The Happy Ever After Playlist

Ten days later, Sloan has come to enjoy Tucker’s companionship. She takes him on a walk to Kristen’s house, where she spends the most time outside than she has in the past two years. Kristen and Josh’s one-year-old, Oliver, is napping, and seeing baby gear in Kristen’s house reminds Sloan of the life she was supposed to have with Brandon. Before he died in the motorcycle accident, they were planning to get married and start a family. Sloan and Kristen have been best friends since middle school, and now their lives have taken divergent trajectories. Tucker is a sporting dog bred to hunt ducks, and Sloan thinks his arrival on the anniversary was a gift from Brandon since he was an avid duck hunter. Kristen agrees it could be a sign that Brandon wants her to be happy. Sloan calls Tucker’s owner daily and leaves messages but has not received a reply. She calls again, but his voicemail is full.

Jason flies to Australia after a 15-day backpacking trip in New Zealand. When he lands, he charges his dead phone and realizes his voicemail is full. He listens to Sloan’s first voicemail and immediately calls her. She angrily explains that it’s been two weeks, and he’s shown no concern for the dog, so she’s keeping Tucker. Sloan hangs up on him, and Jason tries to call her back, but she won’t answer. He calls Monique, a woman he’s been seeing who was supposed to be watching Tucker. Monique left for New York for two weeks, and Jason is enraged. He tells Monique their relationship is over. 

Sloan calls him back, calmer now, and she says that if he can prove he loves Tucker, she’ll give him back. Tucker is Jason’s best friend, his constant companion when he moved to LA from Minnesota. Jason sends her photos of him and Tucker together. He’s a musician and must stay in Australia for two more weeks to shoot a movie, The Wilderness Calls, because he’s creating the soundtrack. Sloan agrees to watch Tucker until he returns. Sloan’s love for Tucker intrigues Jason, and he wants to know more about her. He playfully pretends to interview her as a pet sitter. Sloan won’t give up any personal information except that she’s an artist who works from home. Jason jokes, “I can’t know who my best friend is sleeping with?” (25), and he can tell Sloan is smiling. Jason finds reasons to stay on the phone longer, but she claims he might be a “creeper” and won’t say more about herself. Before ending the call, Jason thanks her for caring for Tucker.

Sloan can’t stop looking at the photos Jason sent of him and Tucker. She feels sad knowing she only has two weeks left with Tucker. Having him around has been a source of comfort during her grief. Josh, Kristen’s husband, was Brandon’s best friend. Since Brandon’s death, Josh has been helping Sloan with various projects around the house, and today, he’s replacing her water heater. After Josh leaves, Sloan sends Jason a picture of Tucker. They flirtatiously text back and forth, and Jason suggests they play a game to get to know each other better by asking one question daily. Jason goes first and asks about Sloan’s art career. She explains that she hasn’t painted much since Brandon’s passing. Jason expresses empathy, apologizing for her loss. 

Sloan then asks a light-hearted question about what Jason would do in a zombie invasion. He calls her because his answer is too long. Flirtatiously, Jason says he would want her on his survival team. When he asks for a photo, Sloan declines to send one but responds that she does not have a boyfriend when he inquires. She sends him the link to her blog to prove she’s trustworthy. Sloan asks for more time with Tucker if he doesn’t answer her questions, but Jason suggests they spend time with Tucker together when he’s back in LA. Kristen arrives and interrupts their call, but they plan to talk again later.

Jason finds Sloan’s blog, The Huntsman’s Wife. As an avid hunter, Jason is familiar with the blog, as he, his family, and his hunter friends use it for wild game recipes. The blog hasn’t been updated in a while, but Jason scours it to find a photo of Sloan and Brandon. Jason is impressed that his dog sitter is also an attractive cook that he’s admired for a while. He texts Sloan that she can be on his zombie apocalypse survival team.

Sloan tells Kristen about texting with Jason. Kristen is adamant that Sloan break out of her vigil, start painting what she wants, and pursue things with Jason. She demands that Sloan get a Brazilian wax and “climb him like a tree. Or at the very least shake his branches. See what kind of nuts fall out” (44). The following day, Jason texts and asks about Sloan’s visitor. She tells him it was her best friend, Kristen, and Jason guesses they talked about him. Sloan insists she called their date a meeting, but Jason says he’s told all his friends that it’s a date. They tell each other their age, but Kristen won’t give any more information.

Jason’s agent, Ernie, calls him and says his record label demands he record a song he didn’t write. Jason prefers only to sing his material, but recently, he’s been struggling with creativity. The backpacking trip did little to solve his writer’s block, so Jason can’t bargain. When Sloan texts Jason after not texting for a day, he decides to call her. Jason refrains from telling her he’s the opener for The Black Keys because he doesn’t want his celebrity status to impede them from getting acquainted. The flirtatious banter goes back and forth before Sloan asks the day’s question: What’s the most generous thing Jason’s ever done? He tells her that he once donated bone marrow for two people with leukemia. This leads to Jason sharing more about his family and life in Minnesota. Sloan still refuses Jason’s request for a photo but shows him the commission she’s currently working on, a cat in an astronaut suit. Sloan remarks on Jason’s distinctive Minnesotan accent. Sloan mentions that seeing the Northern Lights is on her “bucket list.” Jason says his bucket list now includes wanting to take Sloan on a date.

It’s one week until Jason returns to LA, and Sloan is crushing on him. They talk on the phone all day and even watch a movie together while on the phone. She wants to send him a picture but worries she’s let her appearance go since Brandon’s death. Sloan takes Tucker to PetSmart for grooming, something she’d mentioned to Jason. Flowers are waiting for her from him with a note attached that says, “Sloan, do you like me? Check one.” (65) She calls Jason to thank him for the flowers, and he says his daily question is the same as on the note. Sloan says yes.

Sloan and Jason talk every day for hours. They agree to meet somewhere instead of him coming to her house, but Sloan admits she feels she knows him deeply after two weeks. Jason asks to speak to Tucker, and the dog instantly recognizes his owner’s voice when she puts the phone to his ear. Sloan sends Jason a link to something she made for him, and they hang up.

Sloan sends Jason a video of all of Tucker’s adventures entitled “My vacation with Sloan” (70), and when Jason sees her at the end of the video, her beauty stuns him. Although he’s already fallen for her over the phone, Jason is intensely physically attracted to her. Jason arrives in LA, quickly changes, and waits for Sloan at their agreed-upon location. Sloan is late, and she calls franticly to say that her kitchen is flooding. Jason races to her house and, once inside, stops briefly to take in Sloan’s beauty in person before helping her shut off the faucet and clean up the flood. Tucker is overjoyed to see Jason, and he and Sloan laugh at the hilarity of their first in-person meeting. Jason asks her out to dinner that night.