Chapter Seven #2
Sawyer’s mom grasped Jenna’s forearm. “Oh, honey. I’m sorry.”
Jenna shrugged, clearly trying to shed the subject. “Thanks. It’s okay, though. I’m used to it at this point.”
Arnold began snorfling in his sleep, and Sawyer felt an immediate sense of relief at the distraction. For Jenna’s sake. All three of them turned his way and laughed softly.
“Shall we move to the living room where it’s more comfortable?” Sawyer asked. They were on the second bottle of wine, and she held it up.
“I’m not driving and I’m off tomorrow,” Jenna said, holding up her glass for a refill. “Hit me.”
“I am driving, so I’m going to stop there,” Sawyer’s mom said, and Sawyer told her she’d get her some water. When she came out carrying the glass, her mom and Jenna were on the couch, so Sawyer chose to sit on the floor by the fire where she could pet Arnold’s brown-and-white fur.
For the next half hour or so, they talked about more books, and it didn’t escape Sawyer’s notice that Jenna was well-versed in other genres as well as romance. She was familiar with several of the authors in Sawyer’s pile and pointed out a couple she’d read.
“How did you get into blogging?” Jenna asked. She took a sip of her wine, the soft brown of her eyes focused on Sawyer.
Sawyer continued to stroke Arnold’s side as he absorbed the heat from the fireplace.
“Well, I’m a technical writer by trade. I help write things like instruction manuals, PowerPoint presentations, website pages, things like that.
And I’m good at it. But exciting? Invigorating?
Not usually words I link to my job.” She laughed softly and sipped her wine.
“One day, about three years ago, I read a book by a very popular thriller writer. It had been so hyped up online, everybody was talking about it, and,” she paused for dramatic effect before announcing, “it sucked. I hated it. I hated everything about it. The writing style. The way the female main character was portrayed. I guessed the twist at about chapter three. I just…expected more from this guy. You know?”
“So, you wrote about it,” Jenna filled in.
“So, I wrote about it. I had a website at the time, and I did occasional book reviews and it was fine. Midline popular. I had maybe fifteen hundred followers.”
“Not bad.”
“Not at all. But this review seemed to hit on something a lot of people were thinking, I guess.” She shrugged, not wanting to sound like she was tooting her own horn. But her mother picked up the story.
“It went viral,” her mom said, clearly proud of Sawyer. “It got…how many views, honey?”
“Just under five hundred thousand.”
“Wow,” Jenna said, her eyes wide. “That’s incredible.”
“Got me a lot of followers,” Sawyer said. “And after that, I had authors and agents reaching out, wanting to send me advance copies so I could review their books, too.”
“And that’s how it happens,” Jenna said with a laugh. “Welcome to social media in America.”
“It was a definite whirlwind,” Sawyer said. “But it’s also really fun. It’s a nice counterpoint to my day job.”
“And do you hate everything you read?” Jenna asked, but one corner of her mouth twitched up, so Sawyer knew she was teasing.
“Nope. Just the romances.” She gave Jenna a wink.
“Well, that goes without saying.” Jenna drained her glass and pushed to her feet. “What do you say, Arnie?”
Arnold lifted his head and stared at her as Sawyer continued to pet him. The three of them laughed, and Sawyer gave him a pat. “Come on, buddy. Mommy’s ready to go home.”
He rolled onto his stomach, yawned, and took his time stretching.
“Oh, that’s a big stretch,” Sawyer said.
“No, really, go as slow as you want,” Jenna said with a shake of her head and a grin. “I’m not in any kind of hurry.”
Arnold pushed up to his feet, then shook himself, then yawned again, as if he completely understood that all three women were watching him.
Finally, after many more little delays, he wandered toward Jenna where she stood at the door. “Thank you so much for dinner and the wine and the conversation,” Jenna said, her gaze moving from Sawyer’s mom to Sawyer.
“I’m so glad you came.” Sawyer’s mom went in for a hug as Sawyer watched. “Let’s do it again, yeah?”
“Definitely,” Jenna said. One hand on the doorknob, she lifted the other in a wave to Sawyer. “See you in the yard,” she said with a grin.
“Or on the porch,” Sawyer added. And then both Jenna and Arnold were gone, the door closed behind them, and both Sawyer and her mom stood in silence for a moment.
“Well.” Her mom turned to look at her. “She’s lovely.”
Sawyer nodded. “She is.”
“You should ask her out.”
Sawyer snorted a laugh. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” Her mom found her coat, slid her arms into it, and watched Sawyer’s face as she buttoned it up.
“I mean…” Sawyer waved her hands around ineffectively. “She lives next door.”
“I know. How convenient.”
She tipped her head as she stared at her mom, who seemed like she was searching for something on Sawyer’s face. She finally gave up, sighed loudly, and reached for the door handle.
“You okay to drive, Mom? You’re welcome to stay. Or I can call you an Uber.”
“No, no. I’m fine. I’ve been drinking water for the past hour. I’m good.”
“Okay. Well, thanks for dinner.” They hugged and she let her mom out, then stood in the doorway until she’d gotten into her car, started it up, and driven away into the night. Then she closed the door softly and leaned back against it.
The house was so empty now. Moments ago, it had been filled with laughter and life, and now it was silent.
Barren. With a sigh, she gathered up wine glasses and took them into the kitchen.
And as she washed them, her hands covered in warm, soapy water, she couldn’t help but smile as her mother’s words echoed in her head.
She’s lovely.
Well, that was certainly true. Her brain replayed her an image of Jenna laughing at something her mother had said, a big, genuine laugh that seemed to come from deep in her lungs, making her throw her head back and reveal her long column of neck, her throat…
You should ask her out.
In the history of terrible ideas, that one might take the cake.
Still…
Sawyer smiled as she set the glasses on a towel to dry, then turned off the lights and headed upstairs to bed.
She had a feeling Jenna Murphy wasn’t leaving her head any time soon.
She was right.