Page 29 of Storybook Christmas

“What’s up?” I chirp, forcing myself to sound upbeat. “Did your readers get their advanced copies today?”

“They did, but that’s not why I’m calling. I have some news.” She hesitates, and I sit silent as I wait for her answer. She’s always dramatic, so I’m guessing it’s nothing big. Then she says, “I’ve decided to go with another publishing house to print Fireflies Save Christmas.”

I choke out a cough, gasping for air. “What?”

“I’m moving publishing houses, Lacy.”

“You can’t. We have a contract.” I finally inhale.

“Wehada contract. Sutton & Sutton broke it when they didn’t send me my advanced reviewer copies in time.”

“But I sent you a new contract.”

Sage sighs. “Yes, you did, but I never sent it back, signed.”

“Oh, no.” My stomach plummets.

She’s right. In all the madness, I forgot to get that from her.

I can’t believe I overlooked something so critically important. And now, I’m up a creek.

Sage cuts into my thoughts. “You know what a mess that was for me and my readers?”

“I’m so sorry, Sage—”

“Don’t apologize, Lacy. I know it’s not your fault. It’s your bosses who don’t care about their authors or have an ounce of respect for you, me, and all the other women who work for them. I don’t need that anymore, and honestly, neither do you.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right on that one,” I concede, thinking about The Sutty awards tonight, which went to almost all men.

Sage groans. “I mean, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I’m sure you’re working, like always. That’s not okay.”

Actually, I’m probablynotworking because I’m going to be fired. Another wave of nausea rolls through me at the thought. Regardless, her point is valid.

And what am I going to do now?

The driver pulls up to my townhouse, and I mouth,thank youand give him a wave before stepping out of the car. I steady my voice when I say, “Sage, the Suttons are going to lose their minds.”

“You know what? Good.” She sniffs. “They are due for some humble pie.”

I look on my stoop to see Eleanor standing there under the porch light. She’s crying.

Eleanornevercries.

# # #

MY HANDS TREMBLEwhen I say, “I’m sorry, Sage, I’ve got an emergency, but I’ll call you back, okay? Bye.” I disconnect. Rushing up to my sister, I say, “What happened?”

Eleanor wrings her hands. “I’msosorry, Lacy. I acted horribly.”

I stop hurrying and approach her slowly. I’m glad nothing bad happened, and this is the first time Eleanor’s apologized to me in a while. When I’m finally face to face with my sister, I say, “Thank you. That really hurt.”

She looks down at her fidgeting hands. Eleanor also never fidgets. Her voice cracks when she says, “I wanted to keep the baby a surprise. But I understand that it’s not really about that. I know I’ve become distant.”

I nod, stepping around her to unlock the door and usher her inside. “You shouldn’t be out in the cold.”

When I walk us both to the living room and get her seated, I go to the kitchen and fix her a cup of herbal tea, orange clove, her favorite. For me, spiced eggnog.

When I return to the living room, I set my eggnog down and hand Eleanor her tea. After I take a seat beside her, I say, “What happened to us? You know you were like a second mother to me. Which I needed since mom’s all over the place.”

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