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  She debated the pearl earrings again and then ultimately decided against them. Still, she had one more department to return to, so she went upstairs to women’s clothing. When Traci had answered her husband’s call, not only had Simone seen her talking to him at a distance, but she’d also seen her pick up two classy sleeveless summer sweaters. The material was very thin, but they were perfect for jeans, dress pants, or even a skirt. Normally Simone didn’t wear a lot of sleeveless clothing, but after seeing Traci in her red sheath dress yesterday and then seeing her buy the two tops tonight, she realized how much she actually did like this sort of style.

  So she pulled a white and a black one from the rack and carried them over to the checkout counter.

  “How are you?” the saleslady said.

  “I’m fine, and you?”

  “Wonderful, now that I only have another hour to work.”

  Simone smiled.

  “Will this be all?”

  “Yes.”

  The woman removed both tops from their hangers. “These are the same two that your friend just bought, right?”

  “Um, yes. We like a lot of the same clothing, so this happens pretty often.”

  “Then you must have to call each other all the time. You know, whenever you’re going somewhere together,” the woman said, laughing.

  Simone half smiled, because she didn’t see what was so funny. Simone and Traci simply had similar tastes, and there was nothing wrong with that. Simone hadn’t seen one item that Traci had worn in person or in her photos that she didn’t like, so this was proof that they loved the same things. They had similar opinions, the same eye for clothing and shoes, and they both had a passion for writing and storytelling. It was as if they’d known each other for years—as if they’d been best friends for decades—and Simone was happy that everything was going so well between them. She did have a couple of friends who were more like acquaintances, but she didn’t have any ride-or-die friends so to speak. It wasn’t because she didn’t want any, it was just that the few friends she currently had, and even those from her past, didn’t understand her. But none of that mattered to her anymore, not when she could tell how loyal Traci was and that she was a real friend. Not when Simone believed wholeheartedly that Traci would be her best friend from now on.

  Chapter 11

  Simone set all her new items on her bed and went into her office. She’d just arrived home, but during her drive, all she’d been able to think about was the red sheath dress she’d seen Traci wearing at church yesterday. She hadn’t been able to take her mind off of it, and she knew it was because it was the perfect dress for her. It was the kind of dress she could wear to church or work, and she had to have it.

  She signed on to her computer and went to Macy’s web site. She searched and searched again, but she didn’t see the dress Traci had worn. Finally she perused Lord & Taylor’s site, and then Dillard’s, and then those for Saks Fifth Avenue, White House Black Market, Ann Taylor, and Talbots.

  “Where is it?” she said out loud. “I know one of these stores has to have it.”

  Simone sighed heavily and started over again. It was then that she realized she’d searched for “red sheath dress” and not “sleeveless red sheath dress.” So now she browsed the Macy’s site with the correct keywords, and then she moved on to Nordstrom’s. She scrolled down the first page and also the second and third, and suddenly she found what looked to be the exact same dress…but then when she enlarged the graphic of the model who was wearing it, she noticed that the stitching around the collar and toward the waist were different.

  She sighed with more intensity than before. Where had Traci gotten that dress from? Although, what if she’d purchased it a long time ago, and it was no longer available?

  Still, Simone wasn’t about to give up. Not until she’d exhausted all options, and it was a good thing she hadn’t because when she pulled up the Talbots page again, she found precisely what she’d been looking for. She wasn’t sure how she’d missed it the first time, but here it was displayed on her screen. Finally. She couldn’t have felt more relieved, and she hurried to order it before something crazy happened, such as the dress being backordered or, heaven forbid, they ended up not having her size. But thankfully, they did have her size, so she placed her order and moved on to her next to-do item: looking for the shoes she’d seen Traci wearing with the red dress. Black patent-leather pointed-toe pumps. They’d had noticeable detail, too, mainly the small lamb leather patch that covered the very tip of the toe area. Simone didn’t own a pair of patent-leather shoes, but when she’d seen Traci wearing some yesterday, she’d realized how much she loved and wanted them.

  So now she searched Nordstrom again, and lo and behold, she found them in a matter of minutes. She hadn’t used her Nordstrom Visa in a while, and she certainly wasn’t accustomed to buying shoes that cost two hundred dollars, but these pumps were worth every cent.

  Simone typed in her information, but just as she finished her online transaction, her phone rang. She leaned over to see who it was and cringed. It was her grandmother calling. Simone’s first thought was to ignore it, but she knew if she did, her grandmother would keep calling day and night, multiple times, until she got in touch with her.

  Simone lifted her phone from her desk and accepted the call. “Hello?”

  “I’m surprised you even answered,” her grandmother exclaimed. “Normally I have to call you ten times ’fo you finally decide to pick up. This from a child I took in, wiped her behind, and raised up like she was my own. Something I didn’t have to do.”

  Simone sat, holding her phone in silence.

  “So I guess you don’t have nothin’ to say. Actually, it don’t matter none to me, anyway, because I’m only callin’ to letcha know that mama of yours is back strung out on them drugs again. Just a shame how high she was when she stopped by here an hour ago. Wantin’ money. I told her she must be out her idiot mind if she thank I’m gone give her one red nickel. But I did tell her I would call to see if you wanna send her a little somethin’. I first told her to call you herself, but she said you haven’t answered not one of her calls since she talked to you at Christmastime. Is that true?”

