Page 65 of Surfside Sisters

“Don’t be gross.” Keely busied herself with her napkin, and the waiter arrived with their flutes and the bucket of ice. He made a small performance of popping the cork of the champagne bottle, and when he was done and had gone away, Keely said, “I stayed all night with him.”

“Wow. He must be serious about you. I’ve heard stories about him. He’s kind of an odd duck, Keely.”

“So am I.”

“From what I’ve heard from other women, he puts his work first, always, completely. Relationships come next.”

“That’s fine with me. I have my work, too. And I have fun with him, Fiona. I’ve seen so much of this fabulous city because of him. I’ve learned so much. I’ve been to operas and ballets at Lincoln Center. He’s taken me to dinner at Buvette and Saint Ambroeus in the West Village. Jennifer Aniston goes there—”

“Do you have any idea how superficial you sound?”

Keely recoiled as if she’d been slapped. “What?”

“And it shows in your new book. The chapters you sent to Sally. I read them. The magic is gone, and now I know why.”

“Oh,” Keely said. “Wow.” She took a sip of champagne. “I don’t know where to start, Fiona. I mean, I welcome any suggestions about my book. You are one of my agents, after all. But somehow you’ve gotten Gray all mixed up with my novel.”

“No,you’vegotten Gray all mixed up with your novel. You’ve lost the magic in your novels.”

“Okay. I get that. But I don’t think it has anything to do with Gray.”

“Really? I think that if Gray were the best man for you, you would be happy, and your writing would soar, instead of crashing.”

“Crashing. That’s a little harsh.” Keely shook her head. “And Iamhappy.”

“I think you miss your island.”

Keely sat back, surprised.

“Look. Your first two novels were set on Nantucket. They emanated a kind of light and spaciousness andpleasurethat made readers want to be in the book. What you’ve done with this new novel is missing that.”

“Okay,” Keely said slowly, thinking it through. “I can see that.”

“So I think you need to go back to Nantucket.”

Keely smiled at the thought. “Just like that?”

“Why not? It wouldn’t be permanent. You could live with your mother. Walk on the beaches. Bike out to the Sankaty Head lighthouse. Watch the ferries arrive.”

“ButSun Musicis set in New York.”

“Maybe it shouldn’t be.”

“It would mean major changes to set it in Nantucket.”

“But you can do it.”

Keely nodded. “I’ll think about it.”

The waiter arrived to take their order.

Fiona said, “Okay. Lecture over.”

Keely smiled. “Good!” She was relieved to have the hard business talk done, and glad not to talk about Gray any more, because she was so totally confused about him.

After lunch, Keely walked out into the bright light of a spring afternoon and on a whim, headed for Central Park. Her mind was churning, and her heart…well, her hearthurt. She knew that Fiona’s advice was spot on. She knew she’d lost the magic, but the difficulty was that she didn’t think returning to Nantucket would restore the magic to her writing. Or to her life.

She didn’t knowwhatcould restore the magic.

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