Betsy’s lips pursed into a flat, not-impressed line. Then her box went dark and disappeared.
“I guess she didn’t want to play with us.” April shrugged. Or her Wi-Fi picked the perfect moment to drop.
Either way, April wasn’t sure quite what she’d just done to her career.
It didn’t matter, though, because she regretted nothing she’d said.
“I’m important,” she said. “Paisley is important. Betsy is important.” She looked directly into the camera for all those watching the live feed now and the replay later. “And you’re important. You matter, too.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“It’s okay if you fall apart sometimes. Tacos fall apart all the time and we still love them.”
—Inspirational Sign
Jack
Well, screw him sideways and buy him a Snickers bar.
The pissed-off heat that flared, thanks to Betsy and Paisley, started to recede from Jack’s extremities.
His cell was still pressed against his ear as he had attempted to triage this situation. But the situation no longer needed his assistance. Because…April had done it all herself.
Frustration turned to pride.
Slowly, he turned the phone off and set it aside. There’d be time to ream out thePractical Parentingproducer later. Make no mistake, they’d be hearing from him about his thoughts on the editorial choices put into play after their last chat. Thoughts that would definitely include an abundance of Harmony-approved grown-up words.
That was for later.
Right now, April continued, wrapping up the end of the live feed with calm grace and genuine honesty. He would’ve clapped, but only Ben was there to hear him.
She’d gone totally off script. So far off script, she wasn’t even in the same theater as the rest of the actors. And it was brilliant.
Jack clicked over to her social media stats, and they were rising steadily as he’d hoped, but for reasons he couldn’t have guessed. This kind of spin would generally have Jack’s fingerprints all over it, because this was perfection in public relations. The kind of thing they taught in business school.
But April wasn’t spinning anything. And that’s why it worked.
She’d been herself and, he just bet, the rest of Mommy Land was going to love her for it. How could they not? The woman was easy to fall in love with.
His stomach clenched at the thought.
“Are you thinking maybe you should’ve stayed in Denver?” Ben asked, seemingly unable to yank his eyes from the screen where the stats were still rising.
Jack didn’t even have to think about that. “I figure it’s a good thing I didn’t stay, because I never would’ve allowedthatto happen.”
He would’ve shut it down before Paisley’s trap even had a shot at snapping shut. Literally and figuratively pulled all the plugs. But April wiggled right out of that snare and into what his gut told him was a solid future as the next big mommy influencer.
She’d done it.
By herself.
On her terms.
What had just gone down onPractical Parentingwas exactly the thing that would launch April’s career. Like they’d planned. Yeah, he had a hunch this was the twist that would bring in viewers, followers, and sponsors to the real April.
Authentic April.
“What’s going on with you?” Ben asked, concern clear.
