Famous Last Words

Camilla “Cam” Deschamps gets ready for her first day back to work after nine months of maternity leave following the birth of her daughter, Polly, whom she’ll be leaving at a nursery for the first time. She’s upset that she hasn’t heard from her husband, Luke, all morning, and she feels like he’s abandoned her on an important day.

Throughout the morning, she sends text messages back and forth with her sister, Libby—something she always does. She tries to call Luke and texts him, but he doesn’t answer. She notices that he has not been on WhatsApp since 5:10, which strikes her as strange.

On the way out the door, Cam notices a note by the door in Luke’s handwriting. It reads “If anything” on one side and “It’s been so lovely with you both. Lx” on the other (6). Cam assumes that the “if anything” is part of an old note but she still can’t make sense of either side.

Cam drops Polly off at the nursery and goes to her job as a literary agent. She first met Luke, a ghostwriter, through her agency. He started as a journalist before publishing several biographies with Cam as his agent.