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  “Hey, baby,” he said. “How’s it going?”

  “Hey.”

  “What’s wrong? You sound kind of down.”

  “No, I’m fine,” she said, lying. “Just a busy morning here at work is all.”

  “Are you going to lunch?”

  “No, I’ll probably just get something from the cafeteria. You?”

  “I’m headed to get a sandwich now.”

  Chris was a supervisor for the United States Postal Service and had been employed there for twenty years. He always talked about how he wished he’d gone to college, but he also earned nearly eighty thousand dollars a year; which was much more than she made with a four-year degree. Chris was also extremely responsible and wasn’t fond of spending recklessly on unnecessary items, so he’d saved a lot of money, too.

  Simone scrolled through more of Traci’s Facebook page. “So where are you headed?”

  “That little deli down the street from the post office. I didn’t want to eat a lot because we’re still going to dinner tonight, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “And did you decide which movie you want to see?”

  “No, but I will.”

  “Some really good ones were released today.”

  “I know, but right now, I need your opinion on something.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’m thinking about sending Traci a friend request on Facebook.”

  “Traci who? The author you met?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess I just want to connect with her a lot more on social media.”

  “Why can’t you just follow her on her public page? Because I’m sure she has one for readers.”

  “She does, and I already do.”

  “Then why do you need to be friends with her on her personal one?”

  Simone sighed. “You don’t get it.”

  “I guess I don’t.”

  “She was really nice to me when I saw her yesterday and also when we spoke on the phone. Not to mention, she gave me her personal email address.”

  “That’s all fine and well, but it’s not like you really know her.”

  Simone didn’t like how negative Chris was sounding and said, “I already thought about that.”

  “Then if I were you I’d wait until you guys got more acquainted.”

  Simone pretended she didn’t hear his last comment.

  “Are you there?” he asked.

  “I’m here.”

  “But you don’t like what I said, do you?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Okay, well, I’m almost at the deli, but I’ll see you this evening, okay?”

  “See you then.”

  “I love you, baby.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Simone set her phone on her desk and tried to calm her nerves. She knew Chris meant well, but she wished he could somehow understand how important it was for her to network and build a relationship with a published author. And if Simone was truthful with herself, she now knew that she didn’t just want to be one of Traci’s colleagues, she wanted to be her friend.

  Still, whether Chris agreed with her or not, Simone couldn’t help thinking how blessed she was to have him in her life. He was a good man with a good heart, and she knew he loved her. She did have her moments of doubt thanks to the disastrous way her last engagement had turned out, but deep down, she believed Chris was honest and sincere about his feelings for her. She’d seen a certain level of decency in his eyes the first day they’d met; and as fate would have it, one morning she’d gone to drop off her car at the dealership to have her brakes replaced, and while she’d been waiting for the serviceman to get her the keys to a loaner, Chris had come in to drop off his SUV. Their attraction for each other had been immediate, but after exchanging a bit of small talk, they’d said their good-byes and gone their separate ways. Then, to Simone’s surprise, they’d both ended up returning to pick up their vehicles only minutes apart, and Chris had struck up another conversation with her. Except this time, he’d asked her if it would be okay if he called her. Simone had been hoping she could see him again, and from there, the two of them had connected, become exceptionally close, and gotten engaged. He was the man of her dreams—so caring, so loving, and so genuine.

  Still, she couldn’t help praying that he wouldn’t change. She didn’t pray about much, but she certainly prayed regularly for that. She also prayed that Chris would remain loyal to her, and that he wouldn’t turn against her the way her last fiancé had; that no matter what happened, good or bad, he would stand up for her and protect her at all costs. What Simone wanted was for him to side with her regardless of the circumstances. She wanted him to take his vows as seriously as she was planning to take hers, and she believed he would. Or again…she prayed he wouldn’t change. She hoped he wouldn’t disappoint her, because she wasn’t a very understanding person—not when people failed to keep their word. She didn’t want to be vengeful or unforgiving, she truly didn’t. But it was simply who she was, and she couldn’t change that.

  Chapter 7

  Traci revved up the speed of the treadmill, preparing to finish her morning workout. It was a gorgeous, unseasonably warm day in March, and just gazing through the picture window in their lower-level workout room was motivating. It was the reason she’d now been alternating between walking and running for nearly an hour when she normally stopped after about thirty or forty minutes.

  She half turned around, though, when she saw Tim walk up behind her.

  He stepped up on the side of the treadmill, kissed her on the cheek, and stepped back down. “I’m about to go pick up your dad, but I’ll see you later, okay?”

  “See you later, baby, and you and Daddy have a great time.”

  “We will, and I’ll call you when I’m headed home to see if you need anything.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Tim walked up the stairs, heading out to the church for their monthly men’s breakfast, and Traci walked a few minutes longer. But as she prepared to end her cool-down session, the phone rang. She knew it was her mother, Janet, calling so that she, Traci, and Traci’s sister, Robin, could have their weekly Saturday-morning conversation.

