Page 45 of The Pumpkin Pie Book Nook

There it was, in bold letters over a screenshot that had already been shared and reshared:

AfterHoursAuthor Identity Revealed: Robyn Valente!

Tyler’s throat went dry.

Robyn was… AfterHoursAuthor?

For a moment, it didn’t make any sense at all. His mind simply couldn’t process it.

“Wait,” Kit said, leaning over Madison’s shoulder to get a better look, her dark bob swinging forward. “Robyn is AfterHoursAuthor?”

“Who now?” Mrs. Bishop asked immediately, offended by the fact that anyone had information she didn’t.

Edith’s eyes widened with delighted recognition. “Oh, I know,” she said, sounding absurdly pleased to be the one delivering this news. “She writes those romances online.” Then she lowered her voice—far too late for discretion—and added, “And they’re good too.” She fanned her face with one hand.

Mrs. C. didn’t even blink. “Well, of course she does,” she said briskly, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

“Her books are fire. Is it cliché if I do a chef’s kiss? Because… damn,” Kit said, kissing her fingertips.

“Right?” Cassidy said in agreement, her blue eyes sparkling. “I read chapters aloud to Liam all the time. So good.”

The group started talking over one another, revealing their usernames and their favorite stories of Robyn’s.

“Wait… you can read books online?” Mrs. Bishop interrupted the group.

Edith turned to her, already energized by the opportunity to educate. “There’s an entire catalog, Myrtle. A whole world. I’ll have to show you.”

“In that case, please do. It sounds like I’ve been missing out,” Mrs. Bishop said solemnly.

“But do you think she’s okay?” Emily asked, looking upstairs to where Robyn had sprinted off to.

“I’ll go up,” Tyler said before he even realized he’d spoken.

But he didn’t move yet.

Because Tyler’s world had just shifted on its axis, and he was still trying to stand upright inside it.

AfterHoursAuthor—the writer he’d followed for years, the one whose stories had been his private indulgence on late nights when the house was quiet and his life felt too heavy—was Robyn. The real, living woman he was already falling for. The woman who kissed him with everything she had in the bookstore aisle. The woman who had just looked at her phone and gone white with panic.

It was a revelation so big it should have felt impossible. But instead, it landed with a strange, dawning inevitability.

Of course it was her.

The voice that had made him laugh and ache and burn on a screen belonged to the same woman who did the same thing to him in real life.

And now, the only thing Tyler could think, standing there in the pumpkin pie book nook with crumbs still on the tables and the book club buzzing around him, was that Robyn was upstairs right now in distress… when all Tyler could feel was awe, and a sudden, fierce need to get to her before she disappeared into that fear alone.

TWENTY-ONE

ROBYN

It only took Robyn seconds to follow the social media trail and discover what had happened. Her ex had outed her.

He couldn’t have just left it to the message he’d sent her. No. He had to be petty, calculated, and cruel. His dickish behavior knew no bounds. Because this wasn’t an accident. He wasn’t hiding that it was him. He’d posted her pen name next to her real name like he was proud of the cruelty, screenshotted her account, and let the internet do what it always did when it got a new target.

He was one of the only people who’d ever been told about her writing—back when she’d made the mistake of trusting him with it, back when he’d smiled and then used it to make her feel small. Back when he’d managed to make something that brought her joy sound like a joke she should be embarrassed about.

Robyn’s stomach turned as the reality settled in.