a career that was so risky. He told me he’d worked himself close to death so I wouldn’t have to struggle the way he had, but then I’d purposefully picked a lane that was notoriously difficult to travel. And much like Lennon, he hated my ex-husband, hadn’t been happy about the marriage, and didn’t seem at all surprised by the reasons that led to my divorce. More than once, he’d begged me to come home, and when I told him I couldn’t, he’d refused my offer to come live with me now that he was retired.
It was a relationship that was in need of some repair, but all of the relationships in my life seemed to be that way at one point or another.
I gave one last look to the ocean before going inside.
Lennon told me I should know whose story it was that moved me to the point of throwing my innate caution to the wind, but I couldn’t think of anyone who was that compassionate and destructive at the same time. Who could write such a tragic, yet hopeful, romance? I didn’t know anyone that complicated and complex. I couldn’t think of anyone who’d had everything and lost it all so recklessly.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Someone did come to mind, but there was no way Lennon would put me alone in a room with him… would she? She had to know she would lose me as a client if she tried to pull something that sneaky and underhanded with me. I loved Lennon for her friendship and everything she’d done for me.
But I hated Salinger Dolan more.
Salinger
IT WAS GOING to be a very bumpy flight.
After weeks of going round and round with Maren’s agent, we finally settled on a place to meet. It wasn’t in a bar or restaurant. Partly because I tried to avoid places that served booze and were obvious spots for the paparazzi to lurk. But mostly because everyone involved knew Maren was going to bolt the second she laid eyes on me. It didn’t matter if we picked a public or private spot for our meeting; she didn’t want to have anything to do with me, and when she found out I was the one behind the script and the production of the project she loved so much, she was going to be more than pissed off. Her agent told both me and Jeno multiple times that her job was literally on the line, and if we couldn’t convince Maren that we were sincere and that I’d majorly overhauled who I was, she was going to be fired. She promised she would make my life a living hell if I blew it. Lennon Carter was a force to be reckoned with, so I didn’t need to add her to my endless list of enemies.
After some time, Lennon came up with the idea to get me on the same private jet Maren was taking to fly home to New Mexico for a quick visit with her father. Literally, the only chance of getting the frosty brunette to hear me out would be if there was nowhere for her to go. I could admit it was a pretty shitty situation for Maren. But I was desperate. So, I was willing to overlook the fact that I was conspiring against her with her best friend. I hoped once I pleaded my case, she would be willing to overlook it as well.
It’d been years since our last dust-up, and she still detested me. There was no doubt about it, Maren Copeland could hold a grudge like no other.
It took some finesse and a whole lot of planning for me to stow away in the crowded cockpit until the private jet was at cruising altitude. The pilot and copilot often flew Maren and her team, so it was easy to tell they weren’t thrilled about playing a part in this ambush. It didn’t matter that I was just as, if not more, famous than the A-lister. Maren was still viewed as a sweetheart, as a good woman who had been through more than her fair share of hardships. I was just a punk kid who ruined something good and didn’t appreciate all the fortune that came my way. To anyone who knew Maren well, I was most definitely the villain in our story. Nevertheless, the crew must’ve feared Lennon as much as the rest of Hollywood did because they kept quiet until we were too high in the