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“Because you’re my client. It’s my job to fight for you. I don’t stop doing my job just because I’m embarrassed or pissed.” She may be wearing jeans. But her inner agent sports a starched red power suit. “Here.” She hands me the diary.
I reach for it, then change my mind. LikeHaunted,the diary is a fantasy. It belongs in the past, put away next to my obsession with Mom coming home. But I don’t think I’m strong enough not to get sucked back in. “Can you... get rid of it for me?” It hurts to say.
“How about I keep it for a while?” She runs her hand over the cover, her careful touch hinting she understands my confliction. “You can decide what to do with it later.”
That idea hurts less. “Okay.”
She sets it on the table. “You do have to make another decision. Julie Ann gave you twelve weeks to turn in the second book.”
“Twelve weeks? It took me six months to writeHauntedwith zero pressure.” I sit on the edge of the wing chair.
“You don’t want to do the work?”
“I don’t want to make a promise I can’t keep.” I pull my sleeves over my fingers. “It’s not like writingHaunted. It’s—”
“Hard?” She raises a penciled eyebrow in a direct challenge. “Not every book is going to be easy. Welcome to life as an author.” She sits on the ottoman in front of me.
“You can do it.” Dad takes the corner too fast, like he’s been lurking the entire time.
Vi frowns, but it doesn’t carry any power.
“I may be severely lacking in the dad department, but I know how to crank out a book. With the right schedule and a detailed outline, I’ll help you make the deadline.”
I know his offer isn’t really about the career I thought I threw away, it’s a way for him to be part of my life. That’s why I say, “Thank you.”
Smiling, he squeezes my shoulder and heads into his office. “I’ll get started on your planner.”
Vi watches him leave and plays with her silver bracelet.
“This isn’t going away, is it?” I point from her to Dad.
“Homeschool, I really hope not.” In her eyes, I see vulnerability I didn’t expect.
“Not that anyone cares about my opinion... but okay.” I lean toward her, so Dad can’t hear from his office. “But I live here too.” My face warms. “Maybe next time, don’t leave your zebra stripes in the kitchen? Because—gross.”
Vi doesn’t blush. She never does. But she does quirk up her red lips and say, “I’m good with that.”
chapter 66
Gabe
“Only go for a sure thing.”
~ Meredith Morgan
(played by the award-winning Meredith Wade)
Raising Ryder: Episode44
It’s seriously jacked that I’m breaking out in a cold sweat over an office door. Thereisa first for everything. Otherwise I wouldn’t be at the end of this hallway staring down the Hollywood sign out the window. The sun hasn’t been out long enough to burn off the sludge hanging in the sky. I can barely make out the top of theHand bothL’s.
The slick palm I run down my jeans while I wait for someone to open that door jerks me back to Jess’s pre-panel freak out. I make the mistake of reliving that day a second too long, and suddenly I’m skidding into a replay of her breakup hit-and-run. The spin out combines with Mom’s voice in my head cataloguing all the reasons why I should walk out of this building now.
“Ready?” Billy comes alongside me and slaps my back. Strap a guitar over his shoulder and he could play Willie Nelson at parties.
“Not even close.” I could slide into Jax’s chill, but I’m working hard to be me. It sucks that being me also means I’m feeling every bite of the risk that’s chomping at my heels, warning me how bad this decision could go sideways.
A few people dressed to match the upscale in this fancy office pass in the hall, and Billy turns us away. “Is there a problem, son? This audition was your call.”
