There's only one woman I want to date. She's beautiful, but she's not an actress.
TUESDAY MORNING
Jude
I saw this ad for an antiques fair and thought of you. I don't think you have an inch of counter or shelf space left for more antiques, but maybe you could start stacking them on the floor.
Gemma
I'm going to ignore the subtle jab regarding my clutter and focus instead on the fact that an ad made you think of me.
Jude
Everything makes me think of you.
WEDNESDAY MIDDAY
Gemma
A butterfly flew past on my lunch break and I took the below picture of it. Do you have this species in your gallery of dead butterflies in New York? And if not, is its life in danger?
Jude
That's a Milbert's Tortoiseshell. It's part of the brush-footed butterfly family. Its larval host plant is a nettle, and it likes to eat sap. I already have twenty-five of these pinned to velvet in my collection, ensuring they'll spend their eternity with me. So the butterfly you saw is safe from me.
THURSDAY MORNING
Max
Are you and Gemma together now?
Jude
No.
Max
What? You said you were working on it. That was four days ago.
Jude
Still working on it.
Max
Do not hesitate. Do not get in your own head. If you don't make a move, someone else will. Then she'll marry another guy and you'll never forgive yourself.
Jude
Gemma was the one who asked to slow things down.
Max
I know you and it's 80% likely she said that because she worried you were having second thoughts.
ChapterTwenty
On Friday morning, Gemma’s leopard-print flats struck the sidewalk leading from her shop to City Hall with a determinedtap tap tap tap. She checked her watch. Perfumes by Gemma Clare wouldn't open for another forty minutes but Bayview's City Hall had already been up and running for more than an hour.
