Page 75 of The Overtime Persuasive

Liam in my hallway. Liam checking my radiator. Liam’s tool bag beside my couch while Mitch circles his ankles, apparently accepting him as part of the furniture. Nothing about him feels intrusive.

“Do you want something to drink?” I ask. “As payment for saving my building, of course.”

“Saving your building? No dramatics there.” His mouth curves. “But as long as the coffee doesn’t come from your illegal machine, I’ll take one.”

I fill the kettle and set it on the stove while Liam takes a seat at the kitchen table. Mitch jumps onto the chair beside him.

“Careful,” I warn. “He isn’t used to sharing me with another man.”

Liam looks down at him. “We’re going to have to work this out, buddy.”

Mitch puts a paw on Liam’s thigh as the kettle begins to rumble. I pull two mugs from the cabinet, then reach for the cocoa. Behind me, my laptop dings.

I keep measuring powder into the first mug. “Can you see what that is?”

Liam turns the screen toward him. “Email. From that National Gift Guide Contest.”

“What?” The scoop slips from my hand and lands in the mug. “Already?”

His chair scrapes across the floor as he sits straighter. “The subject says there’s an update on your entry.”

“I entered only three days ago.” My heart stops. Or starts beating so quickly the individual beats blur together. One or the other. I wipe my hands on a dish towel and walk toward the table. “Open it.”

“It’s your email.”

“Liam.”

He lifts both hands. “Opening.”

The message fills the screen. I stand beside him, reading the first line. Then I read it again. And again.

“What does it say?” Liam asks.

“‘Dear Eva,’” I read aloud, my voice unsteady. “‘We’re thrilled to let you know that the Side B Holiday Collection is one of over fifty entries on a shortlist being considered for this year’s National Gift Guide Contest.’”

I stop, but Liam’s hand settles against my back.

“Keep going.”

I read a little further, then point out the section of the email that I need to know about now.

“They’ll contact me soon with instructions for sending a product sample. After that, selected finalists will move to the next stage of judging.” I look at him. “I’m in the running. The store is in the running!”

“You are a superstar.” His smile breaks wide. “I told you they’d like it.”

Liam lifts me off the floor, and I laugh into his shoulder while he turns us in a circle around the kitchen.

“I might actually win.”

“You might.” He sets me down but doesn’t let go.

Behind us, the kettle clicks off, and at almost the same moment, the radiator gives a gentle pop, heat spreading into the room.

I look toward it, then back at the email glowing on my laptop. The building is fine. Side B is in consideration for something that could be life-changing for me and my little business.

And Liam is standing in the middle of my kitchen, holding me as if being here for both pieces of good news is the most natural thing in the world.

The part that gets me is how natural it feels to me too.