If a heart can smile, I’m pretty sure my heart is smiling right now.
“Well, we’ve all read your work, Rachel, and I’ve even had the privilege to read one of your manuscripts, and I can say with confidence that everyone should be excited about what you’ll be writing next,” Melanie says with a kind smile.
“Are you going to get married?!” someone shouts from the crowd.
Evan chuckles and pulls me in closer to him. “Wow. Marriage. Well, that’s not what is bringing us together today.”
I catch his reference fromThe Princess Brideimmediately, even though his r’s are perfect because it’s Evan, and I laugh.
“But if you are asking if I casually date…no,” Evan adds. “Rachel’s the kind of woman you build a lifetime with.”
My stomach swirls, and not in the way where it’s accompanied by acidic bile, but in the way that makes you want to dream big things and hope for a happily ever after.
Melanie clears her throat. “Now, let’s get back to—”
“Rachel, what exactly are you going to be writing?!” someone else shouts a question from the crowd.
I watch Melanie look down at her cards, and then she does something I don’t expect from her. She tosses them in the air with a smile. “Well, it seems my questions are probably not going to be as interesting as the ones coming from the fans. So, audience, if you have a question, please line up behind the microphone.”
I laugh as I settle a little more comfortably into the loveseat beside Evan while fans line up behind the microphone. Once, I thought Evan looked rigid, but now, I just feel his strength, and I’m grateful for it because he’s sharing it with me.
I turn my head toward him. “Who do you think will get more questions?”
“Well, they’d be stupid not to talk to you,” Evan says under his breath. “But if someone hits on you, I’m not afraid to hit them.”
I smile. “If Lily doesn’t get to them first.”
Evan grins. “Her plane should be landing soon, but I’m not sure thirty-five thousand feet up in the sky is enough space to keep her from the opportunity to tackle someone. She’ll probably parachute in.”
“All right,” Melanie says, clearing her throat. “Try to keep your questions concise so as many people as possible can have an opportunity to talk to Evan and Rachel.”
Then Melanie nods at the woman standing at the microphone wearing a yellow sundress while holding her sandals in one hand. I smile, turning my attention toward her.
“Hi. My name is Heather. I’m a big fan of both of you, but Rachel, I want to ask what you’ll be writing next exactly?” she asks in a cute, twangy tone.
“Romance,” I answer. “Sweet, swoony, and heartfelt.”
She grins at me. “I was hoping that was what you were going to say. I can’t wait to read your first book.”
My heart swells at the comment.My first book.
She steps to the side and a tall man wearing a shirt that says ‘BarrettsBestie’ comes forward.
The man clears his throat. “Evan, I was under the impression that you hated Rachel’s fanfiction. Obviously, that’s not the case now.”
The audience laughs.
“What exactly made you change your mind?” he asks.
“Can I assume correctly that you are username BarrettsBestie?” Evan questions.
The man swallows before he nods. “Yes, I am.”
Evan looks amused at the man’s confirmation. “I remember you. You said that I should let Rachel ghostwrite my next book.”
The man’s face turns redder than a tomato kissed and ripened in the Oklahoma sun before he tugs at his collar. “Yes, I did.”
“Well, then, you know how good Rachel’s writing is,” Evan says. “I admit, I was not a fan of Rachel’s at the beginning, and yes, obviously that has changed. I was ignorant of the fanfic world before my sister gave me some of Rachel’s to read. I let my pride get in the way of seeing the truth, but Rachel’s words have a way of reminding you of what matters and what doesn’t. The more Iread and let her in, the more I knew how wrong I had been and how incredible she is.”
