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ticket sales department at Madison Square Garden, of course.”
    She laughed. “Of course. Actually, Shane is optimistic about some of the younger guys they brought over in that big trade in the off-season. He doesn’t want to retire until he gets his ring, but I just hope he’s not forty-five by the time that happens.”
    “Isn’t it crazy how retiring at forty-five is considered incredibly late in professional sports, while it’s unthinkable in pretty much everything else?” Tad said.
    I raised my glass. “Don’t forget Internet gazillionaires. Some of those guys can retire before they’re old enough to rent a car.”
    “Ah, good point,” Tad said, laughing.
    “And child actors. Can’t forget them,” I added.
    Kristina put her hand on my arm. “So Waverly, tell me more about your new gig. I’m excited to watch you on TV.”
    I leaned toward her but didn’t lower my voice. “I can’t get into any details because my, um, boss is in the immediate vicinity, but I’m hoping you’ll find it entertaining. My first segment is going to air next week.”
    “Next week? Already?”
    I nodded. “We begin taping on Friday.”
    “Wow, that was fast. Are you ready?”
    “Ready as I’ll ever be, and I can reshoot any mistakes until I get it right.” I looked at Scotty. “Right?”
    He nodded. “That’s the beauty of prerecorded television.”
    I looked back at Kristina. “How much can I screw that up? Plus Scotty’s going to be directing the crew, so he’ll make sure I don’t muck it all up.”
    She smiled and put her hand on my shoulder. “I love your new attitude. When I first met you, I guarantee you’d have been a basket case worrying about what could go wrong. It’s great to see you so relaxed and confident.”
    I took a sip of my wine. “Thanks. I do feel relaxed, although I’d say confident is a stretch. But we’ll see how relaxed I am when I have to appear on live TV.”
    “When will that be?”
    “Next week. After we get the first segment wrapped, Wendy’s going to bring me on as a guest to introduce Honey on Your Mind to the world. God knows how that’s going to go. She’s not exactly a fan of mine.”
    “You might want to tuck a can of mace in your purse that day,” Scotty said as he got up to check the barbecue.
    As soon as he walked away, Kristina leaned in and lowered her voice. “Are you carrying this new positive attitude over to your relationship with Jake?” Kristina was quite familiar with my unfortunate tendency to freak-out at inopportune moments, which had nearly ruined Jake and me more than once.
    I nodded and smiled. “So far, so good.” Then I quietly knocked my fist on the teak table. “Just to be safe, you know.”
    “That’s my girl.” She put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
    On the way home later, inspired by the warm glow of both the moonlight and a couple of goblets of sauvignon blanc, I left Jake a voice mail:
    “Hey you, it’s me. I’m missing you lots tonight and just wanted to say hi. Here’s a little something to make you miss me too.”
    I paused.
    “What did the grape say when it got stepped on?”
    I paused again.
    “It let out a little whine.”

I must have woken up five hundred times the night before the taping. When my alarm finally went off at seven, I wondered how many total minutes I’d actually slept. I rushed through a shower, downed some coffee, and jumped onto the subway, mentally walking through the day ahead.
    The plan was to meet Scotty and the camera crew at Bryant Park, nicknamed the town square of Manhattan. I’d heard it was a popular—and extremely scenic—spot tucked behind the New York Public Library in Midtown. And I’d heard right. As soon as I surfaced out of the subway station, I was taken aback by how pretty it was. The lush green grass formed a square in the middle of the park and was flanked by tall trees on two sides, all smack in the middle of Manhattan. Bars and cafes lined the northern and southern