“Yes!” Jason did a fist pump. “I’ll get mybackpack.”
“I’ll get dressed.” The two ran in oppositedirections.
Daisy sighed, wondering how on earth Beckett could sleep through all this. He was probably used to jungle noises and stuff. She blew him a kiss, not wanting to disturb his slumber, and ushered Vivian out the door. She caught Jason on his way in and gave him a hug and a kissgoodbye.
Daisy rubbed Vivian’s back. “You okay with this.” If Vivian wasn’t, they’d bring Jason with them and trade off watching him. He’d be bored beyond measure unless they could find the Montana Mountain Man. Jason loved watching him fish and hunt and tromp through the woods like he ownedthem.
Vivian paused like she was scanning feelings. “Oddly enough, I’m okay with Quinton takingJason.”
Daisy nodded once and climbed behind the wheel. Vivian made progress today. That was a good sign, an omen that things were going to go their way. She backed out of the drive full of optimism. Today was going to be a greatday.
* * *
Four hours later,Daisy wrapped up her class, held in an extra-large room to accommodate her subscribers, full of applause. She let out a sigh, releasing a week’s worth of stress. A sense of accomplishment mingled with a performer’s high allowing her smile to be genuine and fresh instead of tense as it had been before the class. Teri, the KPaka rep, was one of the first people in the room. She’d walked in wearing black slacks and a charcoal blouse. A thin, diamond bracelet set in silver graced her left wrist, and a liquid silver chain bounced against her chest as she walked. But what Daisy noticed most was that she didn’t wear any makeup. Had she shown up in one of Daisy’s signature looks that she’d created for her channel, Daisy would have felt secure in her future with KPaka. However, the woman was Switzerland with no loyalties. She sat on the front row to the farleft.
During the class, Daisy outlined her journey from awkward teen with a laptop camera to MyHeartChannel star, explaining the steps she took along the way. Some of the attendees wanted to jump from first upload to sponsorship, but there were dues to pay and an audience to build before the larger corporations would even take a look at your channel. She’d done what she loved for the sake of following her passion and the money followed. That was the secret formula that get-rich-quick channel owners didn’t want to acknowledge. They thought she’d scammed the system or that she’d gotten in before there was so much competition and therefore had an edge. Maybe. But that didn’t make the process any different. She’d worked hard and continued to work hard at what shedid.
And she lovedit.
She breathed in through her nose as if what she did for a living had a smell she could savor. At times like this, when she could look her subscribers in the eye, an overwhelming sense of love and responsibility filled her up. The applause died down and women surged forward in a semicircle, trapping her against the projectionscreen.
Mom arrived to unhook Daisy’s laptop and organize her things, just like Daisy had done all those years ago for Mom. She was still a known face for MyHeartChannel and several women paused to talk to her as sheworked.
“Can I get your autograph?” asked a woman wearing Daisy’s signature Business Day Eye and her WowzaLips.
“Sure.” Daisy took the 5 x 7 glossy photo MyHeartChannel had placed inside attendees’ gift bags. She used a metallic sharpie to sign her name with a flourish. If a fan emailed her, she wrote them a personalized note, but that would take all day and the organizers needed this room. “I love that eye shadow on you, by the way. It’s a beautiful match with your skintone.”
“Thank you!” the woman gushed, pressing the picture to her chest. “I watch your channel everyday.”
“Thanks!” Daisy gave her a quick hug and moved on to the next eagerface.
This woman wore the Halloween Hopeful eye shadow. The purple matched a streak in her black hair. Though the heavy shadow was fun for Halloween, not a lot of women could pull it off as a day face. She’d sat in the exact middle of the room, hiding behind her hair through most of theclass.
“You are rockin’ that look, girl.” Daisy hugged her hello. She felt the lady relax into her as if the physical contact were a healingbalm.
They chatted for a moment about makeup removal. “I’m going to tag a short segment on the end of that video about using olive oil on the eyelids. Thank you so much for stopping to talk to metoday.”
The woman, Trudy, went in for one more hug and then she left the group with her chin high, her hair falling gently to theside.
“Excuse me. Excuseme.” Felicity, the conference committee member who was in charge of making sure Daisy got to all the right places, elbowed her way through the group. She was a full head taller than anyone else, which made it easy to follow her progress. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail that exposed an inch of brown roots, and she had smudged the green eyeliner on her lefteye.
Daisy motioned her closer and people parted to let her in. She made eye contact and smiled at Teri, who had been listening in and Daisy didn’t even know it. Her nerves ratcheted back up and she was thankful for that extra layer of deodorant thismorning.
Felicity tripped into the circle. “Thanks! Okay, so I just got a message that one of our panelists is a no-show.”
The people within hearing distance gasped. Once again, Daisy was grateful for Quinton. If he hadn’t taken Jason,EveryDayGlam!would be the one getting the dirtylooks.
Felicity pushed her glasses up. “Would you mind fillingin?”
Daisy worked not to glance at Teri, wondering what she thought about the presentation. “What’s thetopic?”
“It’s super easy. It’s a Q&A. Any question isgame.”
Daisy was scheduled for two other panels this weekend. Other than that, she had hours in the signing room. And being on another panel was a great way to market herself. “Sure. I’d be happy tohelp.”
Felicity bounced on the balls of her feet. “Thank you so, so much!” She flipped around. “Okay, everyone, Daisy will be in the Aspen room in five minutes. Please let usthrough.”
There was a collective groan before people began tomove.
