Page 8 of Between the Lines

“I’ll get there,” she said, mostly to herself. “With the writing. Just not sure how long it’s going to take.”

Brick bumped her shoulder lightly. “It’ll take as long as it takes.”

She smiled. That was so Brick.

As they left the Gulf behind them, Blaise was already organizing her thoughts. What she’d write next, what she’d leave for later in the book so she could build up to it, and the stories that felt the most important. The ones she really wanted to tell.

This book might not solve all of her money problems, but it would help her feel less ashamed about what had happened. It was putting the power back into her own hands.

That was a good feeling. One she really needed to feel.

Especially since she and Cece were recording the first episode of Cece’s new podcast today.

Chapter Three

Cece had already cleaned the bathroom and it wasn’t even nine o’clock.

She wanted everything perfect for when Blaise came over. The kitchen was spic and span, the counters wiped, the mugs aligned just so. But because her hands needed something to do while her mind ran ahead of itself, she decided to clean the microwave, too.

Today, she was recording her first podcast episode. It was exactly the kind of distraction she needed to keep from thinking about what lay ahead of her, medically speaking. That was a worry for tomorrow.

Today, she had a new chapter of her life to launch, Real Life: Take Two.

She finished with the microwave and paused at the sink, hands braced on the counter. She took a slow breath, trying to remember what else she needed to do. Peanut, her calico cat, wound around Cece’s feet.

Cece wanted this to go well with everything in her. Maybe more than she’d realized at its first inception. She’d planned for it. Talked about it enough that the other Queen Bees had started asking how the show was coming along, as if it were already a thing with listeners and sponsors and a rhythm of its own.

Which, in theory, it would be soon. Hopefully.

In reality, it was still just Cece and her makeshift studio, all of her equipment purchased from Amazon and set up according to specs and recs she’d found online. Today, it would become real.

“Today’s a big day, Peanut.”

Peanut chirped at the sound of her name and looked up, undoubtedly hopeful treats were soon to follow.

Cece glanced at the clock again. Blaise would be arriving shortly. That thought ramped up Cece’s nerves, but in a way that was mostly good. She was excited to do this. Excited to break the seal on Real Life: Take Two.

She went to stand in the doorway of her studio, which she’d converted from the second room in her tiny home. Probably meant to be an office or a small guest room, it worked well as a studio space.

She took it in, even though she’d already done that at least half a dozen times that morning.

The room was exactly as she’d set it up. Desk along one wall, the larger table set up as the main work area, holding her laptop, headphones, and the microphones she’d bought. All of which she’d spent hours researching before finally clicking the Buy button. In front of the table were two office chairs, one for her, one for her guest.

On the windowsill was a spider plant she kept forgetting to water, its leaves stubbornly green despite her neglect. She went to get a little cup of water for it, while she was thinking about it.

Peanut followed her back in, jumped up on the guest chair, and lay down to nap.

Cece watered the plant. The space was ready.

But was she?

Cece took the cup back to the kitchen, then returned to the studio and closed the door behind her, a solid click sealing off the rest of the house. Of course she was ready. She’d spent nearly her entire life interviewing people, chasing down stories, getting to the heart of things.

This was just a different format.

She took a seat in front of her laptop and checked the setup again. She’d done it already, but the repetition calmed her. Headphones were plugged in. The levels set, the laptop fully charged.

Today was her second chance to do what she’d always loved doing. And now it was on her own terms.