Page 121 of Big Dill

I pause outside my door for a few long seconds, heart hammering, not sure what I’m walking into. Finally, I open it.

Elise is sitting on my bed, scrolling through her phone.

“Brody.” She jumps to her feet. “Did you see this?” She holds her phone out to show me Nicola’s socials, the picture of Nicola and Jami.

“Yeah, Jaxon showed me earlier.”

“Isn’t this fantastic for her?”

“It is.” I glance around. “What did you want to see me about?”

“I wanted—” she begins but is cut off.

“Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt.” We both turn to find Jami in my door. “Your Ma told me you were up here, and I wanted to give you this.” She has a birthday bag in her hand.

“You’re not interrupting,” Elise says with a big smile. “I was just showing Brody this.” She holds her phone out to Jami.

Jami grins. “I saw it.”

“Did you know it now has over a million likes? Everyone wants your clothes.”

Jami gulps. “Are you kidding me?”

“No, and…” She gives me a big grin. “I called a buyer I know in Toronto. He wants to see you ASAP.”

Jami’s eyes go wide. “Why…why would you do that?” For a moment I can’t tell if she’s happy about that or not.

“Because you’re Brody’s friend, and in this small town, we’re all here for each other. Isn’t that right, Brody?”

I scratch my chin, not really sure what is going on here. But one thing I do know is Elise broke my trust once…is she trying to get it back by helping Jami?

“You really have a buyer friend?” I ask, trying not to sound too suspicious as unease moves through me. A part of me wonders if she’s fucking with Jami, just to push her out of town. But what if she’s not? This could be Jami’s big break. If that’s what she really wants.

“Yes, Elliot Kane.”

Jami’s mouth drops open. “Elliot Kane. Wow.”

“He’s well known,” Elise explains to me. “He’s a buyer for the big department stores. I met him through my studies when he visited our campus to talk to the students.”

“This is…wow…” She stops and shakes her head, like she can’t find her words. “Thank you,” she finally says, her throat making a strange sound.

“Hey, us designers have to stick together.”

She nods, glancing down. “We do have that in common, don’t we?” She shoots me a quick look, and I can’t read her at all. Then she turns back to Elise. “That was really nice of you.”

“He wants to see you tomorrow. I can give you all the details.”

“Tomorrow?” Jami’s eyes practically bulge. “I don’t know how…”

Feeling protective, maybe even irrationally so, I bite back the instinct to tell her not to go. But this is her dream. I can’t stand in her way.

“We’ll get you there,” I say quickly. “I’ll call Frank, get you to Deer Lake. From there, you can fly straight to Toronto.”

Her blue eyes flick between Elise and me, glistening and unsure. I hope to God she doesn’t think I want her gone.

“This is what you want, right?” I ask gently. She stares at me a long second. “Jami?”

“You think I should go?”