"Rune," Julia says, sitting back and looking at him under her lashes as she takes a dainty bit of her pasta, "Shōgun was all his partner's fault. Franklin thought he had the rights to the book. He's still one of the most talented producers in Hollywood."

"Is he?" Rune asks tiredly, and Julia's eyebrows shoot up in shock. Boy, Franklin really has her singing the tune he wants.

"Of course he is," she says as if she's shocked he can question this. "How cynical you're getting in your old age," Julia laughs her musical laugh again. What's so special about this book that I should take such a risk when Franklin says he's about ready to go into pre-production."

"Julia, Franklin might not be doing much of anything for a while when this comes out," Rune says, his voice serious.

Julia chews on her lower lip for a second, the most authentic thing I've seen her do the whole lunch.

"It's a book I found out about on Wattpad," I say, "It's been indie-published, but a couple of reputable publishers are showing interest."

"So, I can snap it up before them?" She asks us both.

"Possible. The author would be happy to talk to you," I tell her, which is true. I checked. "It's a retelling of Jane Austen's Persuasion, but it's set in Palos Verdes."

"It's perfect for you," Rune concurs.

Julia is all ears as Rune and I tell her the story serendipitously about a Japanese American woman whose once-wealthy family has fallen on hard times.

"Are you joining our production team?" Julia asks when we wind down. It's clear that lunch is almost over.

"She might be," Rune hedges, and I try not to show my surprise, "But Shelby's quite busy just at the moment on her own projects."

"You're a producer?" her opinion of me visually elevates.

"I'm an illustrator," I tell her. Her interested expression tones down a notch.

"Shelby's illustrating a day planner with famous Horse Girls Heroes from history and drawing Rune for Howl's Magic Castle," Lorelei tells Julia, apparently bored with her phone games and new gifts for now, "can I show her?"

"Of course," Rune speaks up before I can.

"You're drawing Rune as a character from a famous animated Japanese film?" Julia asks, her tone makes it clear she thinks it's in poor taste.

"No," I say, and her eyes narrow. I continue quickly, "The film is amazing, but it's based on the 1986 book by the British author Diana Wynne Jones."

Julia gives Rune a glance as if this can't be true. I understand. Hayao Miyazaki, the director of the animated Howl's, is a living legend for his incredible body of work.

"My mom shared the book with Shelby and me one summer, and it became a mutual favorite," Rune adds as Lorelei hands Julia her phone. Julia raises her eyebrows higher as her fingers scroll. She must be looking at my drawing of Rune as Howl.

"My illustrations are based on the book as if it was made as a live-action film," I add.

"Howl's more of an anti-hero in the book," Rune tells Julia, "Snarkier and funnier."

"How appropriate," Julia glances up at him quickly, with a wry twist to her lovely lips, "Shelby, you've captured him well," she tells me, and it feels like an authentic compliment.

I can see that she's scrolling through more of my Instagram. The last piece I posted was one of the last Horse Girl drawings I've been working on. It's Aisholpan Nurgaiv, the first female equestrian eagle hunter from Mongolia, whom I learned about from the inspiring 2016 documentary film The Eagle Huntress.

"I saw this film," Julia says, reading my post, "it was amazing."

"It was," I agree.

"Do you know about the Yabusame female horse archers?" She asks, talking of the traditional martial art competition of shooting arrows at targets from horseback while at a full gallop.

"Yes. I plan on drawing one for this project," I say, thinking the universe does work in mysterious ways. I may have passed a test, a small one anyway.

"Will you send me a picture of it when you do? I have a cousin who competes," she says, handing Lorelei back her phone. Of course, I agree; I'm not an idiot.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

One of Julia's assistants catches her eye. We've been here for well over an hour.

"Did you walk onto the Ferry," Julia asks, "can we drop you someplace on our way?"

"We're good," Rune tells her.

"We're off to pick out a new model horse; I have thirty-five of them now," Lorelei says, scooting off the couch after Julia.

"That's quite a feat, well done," Julia tells her with a graceful bow, "Shelby, it was such a pleasure. I'll be eternally grateful if you find anything else right for me."

"We'll keep you posted," I say; why not while we're pretending this fantasy of my having a famous boyfriend and a great sex life? Vivienne will be so proud of me.

As Julia and her team leave to the admiring and lingering gazes of the guests, Lorelei says to Rune quietly, "I'm going to check out the photographer situation."

"Good call," he smiles, and she scoots off.

"What's Lorelei doing?" I ask as she weaves her way out of the dining room.

"Checking for paparazzi," Rune tells me, "In case any linger after Julia's left."

"Do you think they followed her here?" My dread rises again.

"More likely, someone from her team tipped them off. Can I try your pasta?" Rune asks. I nod, and we sit again.

