“Juliette, Winnie, I’d like you both to meet my wife, Chloe. Chloe, this is Winnie and, of course, the legendary Juliette Brassard.”
“So good to meet you both,” Chloe says with a soft grin. “Juliette, Ellie’s been talking of little else for the past three months.”
“Oh, I doubt that.”
“You shouldn’t. Whenever she starts a new play, the fixation sets in quite early. I’ve heardThe Lights of Trafalgarrepeated back to me so often that I’m officially off book.”
Everyone smiles and it’s blatantly obvious that Chloe is just as instantly likable as Ellie. I’m going to need them to adopt me ASAP.
“I think it’s actually ingrained at this point,” Chloe goes on. “I even discussed it with a patient this afternoon. They’re very interested in attending the pop-up, by the way, assuming their lesion heals in time.”
“Recruiting at the hospital! Now, why didn’t I think of that?” Ellie teases.
“Don’t worry, I’m happy to be your in-house promoter. And once you start printing out fliers, I’ll be sure to leave some at the nurses’ stations.”
Juliette tucks her notebook under her arm. “That would be wonderful. You’re a nurse, then, I presume?”
“A physician’s assistant. And, unfortunately, I actually have to get going. I only stopped by to say hello and to bring this one lunch. If I didn’t throw food at her while she’s preparing for a show, she’d never eat.”
Ellie rolls her eyes and steals her arm around her wife’s waist. “Someone please explain to her that being a starving artist is a lifestyle.”
“It’s also metaphorical,” Chloe asserts. “And I really do have to run. But it was so nice to meet you both.”
“You, too.” I shake her hand, then watch as Juliette does the same.
“I’ll see you out,” Ellie says.
We both wave as they walk off, and I can barely conceal my sigh as we sit back down. “Is it me, or are people just nicer in England?”
Juliette only shakes her head. “Eloise is lucky she found someone who’s so supportive. Spouses typically aren’t in this line of work.”
“They did seem very power-couple-esque,” I agree. “It must be nice. Ellie gets to live her dream and have love. She’s got it all.”
“No one can have it all.” Juliette turns to look at Ellie and Chloe one more time before twisting back around. “But hopefully they’ll be the ones to prove me wrong.”
For some reason, her words make me think back to the letter I found in her scrapbook. Before I can stop myself, I ask, “When you used to live in London, did you have any grand love affairs?”
Juliette immediately grins. “Oh, I had many.” She pauses after that, but soon goes on, “Though there was one in particular.”
I shouldn’t push, I should just leave it at that, but I can’t resist confirming my suspicions. “What was his name?”
Juliette looks around, almost as if she’s about to tell me a salacious secret. Little is she aware, I already know far more than I’m meant to. “Paul,” she answers quietly.
Paul.I knew it was you.
“What was he like?” I ask.
Juliette smiles to herself. “He was funny. Funnier than me, that’s for sure. But he was quiet-funny. You’d never know he was joking by the even tone of his voice. And he was smart. Talented. An excellent writer. Being around him pushed me to be better.”
I find myself smiling along with Juliette, envisioning the pictures of the two of them in my mind, but now they’re coming to life. She looked so happy then, and she’s starting to look that happy again now.
“One thing I vividly remember is that he was a terrible driver. He was so good at everything else that when I hopped into his little sports car to go meet his parents, I just assumed he couldn’t be more perfect. And then we pulled away, and I thought, ‘Nope, he is most certainlynotperfect, and he is going to kill me and every single person on this highway.’ And granted, I didn’t have the most dignified reaction...”
“Meaning?” I inquire.
“Meaning I screamed bloody murder. And then he started screaming bloody murder, and then we were both screaming bloody murder, and cars were honking and racing past us and by the time we made it a mile, he finally pulled over and we were both sweating and in shock. Ten seconds of silence later, we ended up having the biggest laugh. I don’t think I ever laughed so hard in my life.”
“But you did end up getting to meet his parents, right?”
