He stood up tall with his hands on his hips and recited, “I got this.”
“Your turn.” He had to be joking.
“I can’t do that in the middle of the store,” I whisper yelled.
He led me to a secluded corner. “Now, let’s do it together.”
I reluctantly followed his lead. We recited the line three times before we relaxed. The twist in my gut I had since this morning started to subside.
“How do you feel? Ready to knock this thing out of the park?” he asked, nudging my shoulder.
I smiled brightly at him because the nervousness turned to excitement. I took one more deep breath and headed back to the book club meeting space. There were at least ten more people huddling around, sitting on the couches, chairs, and bean bags.
“Hello everyone!” I said excitedly. “Welcome to our first local indie author book club highlight. We are so honored you could join us today to discussFate’s Tether.We hope to highlight more local authors who can hopefully join us in future discussions.”
I walked over to the chair Mikey had set up for me to face the group. I snuck a peek at Grant before beginning. He was beaming and subtly winked at me. I found confidence and began.
“I have a list of questions to lead the discussion, but they are only a guide to keep us focused. But feel free to speak up with any questions or opinions you may have. I would ask that we respect one another as well as the author who has kindly provided us with signed copies for everyone to take home today.”
Everyone smiled and nodded along, so I asked the first question. Luckily, the group was a lively bunch who bounced comments off each other. Even Grant joined in the conversation when I assumed he was there to observe.
The expressions of joy plastered across the patrons’ faces as they discussed the book filled my heart with so much hope. My passion continued to reignite as I asked a new question, and most members of the group chimed in. There were momentswhen we were all laughing, crying, or swooning over the romantic aspect of the story.
I was saddened as we neared the end of the discussion. I met Grant’s eyes again, who walked toward me in what seemed to be slow motion, or maybe I was that captivated by him.
“You’re off right now, right?”
“Yeah, I have to hand out the signed books, and then I’ll be good to go,” I responded.
He leaned toward me, speaking quietly, “I’m so beyond proud of you. I’ll wait outside for you, and then we’re going to go celebrate.”
He walked toward the door before I could respond. My happiness was all consuming as I watched him go. I didn't know how I would ever repay him for all he had done to ease my nervousness for tonight. And for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself.
I finished handing out the books and went to grab my stuff from my locker. Grant was standing next to my car as I came out.
“Here she comes, the lady of the hour,” he said, bowing to me.
I rolled my eyes with a laugh. “Oh, stop,” I said, shooing him away.
He smirked. “I’ll drive us. We can come get your car later.”
I nodded and followed him to his truck. I was still riding the high of how well the book club went. “It went really well, didn’t it?” I asked shyly.
“Serenity,” he said with a pause, “I say this with all the honesty that I can conjure, you were phenomenal. You spoke clearly and guided the discussion so everyone had a chance to speak. And you know your stuff! There was nothing they brought up that you didn’t have a theory about. I must confess, I have a crush on you.”
“Is that so?” I smiled slyly at him. “I’m pretty fond of you myself.”
He reached out and squeezed my hand. “We’re here.”
“Where’s here?” I asked in amusement because we were parked at the top of a mountain.
“You’ll see,” he said, getting out of the truck and walking around to open my door. He gave me his hand to assist in jumping down. We walked hand in hand to a bench that overlooked the city. The stars sparkled a lot brighter from atop the mountain.
I had a sudden rush of emotion. He knew my safe space was on top of a mountain overlooking the trees, but since it was nighttime, the mountain top overlooked a sky full of stars. How he showed me how much he listened and cared about me made me feel warm and safe.Did I deserve it?
“Where’d you go?” he asked, putting his arm around me.
“I’m overthinking. You give me all these wonderful moments of assurance. It’s hard to believe I even deserve it.” I looked away.
