Roan took Bronson’s advice and he’s enjoying a ribeye with root vegetables. I’m digging into homemade chicken stew with fresh bread. Meg chose a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. And the server brought J.B. a plate of fruit and cheeseon the house, which she’s devouring.
Predictably, when the girls are finished eating, Meg asks for permission to go hang out with J.B. in the lobby with her grandpa. They’re planning to play chess and help the littler kids write letters to Santa and put them in the Santa Claus mailbox in the lobby.
“Is that okay with you, Taylor?” Roan asks me.
“Absolutely,” I tell Meg. “Have fun.”
“Thank you,” she says, darting over to give me half a hug before she follows after J.B., who is already heading for the lobby.
“Best of both worlds,” Roan says. “She got to come along, and I still get you to myself for a little while.”
He really does. We’re the only ones in the diningroom and I sort of wonder if maybe Roan had something to do with that.
I gaze across the table at this man who suddenly means so much to me. For a moment there’s nothing but the electricity dancing between us and I feel like there’s something I need to say to him.
Then my phone buzzes again.
“At least check it,” he says with a warm smile. “You never know, it could be an emergency.”
“I doubt that,” I say, shaking my head. But I pull the phone out anyway. I’m stunned at the name that pops up on the screen.
Angeline Stark
I pick up with a smile.
“Hello?” I say softly.
“Taylor,” Angeline says, her voice bright with happiness. “I’m so glad you picked up. David said you weren’t answering. I told him I’d try you myself.”
“Oh, yes,” I say, feeling sort of bad. “I’m at dinner.”
“Well, I hate to interrupt that,” she says. “And I understand you not picking up for David. He owes you.”
“No, no,” I say, laughing. “It all worked out really well.”
“You know I haven’t agreed to a sequel with him yet,” she says. “And I won’t, unless you’re the one who signs me.”
“Wow,” I say, truly amazed. The window for an author to capitalize on a success isshort.And Angeline is delaying a deal out of loyalty to me. That’s incredibly rare and special. “But you don’t have to put your plans on hold for me. I’m sticking around and I’ll be glad to sign you, if that feels like a good plan to you.”
“It does,” she says firmly.
“It has nothing to do with your success,” I remind her. “I just love the book.”
“You got it in print,” she says, laughing. “But actually, you did more than that.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“I found out that when the social media buzz started, it started in the Poconos,” she says. “At some kind of math and science academy? The kids there were tagging me every five minutes. Sounds like you gave copies to a couple of them and they started passing them around.”
“Those kids are incredible,” I agree with her. “They’re the true heroes.”
“Well, it turns out a few of those kids actually have some followers, and they are pretty active in the hot book groups. They pushed the book authentically, in ways no marketing team ever could have,” she says. “And David told me that if I got you that I should share some amazing news.Starhoofis going to be on the New York Times bestseller list. It was just posted on the website.”
“Wow,” I murmur.
“Yeah,” she says. “And there’s going to be an auction for the movie rights. So I’ll bet you’re glad you bought those.”
“You’ll be paid too,” I remind her.
