“Why not?” Evie frowned.
“Because it’s not just donating and getting a favour back,” he explained gently. “People donate to different causes all the time, and sure, regular big donations might make them bend over backwards to make you happy so you keep donating, but it doesn’t get you priority admittance or free up space that doesn’t exist.”
Evie ran her hand through her hair, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t get it. You make a few phone calls, and then you have the problem solved.”
“Okay,” he chuckled. “First, yeah. Sometimes it’s a phone call, and a problem is solved. Like the night Della relapsed. You got VIP treatment at the hospital, and she was immediately moved to a private room. I’m a major donor, so when I called and told Giles that a close personal friend of mine needed special treatment, he just about fell over himself to make it happen.”
“But when your mother needed to go to rehab, I didn’t just call, demand a bed and throw money at them to make it happen. I found out who I needed to talk to, explained my problem and asked if they had a problem I could make go away in exchange for helping me with mine. Turns out, in an amazing coincidence, their computers were all in desperate need of an upgrade.”
“You can’t do what I do because you don’t have the resources to make problems disappear the way I do. But you can still help Aaron’s friend with the resources you do have.” He held out his hand. “Give me what you have, and I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Yeah, you’re right. If anyone could use some good luck, it’s Beau,” Aaron agreed, smiling faintly. He stood up. “Anyway, we’ll have to see the movie when I get back.”
“Hang on a second.” Evie jumped up and walked over to her large storage unit, returning a minute later with two plain brown shopping bags. She held one out to him. “Here, for your ski trip. Merry Christmas.”
“You got me a Christmas gift?” He raised an eyebrow and took it from her, opening the bag curiously.
“No. I’ve been meaning to give you this and just kept forgetting.” She watched with a grin as he took out a thick, woollen, baby blue sweater.
Aaron grinned as he held it up and looked it over. “Did you knit this?”
“No, no, I most certainly did not.” She laughed. She might be able to design tech and write a novel, but crafty things that required concentration and coordinated movements were not her strong suit. “Nissa and I went to a farmers' market, and an older lady was selling them. It was freezing, and she had six left, so I bought them so she could go home. They’re well done and very warm. I cleaned them all, kept one for myself, and planned to give the others away. “You can take this one,” she said as she handed him the bag. “For Beau.” He won’t need it in Iraq, but it might be useful while skiing.”
“Thanks, Evie.” Aaron pulled it on over his t-shirt and struck a pose. “What do you think?”
“It brings out your eyes.” She giggled at his exaggerated model pose.
“And you’re sure Beau can have the other one?” He pulled out a slate-grey sweater identical to his.
“Yeah, sure.” She shrugged. “I had planned to give that one to Cole, but like I said, I still have three more to give away.” He grinned and hugged her, kissing the top of her head.
“He probably will need it in Iraq. The desert is freezing at night.” He put Beau’s sweater back in the bag and left to get back to work.
When she was sure Aaron was gone, Evie slipped over to Tommy’s office, walking up without a word and hugging him tightly from behind as he sat at his desk.
“What’s this for?” He chuckled as she kissed his cheek.
“Because you’re amazing,” she mumbled. “And I’m lucky to have you.”
***********
On December 23rd, Evie stood with Marise Latille in Books are Magic, watching as they set up a display for Dark Mist, the first book in her Storms and Shadows series. She felt like she needed to pinch herself because she was dreaming.
“Oh my god.” She whispered, reaching for Marise’s hand. “This is insane.”
Marise let out a low laugh and squeezed her hand. “I told you; this is going to be the next big series. I promise you, Evie, Kylie Morgan will be a New York Times Bestselling New Author soon.”
Evie grinned. She had decided to go with a pen name, Kylie Morgan, instead of her own, partially because she had considered changing her last name off and on over the years, and partially because she had decided not to tell anyone about it yet. Thorn hadn’t mentioned anything about her book being published since she told him the night she left Alex, and she figured he had forgotten in the aftermath of that mess.
In March, Dark Mist hit the top of the Fiction Bestseller list for paperback and hardcover, and Marise took her out to celebrate her success.
“Have you told anyone yet?” she asked as their meals were brought out.
“No.” Evie shook her head. “I’m not ready. I want this to just be mine for a while longer.”
She knew she was probably being irrational about it, but this was the first thing she had entirely accomplished on her own. Everything else in her life had been because Tommy hadbeen in the background doing something, paying or arranging things.
“Besides, the day you called and told me I hit number one, Cole and Lana announced they were pregnant and asked Tommy and Nissa to be the godparents, so it kind of felt like a bad time to say anything, and then the moment passed.”
