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Then she gasped.
“What?” Piper and I asked together.
“You posted the Campbell picture!” she almost shrieked.
“Uh, yeah. So?”
She whipped it around to me. “Cosmere fans got ahold of it. It’s viral. You already have over a million likes.”
My vision blurred, and I took the phone from her to look at it. Thousands of comments. A million likes. On one image.
“Oh my God,” I gasped.
“Congratulations!” Blaire said, throwing her arms around me. “I knew it!”
“This is so great, Jen,” Piper said.
I handed the phone back. “Wow. Like…wow. What do I do?”
“First off, don’t read the comments. Second, actually, why don’t I handle your social media for you for a while?” Blaire said.
“Good idea.”
“You look like you’re in shock.”
“I am.”
“This is good!” Blaire said.
“What’s good?” Julian asked, appearing next to us.
Blaire gave him the rundown, and his eyes widened.
“Holy shit,” he breathed.
“I know,” I whispered. “I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Nothing. Leave it to me,” Blaire said, holding her hand out for my phone. I passed it to her. “I got this.”
Blaire and Piper leaned into my phone as Blaire did her thing. I trusted her to handle this since she was a viral phenomenon and I was clearly…not.
I turned to my boyfriend. He’d dropped into the seat with his head buried into his bag, trying not to let everyone see how rattled he was.
“Hey,” I said.
He smiled at me. “Hey. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks. It’s kind of…surreal.”
“I could see that.”
I bit my lip. “Are you okay?”
“Just a game,” he said with a shrug.
But there was something else. I knew it.
“I haven’t heard from you since yesterday.” My voice felt small, but the fact that I was even bringing it up was a huge step. I’d never held my own like this before.
His face looked pained, and he jumped to his feet. “Fuck, I’m sorry. My phone died yesterday. I have to get another one, and I didn’t have time today.”
“Oh,” I said softly. Such an easy explanation. “I just thought…you’d find a way to reach me.”
He ran a hand back through his hair. “Yeah. That’s entirely my fault. I’ve been swamped with work, and I haven’t looked up. I actually forgot about the game today. What with the Wright event tonight at the vineyard, it’s been nuts.”
“Right. Of course.”
“Hey, hey,” he said, taking my hands in his and bringing them to his lips. “I’m really sorry. I should have thought about how it would look to not respond. Why don’t we go and get me a new phone right now?”
“But don’t you have work for the event tonight?”
He blew out a heavy breath. “Yeah. I really do.”
“Then don’t worry about it. You can get one tomorrow.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah. I have to get dressed for the party anyway. I’ll see you there.”
He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more. His eyes had gone distant. Like there was something else eating at him.
“Julian, are you really okay?”
Just as fast as the question was out of my mouth, the look disappeared from his face. “Yeah. Yes. Totally. It’s been a rough week. I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay. You might need a break after this.”
He laughed. “Take me back to Cabo, will you?”
“Anytime.”
He pressed a kiss into my hair. “See you tonight, Dreamsicle.”
“Oh my God, that nickname,” I said, flushing from head to toe.
“I do it just to see you blush.”
“Everything makes me blush.”
He winked at me. “Don’t I know it?”
And then I watched my boyfriend walk away. Something worried at me though. Like this conversation wasn’t over. Like there was more that he wasn’t saying. But I didn’t know what it could possibly be.
34
Jennifer
Nora was a magician. There was no other explanation for the dream world that she had created inside the barn at Wright Vineyard. It hardly even looked rustic after she was done with it. Long white drapes covered most of the exposed walls. Chandeliers hung all around the room. Circular tables lined the perimeter with elegant floral arrangements set amid wrought iron candelabras and purple velour runners. An enormous WC—for Wright Construction—was next to the stage, draped in vines and flowers, a perfect backdrop for pictures. Everything was lush and over the top.
“You are a little genius,” I told her as I stared in awe. I couldn’t even bring my camera up to my face to see it all through the lens.
“Thanks. I’ve been working day and night. I even had August freaking build the WC because I couldn’t find anything that matched my vision.”
“He built that himself?”
“Yeah. His dad is a carpenter, and they put it together. I’m so blessed.”
“Is he here?”
She pointed across the barn to where he stood next to Tamara. She was in a slinky dress for the evening, her red hair a pile on top of her head. She had her hand resting on August’s sleeve.