  “Yep.”

  “What a flat-out disgrace. Not talking to your own mama. But like I said, she need a little money…and I need a few dollars, too.”

  “I don’t have it,” Simone said matter-of-factly.

  “You still got that high-payin’ job at that insurance company, don’t you? Don’t you even have fifty dollars you could wire her? And a couple a hundred for me?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “You such a liar and still as uppity as ever. But that’s okay, because you know what they say. Every dog has his day. Especially those who run around with big secrets. The kind certain folks wouldn’t want their friends in a new city to find out about.”

  A chill ripped through Simone’s body, but she didn’t respond.

  And this time neither did Velma, who finally hung up on her.

  Simone set the phone down and took a deep breath, trying to slow her pulse rate. Her heart was beating much too hard and fast. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t just get her number changed. That way she wouldn’t have to hear from her mother or grandmother again, but there was a part of her that didn’t want to cut her grandmother off for good; not when Velma had in fact raised her up just the way she’d said. Still, Simone was ashamed of both her mother and grandmother and wished they’d stop calling her. She wished they’d pretend she didn’t exist—she wished her grandmother would stop reminding her about things that had happened in the past. Bad things that most people wouldn’t understand. This was exactly the reason she’d never told either of them about Chris or that she was engaged to be married—it was the reason she’d told Chris that her grandmother was the one who didn’t want anything to do with her and that she also hadn’t spoken to her mother in a couple of years. This was a totally different story from what she’d shared with Traci
, but the version she’d given Chris had stopped him from asking when he would be able to meet them—something she could never allow. It was just best to keep them away from him, otherwise they would embarrass her and ruin everything. Life as she knew it would be over, and she would rather die than have that happen.

  Chapter 12

  Traci leaned over and kissed Tim on the lips, and he held her close. It was six a.m. and time for them to get up, but for some reason, neither of them felt like moving.

  “This is one of those days when I wish I could sleep in,” he said.

  Traci nestled her head closer against his body. “I know. I was thinking the same thing. But,” she said, sighing and sitting up, “duty calls.”

  Tim raised up as well. “That it does.”

  “Your weekly staff meetings are on Tuesdays, anyway, right?”

  “Yep, at nine o’clock. So I really need to get going.”

  Traci smiled at him. “I am so, so proud of you, baby. I know I keep saying that, but I can’t help it. You’ve worked so hard for so many years, and now you’re seeing all the rewards.”

  “Sometimes I still can’t believe it, but I’m truly grateful. I’d always hoped to make it to executive status, but to be honest, I’m not sure I really thought it would happen.”

  “Well, it did, and you deserve it.”

  Tim swung his legs toward the floor. “I just wish my parents were here to see that none of their love and support was in vain. I still think about how they paid for all my college expenses so that I wouldn’t have to take out any student loans. They went without a lot and never complained.”

  “You were their only child, and they wanted the best for you. They were such wonderful people.”

  “They loved you, too…for the little time they got to spend with you. Hard to believe they both passed away in their fifties.”

  Traci propped her knees on the bed and moved behind Tim. She wrapped her arms around him, resting her cheek against his. “I know. It doesn’t seem real, but you couldn’t have asked for better parents, and I couldn’t have asked for better in-laws.”

  Tim let out a deep breath, and Traci knew he was having a sad moment. His parents had, in fact, been the best parents any child could have hoped for, but they’d both become ill. Tim’s mom had suffered a fatal stroke, and his dad had died from a massive heart attack. Worse, his dad had passed less than a year after his mom, and Tim and Traci both sometimes wondered if he’d died from a broken heart. Especially since he was one of the healthiest men they’d known, and because he’d never been the same emotionally after losing his wife.

  “Okay, enough of that,” he said, caressing the other side of Traci’s face, and although Traci couldn’t see his eyes, she was sure they were full of tears.

  “Your parents are with you in your heart. Always. And don’t you ever forget that.”

  “I know that, and I love you for being the devoted wife you are. For pushing me to be the best I can be.”

  “I love you, too, for doing the exact same thing for me. Without you, I wouldn’t have kept trying to get published, but more than anything, I wouldn’t have the kind of marriage I’d always hoped for. The kind I’d prayed for.”

  “The kind we both prayed for,” he said, turning and kissing her.

  They held each other for a while longer but finally went into the bathroom. Tim jumped into the shower, and Traci stood at her vanity, washing her face with cold water the way she did every morning. Then she joined Tim so she could soap and cleanse his back the way he liked.

  When Tim got out of the shower and dried off, Traci stayed in a few more minutes with her eyes closed, enjoying the hot steam. She also played through her mind more of the synopsis she was writing for her fourth book. She didn’t have much more to add, but she knew something was still missing. She had no idea how the story would end, just like she hadn’t with her first three books, but she knew that at least one other plot twist was needed.

  So she stood, thinking and rethinking, plotting and replotting until Tim came back into the bathroom.

