The Sunshine Potluck Society

Chapter 6

After dessert, the group moved to the sunroom at the back of the house by the swimming pool for coffee. Joanna was feeling sore but had taken some pain relief earlier, and it seemed to be helping. She was pleased with how the brunch had gone.

Gwen had brought decorations and homemade churros with chocolate sauce. As usual, Debbie had photographed everything and brought a package of baked goodies from her local bakery. And the entire thing had been topped off with the arrival of her favourite grandson (she knew she shouldn’t have a favourite but couldn’t help herself).

Aaron had gone for a nap. He said he hadn’t been sleeping well lately. She was grateful that she always kept the guest room made up in case of visitors. He was napping while she and her friends enjoyed the air-conditioning and looked out over her thriving garden and sparkling pool. They’d had plenty of rain lately, and she loved to get out in the garden and work on her flower beds. It was hard to ignore the anxiety that open spaces sometimes gave her, but she felt it was important for her to do what she could to challenge herself in that area.

“I wanted to talk to you ladies about something,” she said.

Emily joined them and was filling a cup with tea from a floral teapot. She smiled and gave a nod to Joanna. She was as excited as Joanna was about their pet project.

“What is it?” Debbie asked.

“I didn’t tell you, but I submitted an idea to my publisher. I pitched a cookbook about our monthly brunch called TheSunshine Potluck Society Cookbook. And they want to buy it!”

Debbie laughed with delight and clapped her hands together.

Gwen blinked. “Really? They’re going to publish a book about us?”

“That’s right,” Joanna replied. “The book will include all our recipes from our themed potlucks. And will feature photographs of our gatherings. Your decor, Gwen, and your photography, Debbie. They said we could include written commentary by all of us. Anecdotes, stories, whatever we like.”

“Isn’t it amazing?” Emily asked.

Gwen hurried to embrace Joanna, and then Emily, then Debbie. Soon they were all laughing and hugging.

“I can’t believe it,” Debbie said. “I’ve never published a book before.”

“Me neither,” Gwen said.

“Same,” Emily added. “It’s old hat for Jo, but not for the rest of us.”

“I still get a thrill every time,” Joanna replied. “And this time, I get to share it with all of my friends, so I’m even more excited than usual. Besides, I think the book will look spectacular. And the concept is really interesting. My editor loved it.”

“When will all this happen?” Debbie asked as she resumed her seat.

“We need to finalise the content by the end of March, and then it will be done with editing in July and released in November. So, it’ll be nine months from now before we see it in print.”

“Wow, it takes a while. Kind of like growing a baby,” Gwen replied.

“Yes! That’s the publishing process. And in fact, that’s actually quite quick,” Joanna said. “I’m sure the time will fly. And we’ve got a lot to get done by the end of the month. It will keep us busy.”

“You’re right,” Emily said, suddenly looking anxious. “How will we get it all done?”

“We’ll work together,” Debbie said with a quick nod of her head. “We’re intelligent, capable women. I’m sure we can manage.”