“‘Astrid—’ ‘Don’t you fucking dare.’ ‘That mouth, Ass. What would Isabel say.’ ‘She’d say that and a lot worse if you’re about to cancel on her only daughter’s wedding on such short notice.’ Delilah sucked in a breath, even though she tried not to. Her only daughter. She wanted to fight the sting, to let the words slide right over her, but she failed.”

This expletive-laden exchange underlines that Delilah and Astrid’s relationship is fraught, even when they are not in the same room. Delilah reacts to Astrid’s words as though physically injured. Her inability to ignore her own pain introduces the reader to her trauma, revealing early that her relationship with Astrid will be a fundamental aspect of her character growth.

“Delilah took a deep breath and eyed the bar. It was a short thirty paces from where she stood, a sea of bodies between her and a drink. She was a New Yorker. An artist. A struggling artist, yes, but an artist nonetheless, goddammit. This town, her family, would absolutely not bring her to her knees. Not anymore.”

Delilah’s tone here treats the bar almost like a conflict zone, as she measures the distance in paces like a combatant might. She catalogues her identity as though tallying weapons in an arsenal. The image of Delilah on her knees could invoke supplication or vulnerability. She rejects it, insisting that her new self is solitary and unaffected by her past, an assertion that she will soon find tested.

“‘Because she loves me and she’s my best friend, two concepts I know are completely foreign to you.’ She spit the words, and they had their desired effect. Delilah’s lungs feeling suddenly airless. She didn’t let on, though, keeping her face perfectly passive as she got herself together inwardly.”

Here, the reader learns how Astrid sees Delilah—as someone incapable of emotional bonds. Their competition prevents them from seeing each other clearly. Astrid sees Delilah as only seeking to insult her rather than feeling any true concern for Claire. Delilah’s changing attitude toward her own loneliness will become a key theme for her pursuit of Claire, proving both Astrid and herself wrong.