  “You’re still showering?”

  Traci opened her eyes and gazed through the glass at him. “You’re already dressed?”

  “Just about. You must be in very deep thought.”

  “I was, and I guess I lost track of time. Just trying to figure out more of my story.”

  Tim shook his head, smiling.

  “What?” she said.

  “Nothing. It’s just good to see you doing something you love.”

  Traci turned off the shower and grabbed her towel. “It really makes a difference.”

  Tim turned toward the mirror above his vanity, tying his tie, and Traci stepped out.

  “Oh well, I guess I’d better get out of here,” he said. “Gotta stop at Starbucks on the way.”

  “Don’t I know it. But it’s like I always tell you, it would be faster just to make some with the Keurig.”

  “Yeah, and it’s like I always tell you, I need something a lot stronger than that.”

  “Coffee head,” she said.

  “That would be me,” he said, and kissed her good-bye.

  “Have a good day.”

  “You too, and I’ll call you later.”

  After Traci rubbed her body down with shea butter and threw on a T-shirt and workout pants, she made herself a cup of coffee and went into her office. She was planning to hop on the treadmill but wanted to check her email first. Interestingly enough, though, when she scanned her new messages, she saw multiple notifications that included Simone’s first and last name in the subject line. Traci had already accepted Simone’s friend request on Facebook, and she’d also seen where Simone had liked a few of her status updates on her public Facebook page, but now she was following Traci on Twitter. And Instagram. And Goodreads. And Periscope. And Google+.

  Traci didn’t think this was completely unusual, because in many cases, when a person followed you on one form of social media, they tended to follow you on others. This routine was even more likely if the person was highly social media–savvy and spent lots of time on the various platforms daily. Still, for some reason, Traci thought about Tim and what he’d said to her on the phone yesterday when she was shopping: “Please be careful.” Tim had his concerns, but even though Traci could see that all the notifications had come through late last night, she decided that the only reason Simone likely wanted to stay so connected was because of her strong desire to get published and have a full-time writing career.

  Traci signed on to Facebook to read comments from her readers, but first she searched for Simone’s page. When it displayed, Traci checked for photos, but not only did she not see any of Simone’s family members or friends, she also didn’t see any of her and Chris. Although, not everyone uploaded traditional photos or selfies or wrote comments relating to their personal lives, and Traci didn’t blame them. But next, Traci pulled up Simone’s Twitter and Instagram pages, and while she had posted graphics of popular sayings and typed some scriptures, she hadn’t posted any personal photos through those mediums, either. This did seem a little odd for someone who was registered on so many types of social media, but again, Traci knew not everyone shared in the same manner.

  Traci signed off of her computer and went into their workout room. When she stepped onto the treadmill and set the time and incline, she picked up the TV remote and turned it on. She switched it to one of the morning shows and saw a debut New York Times–bestselling author being interviewed. Traci didn’t think about this a lot, and she rarely compared herself to anyone else, but at this very second, she wondered if her career would ever rise to the level of the young woman she was watching. So far, she’d made a couple of online bookstore bestsellers lists and also some that were compiled by various literary web sites—which she couldn’t be more grateful for—but she hadn’t made what most folks in the publishing industry considered to be the top three: the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly.

  “I’m s
till in total awe,” the young woman said. “As a new author, it was a shock to make the list at all. But to make it the very first week my book went on sale has been a dream.”

  “How exciting,” one of the two female hosts said, “and it sounds like your publisher knew early on just how popular your book was going to be. It’s been reported that your advance was one million dollars.”

  The author smiled and chuckled a bit but didn’t comment one way or the other.

  The male host smiled, too. “We also hear that they spent the same amount to market and advertise it. Is that true?”

  The young woman kept on smiling. “All I’ll say is that they really believed in me, and I am completely indebted to them.”

  “Why do you think your book has been so successful,” the second female host asked, “and that it happened so quickly?”

  “To put it plainly, it centers on lots and lots of sex with no sugarcoating, and whether we’re talking about books, movies, or the Internet, well…sex sells.”

  The male host chimed in. “So what you’ve written isn’t necessarily what we would call romance.”

  “No, it’s probably more like erotica. Maybe even more intense than that.”

  Traci wasn’t surprised by any of what she was hearing, because for weeks now, she’d been seeing frequent online promotions for the book, national TV commercials had aired, and a massive number of literary blogs had featured it. Traci also knew something else. There were books for all kinds of readers, and there were readers who loved all kinds of books, but if writing graphic, near-porn sex was what it would take for her to sell millions and millions of books, she could forget about ever making it to the top of any national list. For one thing, she wasn’t that great at writing even the most tasteful of sex scenes, but more important, this wasn’t who she wanted to be as a writer and it didn’t represent her Christian and moral values.

  Actually, this was part of the reason she loved Simone’s novel. It did include sex, but more than anything, the story centered on emotional intimacy, and it showed how in love the hero and heroine were with each other. It painted their beautiful romance in a positive and uplifting light, and there was nothing offensive about it. It showed true chemistry in a relationship and how everyone has a soul mate.