  Traci stopped the treadmill, hopped off of it, and hurried into the family room to answer the phone. “Hi, Mom.”

  “Hey, sweetheart,” Janet said. “How are you this morning?”

  “Great. What about you?”

  “Couldn’t be better.”

  “Good, and how is Daddy?”

  “He’s fine. I think he’s downstairs waiting for Tim.”

  “Tim just left a little while ago.”

  “So what are you up to?” her mom asked.

  Traci walked back into the exercise room, picked up her towel, and wiped her face and chest. “I just finished working out.”

  “Good for you. I’ve really been slacking this week, but I’m going to get back to it on Monday.”

  “I didn’t feel like doing anything today, either, but now I’m glad I did. I feel a lot more energized.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Oh well, I guess I’d better call up my sis,” Traci said, plopping down on the family room’s leather sofa.

  “Okay, go ahead,” Janet said.

  Traci loved that she, her mom, and her sister had been doing this for years, sharing a phone call every single week, and sometimes they did it on a weeknight if one of them had special news to share or needed advice on something. The three of them were as close as could be, and Traci cherished their relationship. She also loved how close she was to her twenty-year-old nephew, Ethan, who was a junior at Northwestern University, studying economics and political science.

  When the phone rang the first time, Traci connected all three parties.

  Robin answered with her usual words: “Good morning, Mommy. Good morning, T.”

  “Hey, sis,” Traci said.

  “Good morning, honey,” Janet greeted her da
ughter. “How’s it going?”

  “Well, I’ve certainly been better, Mom.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “This new girlfriend of Ethan’s is driving me crazy. She’s so controlling.”

  Traci shook her head, laughing.

  Janet chuckled, too.

  “What?” Robin said. “What’s so funny?”

  “What’s funny is that you’re acting like this is some sort of news flash,” Traci said, and she and Janet laughed again.

  “Please,” Robin said in disregard.

  “Please nothing,” Traci told her. “You’ve never liked one girl Ethan has dated, not even when he was in high school. There was always something wrong with them or something you just couldn’t seem to put your finger on.”

  “And I was right, too.”

  “Hmmph,” Janet replied. “Not always. Because if I remember correctly, Sasha was as perfect as any of us could have wanted for Ethan. She was beautiful, smart, kind, and respectful, and it was a downright shame how she had to constantly go out of her way, trying to get you to like her.”

  “Mom, please. That is so not true.”

  “It is true. Am I right, Traci?”

  “Yep. Completely, and Robin knows it.”

  Robin sighed loudly. “You guys just don’t understand.”

  “Meaning what?” Traci asked.

  “What it’s like having a highly intelligent son and trying to protect him from these gold diggers. Everyone knows that from the time he was a small boy he’s wanted to get a law degree and run for president. And all these greedy young girls know he’s headed for success. Not to mention, he’s very handsome.”

  “Not everyone is a gold digger, Robin,” her mother told her.

  “Maybe not, but this new young thing is. I can just feel it.”

  “Why? Isn’t she in college as well?” Traci asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “And what is she majoring in? Or have you even asked her?”

  “I don’t know, but I think she said something about going to law school just like Ethan.”

  “Really?” Traci said. “Well then, it doesn’t sound like she’ll need Ethan’s money or anyone else’s.”

  “No, I doubt she will,” Janet chimed in. “Especially since Ethan just told me the other day that she got a perfect score on her ACT and was offered full academic scholarships at five different schools. She’s a super-smart girl, and she sounds very nice to me.”

  “You know what, Mom,” Robin said, sounding irritated, “you had two daughters, and Traci, you didn’t want kids at all, so I’m telling you…it’s different when you have a son. There’s no way either of you can possibly understand, so let’s just talk about something else.”

  Traci shook her head again, because some things never changed. Traci loved her sister, and she hated that Robin’s ex-husband had walked out on her and Ethan when Ethan had only been five. Because had he stayed, there might have been a chance that Robin wouldn’t feel as though Ethan was all she had. It wasn’t so much that she personally didn’t like the girls Ethan had dated in the past or the young woman he was seeing now, it was just that she was terrified of being alone. She saw any girlfriend of his as a threat to her relationship with Ethan, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. Ethan loved, loved, loved his mother, so instead of feeling as though she was losing a son, it would have been much better to accept that she might be gaining an amazing daughter-in-law; which meant that all Traci could hope was that her sister would eventually come to terms with this—more so because Traci had seen this kind of thing with mothers and sons before, and it hadn’t turned out well, not for the mothers, anyway. It was so unfortunate, but these mothers she knew of had held on much too tightly; they’d continued to be far too possessive and had treated their sons’ girlfriends like enemies. In the end, their sons had pulled as far away from their mothers as possible, being forced to choose their girlfriends or wives instead. This was the last thing Traci wanted to happen to her sister, though, and she prayed it wouldn’t.

  Traci, her sister, and her mom chatted about everything imaginable until it was almost time for Robin to leave for Marie’s.

