Wreck the Halls: A Novel

Beat’s friends throw him a 30th birthday party. Standing outside the Tribeca restaurant, he gets a call from the man who’s been blackmailing him for years. This time, the man demands $8,000, or he’ll reveal Octavia’s secret. Desperate to protect Octavia and his dad, Rudy Dawkins, Beat agrees to give him the money by Christmas. Inside the restaurant, Beat can’t focus on the party. He normally loves the holidays but doesn’t know how he’s going to find the money to pay his blackmailer. Then he realizes he could call Melody. He tells his friend, Vance, he’s leaving to make a call. Outside, he reopens an email from Applause Network’s television producer, Danielle Doolin. Doolin offered him $1 million if he and Melody could reunite Octavia and Trina. He decides to contact Danielle but needs to consult Melody first as he remembers how unkind the paparazzi have been to her.

Melody plays bocce with her Brooklyn league. She feels nervous but tries to focus on her friend Savelina’s encouragement. She knows people see her as unfashionable and awkward in her long skirt and glasses, but she tries dismissing these thoughts. She’s eager to go home to finish her rare book restoration project. She throws the ball, misses, and loses the game.

She leaves immediately afterward, relieved to be alone on her walk home. However, she also wonders what it’d be like to enjoy being around people. A woman approaches her, introducing herself as Danielle Doolin. She explains who she is and says Beat wants to meet with them about a Steel Birds reunion. Melody feels overwhelmed hearing Beat’s name. She’s also confused because she and Beat know Steel Birds will never reunite. However, remembering their encounter 14 years prior, she agrees to the meeting.

Melody and Beat feel the same energy between them when they arrive at Danielle’s office. Beat tries to dismiss his sexual thoughts and focus on the reunion, the meeting, and the money. Danielle explains that the network wants to stage the Steel Birds reunion on a live stream, ending in a concert at Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve. In the weeks beforehand, the network will film Melody and Beat’s efforts to bring their mothers back together. Beat realizes this will be too much for Melody and tells Danielle he changed his mind. He’ll have to find the money some other way. Confused, Melody asks for a private meeting with Beat.

Melody and Beat sit in a private conference room. Melody feels nervous about the potential reunion. However, she likes being around Beat and remembers how he tried protecting her from the cameras years ago. They start discussing the reunion. Beat reveals that he won’t sign the contract if it’s too much for Melody, which touches Melody. She realizes he needs money, but he won’t reveal why. Melody then decides that it’s time to make a change. She wants to be financially independent from her mother. Their relationship is strained, and she’s tired of taking money from her. She tells Beat she’ll do the show. Beat takes her wrist in his hand, and they feel a connection between them.

Melody and Beat return to Danielle’s office and tell her they’ll do the show. Meanwhile, Beat hopes everything works out. He knows he’s lived a privileged life and wants to protect his parents as repayment. He remembers the summers he spent at camp and how mean the kids were when they discovered he was wealthy and famous. Ever since, Beat has felt guilty for living a charmed life and tried punishing himself by denying himself sexual pleasure. He’s worried about his attraction to Melody because he doesn’t want her to know the truth about him.

The friends sign the contract and continue making plans with Danielle. Danielle is particularly curious about the concert incident from 1993 that catalyzed the breakup of the Steel Birds. Throughout the conversation, Melody makes jokes. Beat is surprised he’s having fun and wonders if the experience will be better than expected. Then Melody makes a joke that inspires the new program’s name: “Wreck the Halls.”

Melody arrives in Manhattan too early for her meeting with Danielle and Beat. She texts Beat, hoping they can meet up beforehand. He invites her to join him at the gym. Beat orders her a coffee at the bar. They chat while Beat finishes his workout. Melody tries to ignore how attracted to Beat she feels. Then he invites her to try box jumps with him. Although nervous, she agrees. She misses the box, but Beat catches her. She feels the way she felt “that day at age sixteen” (70).

Melody and Beat meet with Danielle and the cameraman, Joseph, to record confessionals about Trina and Octavia’s past. Danielle asks about the Steel Birds’s breakup, suggesting, based on fan rumors, that a love triangle caused it. Beat feels nervous thinking about Fletcher Carr, the band’s former drummer, who is also his blackmailer and biological father. He feels better when he realizes Melody is making jokes about her mysterious biological father. He realizes she’s his friend and everything will be fine. Danielle asks if they think Trina and Octavia will get back together. Melody and Beat say it’s impossible at the same time.

Melody spends several days working with the hair, makeup, and styling teams in anticipation of the live stream. While in the dressing room one day, she reflects on everything that’s happening. She wonders if she’s making the right decision. She also thinks about her developing feelings for Beat. Then, the crew helps her into a gown for Octavia and Beat’s charity event. They run the charity Ovations and host an annual gala.

Before the event, she and Beat have private interviews. Melody is surprised when Danielle asks about her personal life. Melody mentions her Park Slope apartment, her book restoration work, and her bocce league. Danielle asks about Beat. Flustered, she admits they don’t know each other well but that she feels attracted to him. Danielle ends the interview, and Melody turns to see Beat in a suit. They are amazed by one another’s appearances. They head to the gala. On the way, they chat about their interviews, agreeing the questions surprised them. Melody is even more surprised when Beat reveals he’s “never been in a serious relationship” (91).