Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Sophie
“Yes!” I shouted to the empty room.
It’s been a long four days filled with late nights and what seemed like endless revisions. My editor had a lot of feedback on this manuscript. It’s the first in a new series and she thought my hero and heroine’s relationship needed more development. I added a few scenes, got the thumbs up from my editor, and now breathed a sigh of relief as I emailed the book to my proofreader.
Being hunched over my laptop for hours on end has taken its toll. I stood and stretched my back, neck, and shoulders, making a mental note to schedule a massage asap.
Despite the fact it’s just past noon, next up is a celebratory glass of wine. After all, it's five o’clock somewhere. Plus, it’s Saturday. Weekends are made for breaking the rules.
With a feeling of accomplishment washing over me, I poured a glass of merlot and
swirled the glass, letting the rich aroma envelop me like a comforting embrace. But before taking a sip, I grabbed my phone and snapped a selfie. Sticking to the tradition I started many finished books ago, I uploaded the celebratory picture to my Facebook group.
Settling into my favorite chair, I turned on the TV, and within seconds, the theme song
of Ted Lasso filled the room. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched this entire series, but it’s still one of my favorites. And after hyper focusing on my book for the past few days, I just want to sit here and veg out for a couple hours.
Just as I was getting lost in the antics of Coach Lasso and his team, I heard two quick knocks on the back door followed by the sound of it opening. That's what Rob started doing after the divorce instead of just walking in without warning.
I paused the show as he walked into the living room and sat on the couch across from me.
“I fixed the deck railing that was loose,” he said.
“Just now?” He nodded. “I didn’t even hear you out there.”
“Soph, when you’re in the zone working, a bomb could explode next to you and you wouldn’t notice.”
“True,” I said with a chuckle. “Thank you for taking care of that, and for noticing it in the first place.”
“No problem. You know that old habits die hard.”
Even though I can afford to hire someone to do repairs or updates to the house, Rob insists on doing them. We both put a lot of sweat equity into this place, but he’s the one who designed everything and did the real heavy lifting. So it’s definitely easier having him do things because he knows all the nitty-gritty details. Plus, he said that as long as his kids live here, he feels responsible for the upkeep. But I’m sure he’ll be stopping by to fix things long after they’re gone. He’s just that kind of guy.
“Were you working this morning?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
After that one-word answer, he leaned forward, rested his elbows against his knees, and looked around the room, seeming uneasy.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” He stared at the floor for what seemed like forever before meeting my gaze again. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course.”
“Are you seeing someone?”
My eyes rounded. That’s definitely not what I was expecting.
“Uh—”
Before I could answer, he added, “Johnny saw you at The Glider with some guy a couple weeks ago and said he didn’t go over to say hi because he got a vibe.”
There’s no reason to deny it.
“I am,” I said, then added. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“He lives in Brooklyn, so we’re still navigating things.”
I gave him the SparkNotes version of how Jamie and I met, why I never thought I’d see him again, and that he and Elliott came to see the pole recital.
“And that’s when we decided to see if we could make long-distance dating work.”
“Do the kids know?”
“No, it’s too new. I realize they aren’t babies anymore, but I still wouldn’t feel comfortable introducing them to someone if I’m not sure he’ll be around for a while.”
“I get that.”
I don’t know why this conversation feels so awkward. Rob was with someone last year for about nine months. She attended some of Tyler’s baseball games and even came to a Fourth of July picnic with the extended family. And he’s been on dates with other women who weren’t around long enough to introduce to the family.
“I know it’s technically none of my business, I was just curious.”
“You told me when you started dating Darcy last year and I promise I’ll let you know if Jamie and I grow into something more. After all, if that happens, I’d introduce him to the kids and they are your business.”
He nodded and stood, then rubbed his hands together like I’ve seen him do a million times.
“Congratulations on finishing another book. I’ll let you get back to your celebratory TV binge,” he said.
“Thank you.” I held up my wine glass as if to toast. “You’re welcome to join me.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I have to pass. I finally convinced dad to go through my mom’s stuff.”
“Wow, that’s big.”
“It is, but it’s time. Past time, honestly.”
“If you need anything, just let me know.”
“Thanks, I will.”
That said, he left the living room and a second later, I heard the back door open and close, leaving me alone once again.
