“Good choice,” Lani said. “I’ll bet it was hard to find.”
“Sohard to find. I used to have an orange one with Santa on it, but all that red clashed something terrible. Rudolph’s nose is the only thing that clashes. Big improvement.”
“And Rudoph’s the hero of the story, after all.”
“That’s what I say. Way more important than that chubby guy who gets all the publicity.”
“I ignored all the Santa-themed outfits and went with Christmas angels.” Nancy showed off her yellow long-sleeved shirt that sported a heavenly choir above the wordsJoy to the World.
Desiree’s elegant sweater was covered with Christmas ornaments that blended with the purple background. Lani made a note to ask her later where she’d found it.
Colleen and Jess had the easiest task since their colors fit the season. Colleen’s red sweater featured Christmas trees and Jess’s green shirt portrayed Santa standing beside a brick chimney. Annette’s Santa design was like Lani’s, except it was set against an indigo twilight sky.
“Alrighty, everybody!” Desiree clapped her hands. “Fashion show’s over. Let’s take our seats. Rance and Lani, you’re up front.” She gestured toward two dining chairs facing the semi-circle of wingbacks.
“On the hot seat,” Cindy said with a laugh. “Just kidding. We’ll be gentle, Rance.”
“Not me.” Jess gave Rance a smile. “Beau said I should hold your feet to the fire.”
“I expect no less.” He glanced around the room. “From all of you. No pulling your punches.”
“We won’t.” Annette leaned forward in her chair. “But I was designated to start off this critique by saying that we all agree you’ve blown us away with this badass book. It’s amazing.”
He flushed. Adorable. “Wow, thanks. I don’t know what to say.”
“That’s a first,” Teresa called out, which made him blush even more.
“Before we give this boy a swelled head, let’s address the story’s biggest missed opportunity.” Nancy gazed at him. “Why set it in November, when you can move the action to December and grab all those tasty Christmas sales?”
Lani blinked. She’d expected comments about pacing and suggested dialogue changes. But Nancy had zeroed in on a marketing issue. The way everyone nodded in agreement confirmed they’d discussed this in advance.
After Nancy broached the subject, the ideas began to flow. A Christmas tree in the bar. A ratty one because Dooley wouldn’t bother getting a nice one. Sophia would get rid of it and replace it with something way better. Sophia would try to get him to wear a Santa hat. He’d refuse, then finally do it on Christmas Eve. He was down on Christmas. Why? More ideas about that.
Finally she had to interrupt. “Is anybody writing this down? It’s great stuff.”
“I am. I’ll email both of you with this when we’re done.
Lani glanced at Annette. Sure enough, she was typing away on a tablet in her lap.
“But you don’t want to overwhelm the core story with holiday references,” Colleen said. “That’s solid.”
“Right, right.” Desiree turned in Colleen’s direction. “Let’s move on to the other major thing.”
“Yeah.” Annette stopped typing. “Rance, we adore Sophia so much. She’s savvy and she’s ballsy. And she would have investigated the hell out of Dooley before making a move on him.”
Lani sucked in a breath. Holy moly. These ladies rocked.
“I think Lani needs to talk about that.” Rance shifted in his seat and gazed at her. “I know we were gonna wait but they need to know we’ve already worked in the concept.”
“By all means,” Desiree said. “If you’ve added something that addresses this, we’d all love to hear it.”
“Okay, sure.” She quickly outlined the changes they’d made without saying when and where they’d done that edit. But Desiree’s thoughtful expression said she’d likely figured it out.
“Oh, and you know what?” Cindy bounced on her chair in excitement, making her red and green ringlets quiver. “I just thought of this. What would bookend Sophia investigating him is if he investigates her later in the book and we find out something we didn’t know about her.”
“I like it, Cindy.” Rance looked over at Annette. “Did you get that?”
“Sure did.”