  “I was just there on Thursday,” Traci said.

  “Oh yeah, that’s right.”

  “And I forgot to tell you and Mom I met a local writer.”

  “At the hair salon?” her mom asked.

  “Yep. It was her first time, and she had an appointment with Renee.”

  “What has she written?” Robin asked.

  “A romance novel. She’s not published yet, but she wants to be.”

  “That’s wonderful,” Janet said, “because I know you’ve wanted to have a writer friend living right here in the city.”

  “I have, and while there are other writers living in Mitchell, most of them write nonfiction or they’re men.”

  “That’s true,” her mother said. “I hope we get to meet her sometime.”

  “I hope she’s not crazy,” Robin said matter-of-factly. “Because we all know how that last author-friend situation of yours turned out. That chick Denise went from being your best friend to being your worst enemy. All because her career wasn’t going as well as she wanted it to, or more important, it wasn’t going as well as yours. I never liked her, anyway, though. She was way too phony.”

  Traci stood up. “Yeah, but not everyone is like that.”

  “No, but she definitely was,” Robin added.

  “She was certainly a different bird,” Janet said, “but Traci is right. Not everyone is like that.”

  “Just be careful, sis. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “I will.”

  “Okay, then, Mom and T., I need to get going. But I’ll see you both at church tomorrow.”

  Traci walked up the stairs to the main floor. “See you, sis.”

  “See you later, honey,” Janet said.

  “Love you both.”

  “Love you, too,” Traci and Janet said.

  When Robin hung up, Traci and her mom said their good-byes, too, and ended their conversation. Now Traci walked up to her office and signed on to Facebook. The first thing she saw was a friend request from Simone. Traci slid the mouse across the rubber pad and clicked Confirm and also saw that Simone had emailed her.

  Actually, now that Traci thought about it, she hadn’t checked her email since sending Simone the agent information yesterday. Normally she checked her email all the time, which was way too much, but because she’d gone to the grocery store, and then she and Tim had gone out to dinner, she’d made a point not to check any more email or text messages for the rest of the day.

  But now, she saw a message from Simone.

  Hi Traci,

  I will never be able to thank you enough for calling your agent and sending me not just one but two names of literary agents! I am so truly grateful, and as promised, I’ve attached the first three chapters of my manuscript. Also, please don’t feel bad about telling me the truth, because I really am open to any critiquing you’re willing to give. I want to make sure my story is flowing as well as possible between chapters, that my characters are interesting and relatable, and that I haven’t written twice as many words or chapters as I need. My entire manuscript is just under a hundred thousand words, and I know that’s kind of high for most contemporary romance novels. But anyway, I’ll just wait to hear what you think of the first three chapters before I start cutting or changing anything.

  Thank you again, Traci.

  Simone

  Traci downloaded the chapters right away and read them. When she finished, she smiled because all three of them were excellent. Both main characters had been interesting from the start, and so was the initial story line, and Traci already loved Simone’s writing style. Simone had a gift for telling love stories, and her way with words was unique. So much so that it didn’t remind Traci of any other author she’d read, and that in itself was special.

  Traci set the pages of the manuscript down and re
sponded to Simone.

  Simone!

  Wow, I’m not sure what I was expecting, but what a great writer you are! Your work is wonderful, and I enjoyed reading all three chapters. It was as if I was reading a story from an author who has written multiple books, and in this business, that means a lot. With each page, I wanted to keep turning to the next, and writing a page-turning book should be every novelist’s goal.

  I also don’t think you’re going to have a problem finding a literary agent to represent you or a publisher to acquire your work. But if for some reason things don’t work out with either of the names my agent gave me, I would suggest reading the acknowledgments pages of books that have been written by other contemporary romance writers. Because that way you’ll be able to see the names of their agents (if they’ve thanked them), and you’ll know that those particular agents already have experience with selling romance books.

  But again, I really enjoyed what I’ve read thus far, and thank you for asking my opinion.

  Talk to you soon!

  Traci

  Traci hit Enter, but not even five minutes later, her cell phone rang. She’d already locked in Simone’s contact information, so her name and number displayed across the screen.

  “Hey, Simone.”

  “Oh my gosh, Traci, you have really made my day. I do apologize for calling you without notice, but after reading your email I couldn’t help myself. When your email came through to my phone, I had just gotten in my car, but when I read your words I wanted to cry. I was so worried that what I’d written was awful and that you were going to feel like I was wasting your time.”

  “Girl, please. Not at all. The excerpt really was as great as I said.”

  “Thank you. And thank you for reading them so quickly, and again, I’m sorry for calling you out of the blue like this.”

  “It’s fine. Really. No worries. And I’d also like to read the rest, if that’s okay.”

  “Are you kidding? I would love for you to do that. I’ll read through my manuscript one more time this weekend and will send it to you early next week.”

  “Great.”

  “Thank you again, Traci, and I’ll talk to you soon.”