Rainy exhaled with relief, then held out her right hand to shake. Jessa took it, held it.
“Thank you. Please start right now,” Rainy said.
“If we were in your story world, you could look into my heart with your magic and see how much your books meant to me over the years. I won’t pretend they saved my life, but they did help me find myself.”
“I don’t need to see in your heart,” Rainy said.
“You can see it in my eyes?”
“You’re holding my hand so tight I’m losing circulation.”
Jessa laughed. “How about a hug?”
“I can do a hug.”
Rainy stepped in and embraced Jessa gently. “Don’t forget to feed Koshka,” Rainy told her. “Maxine said she was always forgetting to write him into scenes.”
“I won’t forget.” Jessa let go first and stepped back, took a breath and nodded. “Is this where we say goodbye?”
“I don’t say goodbye,” Rainy said. “I say, ‘Our revels now are ended.’ Now please write the ending of my book. I need my grandfather back, and I want to see if my hunch was right.”
“I do have a notebook with me. I always do.”
“Thank you, Jessa. I’ll never forget you. Oh, wait. I will forget you. Won’t I?”
“You’ll definitely forget me,” Jessa said. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“That’s disappointing. I was hoping to remember I was a fictional character when I’m back in my book. It would help with my stress levels.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” she said with a mysterious grin. Then she sighed. “I won’t forget you, Rainy. Ever.”
Rainy took one last long look around. “Nice world you have here. I like mine better, though. So let’s, you know…” She wiggled her fingers in the air, miming fast typing.
“I’m doing it. I’m doing it,” Jessa said. “Wish me luck.”
But Rainy didn’t wish her luck. Instead she said, “Pencils up.”
Rainy walked over to Anthony, who was waiting by the limousine. She gave him a big thumbs-up.
“She said yes?” Anthony asked. “That’s a relief. For you at least.”
“You all right with her finishing the story?”
He paused before answering. “Your books took her away from me. But then again, they bought our house.”
Rainy took his hand, squeezed it gently before letting go.
“I’m at peace with it,” he said. “It’s what Maxine wanted.”
Rainy rose on her tiptoes and kissed Anthony on the cheek. “Thanks for taking such good care of my writer.”
“It was odd to meet you but rather nice,” he said. “I’m glad Maxine was able to bring you here.”
“Me too,” she said. Jessa had her steno pad out of her bag, ready to begin writing. “But do you ever wonder…I mean, how doyouknow you’re not in a…”
Rainy stopped speaking as a black SUV pulled up. A strikingly handsome man carrying a bouquet of roses got out, glanced around furtively, then approached Maxine’s grave. Rainy recognized him at once from the portrait in the Pilcrow House library.
“LeVar Burton!” she shouted.
