expected them to drop their other commitments of the heart and run off to elope together.

Maybe they’d be a couple in another time and place somewhere.

Amie Engel was especially appreciative of the crowds Ghostwriter was drawing. And perhaps something else, too.

She slipped Sky a scrap of paper one evening with her payment. “It’s my cell number. Give me a call if you want a little excitement after hours, if you know what I mean.”

She gave Sky a broad wink and chucked her on the shoulder.

Sky got out of there as fast as possible. She was more than a little freaked out. What had made Amie do that? Had Sky been flirting without intending to?

When she got home, she sat and pondered her life and the nature of love.

Perhaps her own love life was a mess, but so, unfortunately, was Adam’s. He still was lonely and not even trying to date. Sometimes Ari showed up at performances and stood in the very back out of Adam’s line of sight.

Ari’s transgression was kind of like Sky’s after a fashion. Perhaps if she could get the two of them back together and help Adam be happy again, she could also gain some hope for her own life.

So she invited Ari over one evening to chat.

“I don’t understand why you’d want to see me,” Ari protested on the phone. But she showed up anyway out of curiosity.

“I was wondering if you’d like to have a cup of coffee and talk about Forest and Adam,” Sky admitted. “Maybe I’m nuts here, but I think you still have feelings for Adam.”

Ari gave Sky and angry look, then dropped her eyes. “Look, he’s the one who won’t answer my phone calls. I get it. He won’t take me back.”

“Ari!” Adam said as he arrived at the door for rehearsal. “What are you doing here?”

Sky was left with Adam looking at her accusingly. She felt a fierce pang of regret. Maybe they were all doomed to be lonely.

The pang came again, stronger. She suddenly realized it wasn’t a pang at all.

Veronica took Sky to the hospital. At least labor was faster and less difficult than Dylan’s had been.

Soon, they were home with Veronica’s newest granddaughter, Abby.

Leah came down the stairs to meet them. Together they gazed at the bundle in Sky’s arms.

“She’s beautiful,” Leah said.

Sky smiled. “Thanks. I think so too.”

Leah’s eyes were softer than she had seen them in what seemed like forever. “You must be exhausted,” Leah said. “Come to bed. I’ll take the first feeding.”

Sky lay little sleeping Abby in her crib and dared to hope that things would be all right.

———-

And here we meet the newest Sample!

Hey, I was trying to track it, but the last post (5.21) was the 250th post on this blog! That includes all my posts apologizing for not posting, but still — 250. Good Grief.

I hope you enjoyed the shout-out to Hunter and Arya, Jo. This was the first time they met in my game, and they throw intense attraction notifications here too. Perhaps if they had met earlier, they’d be together in my game too. As it is, Hunter’s heart is pretty gone for Eliana, and Arya’s engaged to family. What can you do?