A Novel Love Story

Anders and Elsy return to the bookstore and spend the night together, but Elsy is distressed when she wakes to the song of the starlings the next morning. When Anders wakes up, Elsy tells him how Rachel Flowers wrote him so perfectly and that she knows this is supposed to be his book. Anders, however, looks shocked, and Elsy believes that he thought she couldn’t figure it out. Anders tries to tell Elsy that this is not his story, but she thinks he just can’t see it for himself. Elsy starts to tell him that she could stay and that they could have a life together in Eloraton, but Anders suddenly has to leave without clarifying anything for her, leaving Elsy alone in the bookstore.

Elsy pulls herself out of bed hours later and goes to the cafe, where Maya finds her and asks Elsy if she can take her with her. Elsy mentions that she wants to stay but knows she can’t, especially after Anders’s rejection that morning. Ruby, Gemma, and Junie arrive to have breakfast with Elsy and try to convince her to stay if she wants to. Maya mentions how it was good that Bea got out of town, despite the rumors that she is coming back, and Elsy wants to meet her because she is the character Rachel wrote as the most similar to her.