Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Charli: I wish I could.
I frown at my phone. That’s all she’s got to say?
Jameson: Everything okay?
It’s a few minutes before she responds. It’s long enough for Nolan to complain about an author who has pushed back her deadline for the third time, and how we can’t afford to pressure her because Landmark will just scoop her up if we scare her off.
Charli: I’m feeling a little down about the book stuff, I guess. Maybe I’m losing a little hope that I’ll be able to stop them from publishing it. I keep seeing update emails in Vaughn’s inbox about how they’re moving along and cover concepts and all that. It’s just hard to think about.
“What?” Nolan asks. “You look like you swallowed a live eel.”
I glance up from my phone and try to wipe the look from my face. “It’s nothing,” I say, even though my stomach is turning over. I feel like the scum of the Earth for not telling her yesterday as soon as I found out. I am the scum of the Earth because I’m making the decision to put my friend and my company before her and her book. But isn’t that the reasonable thing any sane person would do? I’ve known Nolan since we were kids. Dozens of people work for us at Gray Wolfe. That’s dozens of lives and livelihoods depending on our success. Charli is only one person I met weeks ago. One person, no matter how much I already like her. She’s just one person.
And yet I still feel like absolute garbage.
Jameson: Come see me tonight. I can think of a few ways to take your mind off things.
Charli: I’ll see you at the mixer. I just need to mope a little. It’s okay. I’ll be good for the mixer though, I promise.
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.
16
CHARLI
Knives and forks scrape on plates, Meemaw chews her mashed potatoes, Troy is eying me suspiciously while he chews a chicken thigh, and Dani is showing Maddie something on her phone.
Dad points his fork at me. “Any big plans tonight?” he asks. “Working on that book, maybe?”
“You haven’t been talking about your book lately,” my mom says, jumping in to join the assault. “Did the breakup make it hard to keep pushing forward with it? I hope not. You were getting so close, weren’t you?”
I wince, trying not to make eye contact with Maddie or Dani, who both know the full truth.
“Still working on it. I might actually head out a little early tonight to do just that,” I add. I stab a green bean with my fork and eat it, chewing with my focus on the tablecloth, hoping they drop it.
“You know,” Mom says. “Before your father and I met, I had a pretty serious thing going with this boy named Archie Matterson. He was a real looker.”
My dad shakes his head, lips pursed. “His muscles were just silly. No girl could possibly want a guy with all that rippling muscle. Imagine the grocery bill! Muscles don’t grow on trees, you know. Those guys go through hundreds of dollars in protein every month. And for what? To look amazing? Psh.”
My mom gives my dad’s spindly arms a squeeze, smiling lovingly. “Your father is right. I can’t imagine who would be into that. Anyway, I thought my world ended when we broke things off. I swore I was going to spend the rest of my life grieving. I’d wait a year to date again, and–”
“How old were you?” Maddie asks.
“Fourteen,” Mom says. “He was sixteen,” she adds with a proud wiggle of her eyebrows.
“Mom, you dog,” Dani laughs. “Dating an older man.”
“I’m not sure I understand where this is going,” I say.
My mom holds up her palm for patience. “But, I did move on. It was only a month later before I found someone new. And what do you know? Dating someone new cheered me right up.”
“Moral of the story,” Meemaw croaks. “Your mother is a hoe. If your father ever dies, she’ll cope with her grief in the arms of another man.”
My mom chokes on her water and Maddie snorts, covering her mouth with both hands. Dani bulges her eyes at me, grinning, and my dad’s eyes go a little wider.
“That’s not the point at all,” Mom manages, laughing a little. “My point was that Charli shouldn’t let this break up keep her down forever. And that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if she, you know, explored the market. That’s all.”
“Oh, trust me,” Meemaw says, nodding knowingly my way. “Charli has been at the meat market for weeks. I can smell it on her.”
I consider hiding under the table, but settle for staring blankly at the table and hoping this all ends quickly. Last Sunday, Meemaw announced to everyone that I was dating again when she saw the text on my phone. It took a monumental acting job and some quick thinking, but I convinced them all it wasn’t anything serious.