“Oh, ah, yeah, that sounds fun,” I say, completely taken aback. Do I admit who I am? I’m saved by Paige continuing.
“If you want to get a feel for the group, to see if the dynamic is a fit for you, our next meeting is this coming Tuesday evening, next door at Camille’s café. If you haven’t read our current book, that’s fine, you’re still welcome to join.”
My head is still spinning from trying to decide whether I reveal my identity to Paige, so I simply nod. “Thanks. I’ll have to figure out childcare for my son, but I’d like to try and join.”
Paige waves off my comment. “If you’re comfortable with it, we arrange for a babysitter to stay here at the store with any children. Several women drop their kids off. The babysitter reads to them, or they can read any books they wish from the shelves.”
“That sounds awesome.”
Through her glasses, I can sense Paige studying me. “You’ve only recently moved to Dogwood Cove and as such, I imagine have had limited opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals. I sense you are a fellow book lover, and given your enjoyment of romance novels, I do believe our book club would be an excellent fit for you.”
“I think you’re right,” I say happily. “Thanks, Paige. I’ll definitely try to stop by on Tuesday.”
I walk out of Pages with the new Lacey Greystone book in hand, feeling excited, and yes — ready to get back to my own manuscript. Maybe this is exactly what I need to feel inspired again. A chance to be a reader, not just an author. A chance to connect withotherromance readers and talk about books.
A chance to remind myself why I love romance novels so much. The hope for a happily ever after, even if the only one I’m ever going to get is between the pages of a book.
Chapter ten
Tori
“And…done.” I hitsendwith a massive sense of relief, the promised chapters on their way to Carol, at last.
Even though I stayed up way too late last night reading my new book, I still managed to get up early this morning and crank out some words before getting Cooper to school. Then, to my utter shock, a solution to a plot hole I was struggling with in my draft hit me on the walk home from dropping him off. I was able to write three more chapters in the hours he was gone. It’s been a long time since I had a day that productive, and my writing mojo couldn’t have come back at a better time.
Glancing at the clock, I realize I’ve got time to whip up some cookies before I need to leave to get Cooper. Putting on some music, I dance around the kitchen mixing up some monster cookies, his favourite. But just as I’m scooping the dough onto a tray, inspiration strikes.
“I am onfire!” I crow to my empty kitchen as ideas start swirling in my head. I grab a scrap of paper to jot down the basics, but it’s not enough. Sliding the cookie tray into the oven, I dash back to my computer and open up the document, my fingers starting to fly.
The only downside to having my muse return to me at this moment in time is that I forget anything and everything else around me as I lose myself in the fictional world I’m creating. That is, until the smoke detector goes off with the loudest beep I’ve ever heard, and I turn in horror to see smoke wafting out of my oven.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!” I shout as I grab the fire extinguisher and carefully open the oven. Thankfully, there are no flames, but the cookies are now charred black piles of grossness. I dump the tray in the sink, turn off the oven, then turn my attention to that damn alarm. There’s no button that I can see, so I try waving a towel at it, which does nothing. I open the kitchen window, turn on the hood fan over the stove, and climb up on a chair to see if I can detach the thing. I manage to get it pried off, but the freaking beeping is piercing my skull.
“Oh my God, shut up, you stupid thing! There’s no fire, everything’s fine, and I swear to God, if you connect to the damn fire department and that man shows up, I will smash you to smithereens.”
Is it logical to talk to inanimate objects? Nope. But I’m doing it anyway because this alarm is making me crazy. As I frantically try to figure out how to shut it off, somehow — despite the shrill tone of the smoke detector — I hear my front door opening and a familiar but unexpected voice calling my name.
I finally find the damn button and manage to turn off the obnoxious and unnecessary beeping when Willow comes into the kitchen, a wide smirk on her face. “You know, if you wanted to get your man’s attention, there are easier ways than burning down your house.”
My glower does nothing except make her laugh. “Shut up, Wills, don’t make me regret telling you he lives in town. And what the heck are you doing here, anyway? I thought you didn’t get in till tonight?”
She shrugs and pushes off the wall to come and hug me. “I was able to get out of the office early, so I figured I’d surprise you.”
Wrapped up in the arms of my best friend, my entire body feels lighter. “It’s a good surprise. Coop is gonna lose it when we pick him up.”
We break apart, and Willow surveys the charred remains of the cookies. “So, what gives? You’re normally a pro in the kitchen.”
I grin. Despite the mess I now have to clean up, and the potential for how much worse it could have been, I’m not mad at myself. “I got inspired and was writing.”
Willow knows me well enough to just laugh. “Girl, when are you going to learn not to multitask when you’re in the zone?”
It’s my turn to shrug. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to write more today; I already sent four chapters to Carol. But this idea came to me and…” I trail off. If anyone knows what I get like when I’m in the writing cave, it’s Willow. She’s come to my rescue many times when I’m on deadline but still need to do simple things, like feed my kid and do some laundry.
“And you lost all sense of space and time until your smoke detector snapped you back to reality?”
I nod. “Yeah, basically. So much for cookies.” I stare disappointedly at the burnt mounds. “I wanted to surprise Cooper with them after school.”
Willow drapes her arm over my shoulder as she joins me at the kitchen sink, looking at the pitiful charcoal pucks. “You’re still a good mom, even if you burn cookies.”