"They're still there," Lorelei returns a few minutes later, a little breathlessly, standing beside him, eager to be off to look for horses. I am, too.

"Ask if we can go out the back," Rune tells her, "And then find us a parallel route to get to the toy store."

"Will do," Lorelei agrees and zips off again. Since Rune is finishing my lunch, I pick at the appetizer plate. When our waiter comes over, followed by Lorelei, he agrees that we can use the back exit, but when Rune tries to pay the bill, he tells him Julia has already paid for it.

"That's nice of her," I say as we follow the waiter out.

"It's the least she could do," Rune says dryly.

**

"Sensuality coach Vivienne Adesina is here to help us make our summers even hotter with her free eBook Sexpectations," the pretty but generically blonde host says in the opening of Vivienne's T.V. interview.

"That's the plan," Vivienne laughs her rich, infectious laugh. She appears entirely at home, seated with her two hosts at the big, wide interview table.

Marguerite and I are sitting in the dining room Thursday afternoon, a week after my trip to Seattle, to meet Julia, taking a break from prepping green beans for our next canning tutorial with Luna this evening. We're watching Vivienne's T.V. interview, which she just sent me the link to.

The week has melted by in a flurry of activity. Between getting everything ready for the launch of Vivienne's e-book yesterday (complete with glowing testimonials from three influencers), creating social media posts for myself, ReWild, and Rune, and keeping up with the profusion of produce in the garden I've been running hard. It's lovely to sit for a few minutes and watch Vivienne do her thing in celebration.

"Wow," Marguerite says, "This is her first T.V. interview? I wish I had her confidence!"

"Me too," I agree. Viv is picture-perfect in her favorite light lemon suit, which matches her eBook cover's highlight colors and, of course, the website.

"This is quite a thought-provoking little book, Vivienne," the older handsome-in-a-square-jaw-way male host says, holding up an iPad with the eBook cover.

"It is!" I agree with the television. I can't help myself. I clap, thrilled to see my own artwork on T.V.

"I've got to ask Vivienne, why do you consider yourself a sensuality coach instead of a sex coach?" the male host continues, "School us on the difference."

"School us all!" Marguerite exclaims, toasting the T.V. with her iced tea.

"Excellent question, Ron. I'm happy to share," Vivienne leans towards the two interviewers like she's telling a secret, "There's a personal foundation we need to be clear about to have a truly pleasurable love life. Most of us skip this step because, in our modern society, social media, advertising, movies, peer pressure, books, magazines, you name it, encourage us to be rather mindless and jump into bed with someone before we know ourselves well enough to have a really present pleasurable time during sex."

"Oh!" The female host exclaims with a small laugh, "This hits way too close to home for me. But isn't it true that sex is just easier for men to enjoy than it is for most women?"

Fascinatingly, the female host is more interestingly attractive to me now that she's being authentic. Or maybe it's because we now have something in common?

"Let's give specifics to that generalization, Jillian," Vivienne says kindly to the female host, "I believe what you're referring to is not that act of being intimate in general, but sexual intercourse."

"Right," host Jillian nods, looking both uncomfortable and relieved that Vivienne's going there. I'm right there with her.

"Studies show that over 80% of women don't orgasm from intercourse alone; they need additional stimulation, but for many women, that's an intimidatingly difficult conversation to have with someone you don't know very well," Vivienne tells them.

"Wow, it's that high?" Host Ron asks, his tone and expression both querulous, "Even in our modern 'find everything on the Internet' era?"

"Sadly, yes. The data's all in the back of my e-book," Vivienne says as if she, too, is shocked it's still that bad. "But Ron, men don't get off scot-free in all of this," she continues. "if they don't understand their real needs and feelings…" Viv hunches her shoulders and shakes her head in warning, "It's my belief men wouldn't need nearly so much Viagra if they were in touch with their full array of emotions and expectations. Something to think about as one gets older."

"Ouch for men, but something to be aware of!" Marguerite laughs, "Especially in my age bracket."

I join in, but something about Vivienne's words is nagging at me. Rune's face flashed into my mind as we sat facing each other on the ferry booth last week when he said: I was totally shut down.

Is this what he was trying to tell me? It can't be. He's been a mad, breaking-hearts fiend.

Are you sure? Theo asks, Maybe you should ask him about it instead of relying on the internet.

But then I'd have to admit I've been snooping, I think to Theo, and that would be mortifying.

"I called the book Sexpectations because we're all walking around with a jumble of ideas about ourselves and our lovers that we might not be conscious of," Vivienne's voice breaks into my musing.

Boy isn't that the truth, Theo muses in my head.

"And discovering their own sexpectations?" Ron winks, now back to being an old hand at promoting guests in his confident, flirty way.

"Exactly," Vivienne winks back, "I like to start at the beginning so my clients can clear away assumptions and become curious about what actually works for them."