Beach Read

January spends the next day ruminating over what kind of romantic adventure she’ll take Gus on. She visits the farmer’s market and recalls living with Jacques and cooking together, remarking on how romantic the act of sharing a kitchen is. She thinks about how characters can fall in love anywhere and how it takes one sparking moment to define a book. Though she doesn’t feel the same sweeping excitement to write after her interview with Grace, January feels a small spark of that inspiration she used to have. Now, it is her goal to give Gus that same inspiration for romance.

When she gets home from the farmer’s market, she decides to clean out the upstairs bathroom, packing up boxes of towels and toiletries and taking them to her car to eventually take for donation. On her way back inside, she spots Gus through her window, holding up another notebook sign quoting Romeo and Juliet’s “WHEREFORE ART THOU” line at her (111). January feels butterflies despite acknowledging that it’s a joke. She writes back, “New phone who dis?” (112), causing Gus to laugh.

When she is done taking boxes to her car, she pours some wine and steps out on her deck to enjoy the weather.