Obviously my pole ladies know about Jamie, but for some reason, now that Rob knows, it makes us seem more real. Instead of making me uneasy, I'm filled with a joyful sense of expectancy. I’m not sure how Jamie and I are going to make this work, but I do know that I want to try.
Jamie
My phone buzzed with an incoming FaceTime call from Sophie. I swiped to answer, and her smiling face filled the screen.
“Hey.”
“Sorry I’m late,” she said. “I took Tyler out to eat after baseball practice and lost track of time.”
“No worries.” I held up my water bottle to toast. “Congratulations on finishing your book.”
That actually happened two days ago, but aside from a couple texts, we haven’t spoken since.
“Thank you.”
“Will you take a break before starting the next one?”
She shrugged and shifted onto her side, propping the phone next to her.
“I always say I’m going to, but after a couple days I usually get antsy and start writing again.”
“That’s a sign that you love what you do.”
“It really is the best job in the world,” she said. “But even if I don’t plan formal breaks between books, I don’t write if I’m traveling or at reader events. So I’m not a total workaholic.”
“Do you have any travel or events coming up to give you an excuse for a break?”
“There’s an event in Chicago the first weekend in April,” she said. “Eve will be there, so it should be fun.”
Eileen’s wedding is two weeks before that. I wonder if she’d be able to be away both weekends. Not that I’m convinced I should ask her to be my plus one, even though I told Eileen I would. Part of me wants to, but another part worries if she does come with me, it will make this thing between us seem even more real.
“That’s great.”
“We’ve attended this one before and it’s always well organized. That makes it less stressful for both the authors and the readers.”
“Have you had some bad experiences?”
“Oh yeah.”
She rolled her eyes as her chuckle echoed through the phone.
“After that reaction, I need details.”
“I shipped my books to one of the first big events I did. They charged a fee to have them stored and then delivered to the venue. They were supposed to be waiting for me at my table. Only when I got there, everyone’s books were waiting to be picked up in a random room. Boxes and boxes of them. I was by myself and had to lug them to my table. And all my boxes weren’t together, so it was like a scavenger hunt trying to find them all.”
“I’m guessing you never went to that one again.”
“Definitely not,” she said. “Then there was another event where my books were lost so I didn’t have any to sign. I felt so bad. There were people there to see me and I didn’t have one book.”
“What did you do?”
“I had swat on me that I hadn’t shipped, along with bookmarks, which I was able to sign and hand out.”
“Did the organizers at least apologize?”
“They did, and they refunded my table fee. Thankfully that wasn’t at the start of my career when money was still tight because I ended up shipping all the preorders when I got home. I spent a ton on postage.”
“Did the books ever show up?”
“They did. Turns out the organizer was storing shipped items in her garage. My boxes got mixed in with some of her personal items. She shipped them back to me about a month later.”
“At least you got them back.”
She nodded and pushed up on her elbow and grabbed a water bottle from the table behind her. After taking a drink, she set it back in place and rested her head against the pillow again.
“Those are probably the worst experiences I’ve had. The others were stupid little things. Like meeting readers in the hallway to sign their books because we had to get out of the room right at the end time.”
“That’s crazy,” I said. “But I guess that’s what it’s like when you’re a big-time author.”
“I’ll take that over sitting there as people walk by my table any day. Which is what I did at my first couple signings.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”
“It really was. They were really long days,” she said around a yawn.
It’s getting late, but Eileen’s wedding is still lingering in my head. I suppose I should ask her. Even though it basically means she’ll be meeting my family. Because the Booths are more my family than my parents ever were.
“Before I let you go, I have a question.”
“Everything okay?”
“Sure. It’s just a question.”
“You suddenly look nervous.”
I chuckled, even though that’s exactly how I feel. Which is ridiculous.
“Elliott’s sister Eileen is getting married two weeks Saturday and I was wondering if you’d want to come with me.”
Her eyes widened and then the corners of her mouth curled up into a big smile.
“I’ll go to the wedding if you come to Chicago with me.”
“To the signing?”
She nodded.
“We’d be there for five days total, but I only have signing events part of Friday night and Saturday afternoon so there’s time to explore.”
She’d mentioned that Eve would be there, so I’m surprised she’s asking me to go. But she is, and I’m certainly not going to say no.
“I’d love to go with you.”
“And I’d love to go with you.”
She yawned again and I figured it was a good idea to end the call now, on a high note. We have details to work out for both events, but those can be taken care of tomorrow.