He gives me one last kiss and goes back to work while I stare at his disappearing figure with a big smile on my face.
I take the invite to the party from my bag and look at it again. The gold-leaf embossed print is beautiful, but it's the words within that matter the most.
There is someone out there that liked my book enough to beat other candidates into the shortlist. If that's as far as I go, I'll be happy.
The silver-lining to Victoria's actions is that we already have a lot of bills covered, with additional income from Mike's General Store giving us a good cushion. Could I use some of it to hire an editor? Am I brave enough to self-publish?
I wouldn't even know where to start with all of it but being with Xander has somehow given me the confidence to believe in myself.
From the corner of my eyes I see Nicki leaving her stall, so I hide the invite back inside my bag.
"I won't pretend I didn't see it if you don't pretend you’re not hiding it from me."
I sigh and hand her the envelope. "You were bound to find out anyway."
She reads it and looks at me. I have never seen Nicki lost for words.
Her mouth opens and closes again.
"Ashton Phillip Cinder."
Yup, she full named me, so I'm in trouble.
"How long have you been hiding this from me?" she says, placing both her hands on her hips.
Full name and both hands? Oh dear.
I laugh, and she gives me a pointed look.
"Oh, you know, a whole eighteen hours."
"Eighteen hours??" she screeches.
"I know. It's the longest time, isn't it? I do apologize."
She hits my arm. "Don't take that tone with me, young man."
"You tell him, Nicki." Jack, the old man that sells cheese two stalls down, shouts.
"Right?" She answers back.
"Um...can we get back to the matter at hand?" I say, pointing to the card in her hand.
She reads it again. "God, Ash, all joking aside, this is amazing. See? I told you your book was good. More than good. And you're invited to a fancy masquerade ball."
I put my arms around her. "You're the best friend anyone could have, Nicki. Your faith in me has given me more strength in the last few years than you could ever know."
"Stop it, you'll make me cry, and I don't want to see Mia later with puffy eyes," she says.
"How are things going between you?"
"Oh, Ash, I'm totally head-over-heels with her, and the worst is, I think she feels the same way."
I laugh. "Why is that the worst?"
She shrugs. "You know, it can only go downhill from here. Next thing you know, we'll be moving in together, adopting cats, and living happily ever after."
"Sounds horrible," I say.
