Magnolia Parks

BJ knows that Magnolia’s nanny, Marsaili MacCailin, doesn’t like him. As they get ready for bed, BJ and Magnolia discuss his latest tattoo, and she makes up excuses to touch him. Magnolia’s younger sister, Bridget, informs BJ that he is the only man with whom Magnolia has had sex. Before they go to sleep, BJ asks Magnolia the question that is their trademark: “How’s the weather over there?” (24).

Magnolia has known BJ since she was quite young. She met him through his brother, Henry, who was in her class. BJ rescued her when she fell into the ocean at Capri and was cut by oysters. Magnolia had a crush on Christian, but her attraction to BJ began when she was 14. When they began dating, their families were overjoyed. She and BJ danced together, and as Magnolia recalls, “That night he waltzed my heart right out of its chest” (29).

In the morning, BJ dresses in clothes that Magnolia keeps for him in a drawer. At breakfast, Magnolia taunts her father by calling him Harley instead of Dad. Marsaili, whom Magnolia feels is the person who really mothers her, mentions that Magnolia and BJ were in the papers. Magnolia’s Russian grandmother, Bushka, tries to persuade her to eat borscht. Her sister, Bridget, suggests that Magnolia and BJ have a trauma bond.

BJ joins his friends for a drink, and they tease him over the fact that Magnolia still won’t take him back. The paparazzi call his group the Billionaire Boys. The waitress gives BJ her phone number. BJ reflects on an incident after he and Magnolia broke up, when he caught her kissing Christian. Although BJ and Christian are friends, BJ beat Christian up, claiming that Magnolia will “always be [his]” (39). BJ is roommates with Christian’s brother, Jonah.

Magnolia attends a party to launch her mother’s new fragrance, Velvet Seduction. Magnolia likes arriving alone to events so that people will stare at her. She avoids a boy she dated briefly; these days, she only dates to put a barrier between her and BJ. She talks with Hamish, BJ’s father, then visits with August “Gus” Waterhouse, a rising music star. Gus mentions his friend, Tom England, a heartthrob whose brother died of a brain aneurysm a few months earlier. Magnolia’s father asks her advice on the best place to hold a retreat. BJ finally arrives, but Magnolia is upset that he brought Taura Sax; Magnolia suspects that Taura is the same person he was seeing when he cheated on her. Upset, she accuses BJ of having sex with Taura, and he doesn’t deny it. She experiences that moment when the rest of the world fades to black and there is only BJ, but says: “This fade-to-black thing BJ and I have, I know it sounds romantic—written in the stars […] but fighting in public is front-page press for people like us” (49). BJ texts, asking about the weather, and Magnolia replies that it is very stormy.

Magnolia doesn’t like being without BJ. She thinks that the way they hurt each other is “[n]ormal for two broken hearts who can’t fit their pieces with anyone but each other” (51). BJ walks into Magnolia’s bedroom with a Chanel gift bag, and she is glad that she is wearing attractive pajamas. He apologizes for bringing Taura to the party.

Magnolia reflects on the fact that even after she and BJ broke up, they began to drift back together. She thinks, “I loved him more than he hurt me” (55), but because Marsaili warned her not to trust him, Magnolia began dating other people. When BJ overdosed on cocaine, he told the girl he was with to call Magnolia, and she and their friends came to get him. At that moment, Magnolia was terrified that BJ would die and she would lose the love of her life. She was so scared that she avoided him, then kissed him, and then never talked about this kiss. She has three memories of BJ that live in a corner of her heart, and all of them have shaped her. She admits, “He’s a time bomb for me […] He’ll hurt me. He’ll always hurt me. I’ll never be safe with him, even if I’m always safe next to him” (66).

BJ and Jonah are throwing a party at their Park Lane place. BJ hooks up with a girl from France, but he is thinking of a favorite memory of Magnolia. A text exchange takes place between BJ’s mom, Magnolia, and a friend named Lilli Ballentine, hinting that BJ could be Magnolia’s boyfriend.

Magnolia spends time at a club with her sister, who is her polar opposite. Daisy Haites comes into the club with Christian, and although Magnolia invites them to join their table, the conversation is awkward. Magnolia has a text exchange with Christian afterward, in which he says that he and Daisy are not dating.

Magnolia joins her friends for what they call the Full Box Set dinner, when they are all together. BJ has his arm over the back of Magnolia’s chair. She hears a song that she and Christian both recognize and recalls how she drifted toward Christian after she and BJ broke up. She reflects that it felt good to be around Christian even though she was still in love with BJ. She admits to herself, “Christian is so handsome and so strong and so stoic, and I loved not being alone. I loved spending all my time with someone, filling my rib space with someone else” (79). Now, BJ is upset at the look that she and Christian share, so he goes to the bar to get drunk. Magnolia later drags him home and shares a text exchange with Paili. Jonah texts BJ, telling him to stop having sex with random women.

BJ reflects on the night that Magnolia took him home and feels like the two of them shared something meaningful. However, when he invites her out to the club, she declines, so he goes out to get drunk. He remembers meeting Magnolia when she was only four. He imagines that if he could just call her and say he was in love with her, he could fix everything, but he admits that such a gesture is not in his nature. He shares a provocative dance with a girl from Surrey, and when Magnolia walks in and sees them, she tells BJ that he disgusts her.

Magnolia remembers an incident that occurred three years ago. On that occasion, BJ came into her bedroom after a party and admitted that he had slept with someone. She threw a vase at him, then locked herself in the bathroom and cried. He sat outside and cried with her, and then she came out to try to console him. He apologized so many times that the words lost their meaning. She broke up with him and ran to Marsaili’s room. Since that day, she has realized that she wants to be his friend, but she wonders if she is simply too weak to separate herself from him.