Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Blaise was halfway through scrubbing the kitchen counters when her phone buzzed from the kitchen table, where she’d left it while she cleaned.
She ignored it at first. The counter still had a sticky patch near the sink that the cleaner alone hadn’t gotten rid of.
She was a little annoyed she’d let it get that way.
Jay had never minded a little mess, but she did.
Especially in the last few years. It felt like a small failure she should be able to overcome.
Finally, elbow grease got rid of it. She rinsed the sponge, wrung it out, and set it aside before reaching for her phone.
The Queen Bees thread was lit up.
Paige’s message sat near the top, followed by a rush of happy replies. They all knew exactly what this moment represented for her.
Blaise smiled. Paige deserved it after all the work she’d put into herself and her TikTok channel. She’d done an incredible job, making her life into something bigger and better than it had ever been before her divorce. She was truly an inspiration.
Blaise typed quickly. I love this! This is huge! She hit Send, then set the phone back down and leaned against the counter.
The smile lingered, but something tugged just underneath it. Not jealousy. Just the longing to have her own moment arrive. A quiet sort of wish that she’d be able to announce her own good news soon. At least, she hoped it was good news that arrived. But she knew rejection was much more likely.
At least she had the podcast launch to look forward to. Which reminded her, she’d need to get that link to Maude once it was live. It would be nice to have that on her website.
The interview hadn’t been the easiest thing to do, laying herself bare like that, but it was good practice for the rest of the writing she still had to do.
She pushed off the counter and moved into the living room, picking up a couple of magazines she’d meant to recycle yesterday. The house looked fine to anyone else. And probably to Beau, too. To Blaise, it looked a little neglected. Well, it was looking better now.
She glanced toward the dining table.
Her laptop was open, as it had been all morning. The manuscript was up and waiting, her notebook beside the laptop had two pages of thoughts scrawled on it.
She’d written a few sentences before she’d gotten up to clean, intending it to be a quick break. A chance to move her body, reset her brain, and come back with fresh eyes.
Only the break had stretched. That was the way of housework, though. You started wiping counters down and ended up changing the sheets on the bed and doing a load of wash while thinking maybe it was time to clean the oven.
She could feel the pull of the writing even as she’d done all that cleaning. The story just sat there, waiting patiently in a way people never did.
The part she’d been writing was tender and sharp at the same time, and she’d found herself slowing down, not because she didn’t know what to say, but because she did. And she didn’t know how to do it justice. Wasn’t even sure she could.
Cleaning gave her something to do immediately. A way to take a break while still accomplishing something. And, okay, maybe it was procrastinating a bit. But at least it was productive procrastination.
She turned back to the counter and ran her finger over the spot she’d been working on. The stickiness was gone. At least she’d tackled that.
Beau padded in and leaned his little body lightly against her leg, his quiet plea for attention. Blaise scratched behind his ears.
“I’m going back to work in a second,” she told him softly, as if saying it out loud would make it true. Well, it had to be true. The book wasn’t going to write itself.
Her phone vibrated again.
Blaise picked it up, expecting another message in the group chat. But this time it was an email notification. Her pulse ticked up before she could stop it.
She stared at the notification for a second longer, then opened it.
The subject line loaded, and Blaise forgot about the counters entirely. The response was just what she’d been hoping for. One of the publishers she’d queried had answered.
She clicked through, holding her breath.
The email was shorter than she’d imagined it would be. She exhaled. There was no flowery praise and no instant validation. Just a few careful sentences that she read twice, then a third time, slower.
They thanked her for the proposal. Said they’d read it with interest. Said they weren’t ready to make an offer, but they weren’t passing, either. That was a small win. They had questions and they wanted to talk. Possibly a phone call, if she was available.
Oh, she was very available.
Blaise sat down hard in a chair at the dining table.
Her heart was beating fast, but not out of control. This wasn’t the kind of excitement that sent a person spinning. It was enough to get her breathing hard, though.
She closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her palm flat to the table.
Not a yes. But not a no. That was still something positive.
She read the email again, this time paying attention to the tone. Very professional. Polite and curious, but the best part was it felt like they were taking her seriously.
