The Last Love Note: A Novel

In the present moment, Kate and Hugh return to their cottage. Kate takes some photographs, then lies in the hammock and thinks about writing her book. Kate’s mom video-calls her, and Kate chats with Charlie before asking her mother how she is doing. Kate’s mom asks who “broke” Hugh, and Kate suddenly wonders about Hugh’s past. She tells her mom they’re just colleagues, but her mom states that Kate has integrated Hugh into their family. Kate’s mom thinks Kate should take a leap and leave her job, and Kate admits she is terrified to do that. Hugh returns from a walk on the beach, and Kate thinks, “He doesn’t look broken to me. He seems more assured and in control than ever” (225). But, she thinks, if she loses her heart again, it will kill her. She’s not afraid of intimacy, Kate realizes; she’s afraid of loss.

Kate continues talking with Hugh, explaining that here, she finally feels uncaged. “I feel like Kate the woman,” she tells him. “Not the widow. Not the wife. Not the mum. Not the employee. Just a woman, with a blank page in front of her” (230). She wonders if she has stayed at her job because Hugh made it easy for her.