From the very beginning, 9/11 is just a weird day to start a romance novel. But sure, let’s say timing is truly just always terrible for Gabe and Lucy and it’s not the day they meet that is important but the connection they feel despite external events. If this is truly the case, then Gabe getting back together with his ex-girlfriend that very same day makes no fucking sense. You get to pick one: an instant connection that overcomes everything else or a meet-cute with potential but not enough to overcome the poor timing. You can’t do both.

Fast forward, Lucy and Gabe have graduated, have had little to no interaction since 9/11, but somehow they’re obsessed with each other after one day spent together that wasn’t enough to see them become a couple or even friends. But now I guess enough time has passed, Gabe is single again, they can get together.

Gabe and Lucy are a terrible couple. They have great sex though so it must be love. Lucy likes to make big pronouncements about how she wants to do big things and make a difference and about how she’ll never make anyone give up their dreams. And she’s happy to stick to these ideals as long as they don’t inconvenience her. Gabe also has big dreams and the skill and drive to make them come true but he has to leave to really pursue them. To Lucy, this is, of course, a massive betrayal and she could never support him and they have to break up when he leaves.

So Gabe leaves to pursue his dreams, Lucy is heartbroken and full of self-pity and eventually meets Darren. Now Darren is aware she’s been through a massive break up and moves slower than a snail to make sure he doesn’t spook her. Almost immediately, Darren has so many red flags. He seems to be following a plan, creating what he thinks a relationship should be, and Lucy just happens to be there. Instead of finding out what she actually likes, what she wants out of a relationship, he makes all the decisions and lets her just follow along. Lucy is obviously still in love with Gabe and has many of her own red flags so she just goes along with it.

Darren and Lucy get married. Darren thinks he’s getting a housewife and Lucy thinks she’s getting… the only other available man in the world since it didn’t work with Gabe and she’s never dated anyone else? In the end, I do think Darren got the short end of the stick because at least he’s faithful to his marriage, but he also does plenty to prove he’s not a great person either. Although Lucy doesn’t physically cheat on Darren until near the end of the book, she’s never been emotionally faithful to him. Let’s skip all the repetitive nonsense that is their relationship and get right to the end.

Lucy thinks Darren is cheating on her (with very little supporting evidence) so she runs off to Gabe to cheat as well. They make a plan to run away together but before they can move forward the obvious happens, as has been foreshadowed with absolutely zero subtlety from the very beginning: Gabe has been in a terrible accident and is now brain dead. Surprisingly, that’s not the most pressing issue. Lucy happens to have slept with both Gabe and Darren on the same day and is now pregnant. Because it turns out the name on Darren’s phone belongs to a realtor and he was buying Lucy a house, not having an affair. So Gabe dying actually makes things easier for Lucy, she just has to do a paternity test before she can unplug him.

Surprise, surprise: Gabe is the father. Lucy seems to keep this information to herself, only writing a letter to her child so they’ll know someday, and everyone else goes on with their lives. Well, except for Gabe of course.