Her first instinct was to text the group and celebrate. Share the moment the way Paige had shared hers, but this was nothing like Paige’s. This was a maybe, at best.
Her second instinct, which won, was to call Cece.
Cece would know how to read between the lines. Cece would know what questions to ask. Cece would keep Blaise from making a mistake, and she’d know what to do next.
Blaise picked up her phone and called, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything.
Cece answered on the second ring. “Hey, there. Please tell me you didn’t change your mind about the podcast.”
“No! Not at all. I just got an email,” Blaise said, the words tumbling out faster than she meant them to. “From one of the publishers. And it’s not a yes, but it’s not a no, and they want to talk to me, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next.”
Cece didn’t interrupt, but she did laugh softly. “Okay, breathe. This is good.”
Blaise exhaled. “I think so, too. I’m really glad you do.”
“All right,” Cece said. “Keep breathing”
“I’m trying.”
“Start at the beginning. What exactly did the email say?”
Blaise pulled the email back up and read it aloud, forcing herself to slow down. When she finished, there was a moment of silence on the line.
Then Cece said, “That all sounds pretty standard.”
“Standard?” Blaise repeated.
“In a good way,” Cece said. “They’re showing interest. Real interest. They don’t schedule calls for no reason.”
Blaise let out a breath of relief. Calling Cece had been the right move. “Okay. I was really hoping I wasn’t making more of this than it was.”
“You’re not,” Cece said.
“So they said they have questions,” Blaise said. “What kind of questions do you think they want to ask?”
“I’d guess the kind that mean they’re trying to plan how they could position the book in their catalog,” Cece said.
“They’ll want to know your intentions for the book.
How personal it’s going to be. How deep you’re willing to go when it comes to talking about your past. If you’re going to name-drop. That sort of thing.”
Blaise looked down at the manuscript on her screen. The chapter she’d left hanging stared back at her.
“I can talk about it,” she said. “I think. As for name-dropping, I don’t know yet. There will be some, for sure, because there are names associated with some of my stories. But as for how deep… I’m not trying to write some scandalous exposé.”
Cece hummed softly. “Listen, you don’t have to perform for them. You just have to be honest about the story, why it matters to you, that kind of thing. And about what you’re not going to compromise on.”
“What if I say the wrong thing?” Blaise asked.
“I can’t imagine that happening,” Cece said. “But even if you do, that tells you something important about whether or not they’re the right fit.”
“Good point.” Blaise shifted in her chair. “I guess this will be sort of a litmus test for both of us. Me and the publisher, I mean.”
“Yep, very true.”
“Then I need to agree to the call.” Blaise sighed. “I feel like I should have an agent present.”
“I think you’ll be okay without one. Just don’t agree to anything. And,” Cece added. “Before you talk to them, write down what you want from this and keep that in front of you when you talk to them. It’ll help you focus.”
Blaise nodded, even though Cece couldn’t see her. “That’s smart. Okay.”
“And Blaise?” Cece added.
“Yes?”
“This might not be a yes yet, but you’re still allowed to enjoy it. It’s progress, no matter what the outcome.”
“You’re right.” Blaise smiled, her throat tight. “Thank you.”
“If you need anything else or want me with you during the call, all you have to do is ask,” Cece said.
“The same goes for you. You want someone with you the next time you have a test or a procedure, I’m there.”
“Thanks,” Cece said.
Blaise thought she heard a small catch in Cece’s voice but didn’t mention it. They hung up, and Blaise looked at the email one more time, then typed a short, to the point reply. She didn’t do anything more to sell herself. She said she’d be happy to talk and listed her availability.
She hit Send and sat back.
Beau snuffled softly. Blaise reached down and picked him up, smooching his head. “Something good might be happening, Beau baby.”
He tried to lick her face but she dodged in time. She laughed. “Okay,” she said, more to herself than to him. “Time to get back to work.”
She gave him another kiss, then took her laptop to the couch. She looked at the manuscript, read over the last few paragraphs, and put her fingers on the keyboard.
This time, the story didn’t feel quite so hard to tell.