Page 96 of The Now in Forever
Pulling out my phone to text him, my insides vibrate, and a soft wind blows over my legs. As if reading my mind, a text appears from him.
Had to take care of something. Be back soon.
CHAPTER 26
My grandma is in surgery. It feels like she’s already been there for hours, but the clock says it’s only been twenty minutes. I keep checking and rechecking my phone. Waiting to hear from Ed. Even checking my email.
The Drew Barrymore Showis playing softly on the little television hanging from the ceiling.
Drew is sitting in a beige chair, wearing suede red boots and a houndstooth dress, interviewing Keanu Reeves. It must be a rerun. He looks straight out ofJohn Wick. Drew shakes her head. “I’m a lover.”
The camera cuts to Keanu. “No, no. Because if you’re a lover, you gotta to be a fighter.”
“How so?” Drew asks, biting her nail, her fingers covered in jewelry.
“Because if you don’t fight for your love, what kind of love do you have?”
And it hits me like a hair getting yanked out at the root. Ed has never fought for me. Not when he was supposed to meet me ten years ago. Certainly not at the book signing when he didn’t even recognize me. Not when he saw me in the coffee shop in LA. Not when I suggested we not speak. And not when I walked away last night.Although he did come back, now he’s gone again. Probably having one of those meetings that would “keep.”
My phone trills in my hand. It’s a number I don’t recognize. Could it be Ed?
“Hello,” I answer, my neck tense.
“Hello, is this Hattie Stevens?”
“Yes?” I say, not able to help the question in my voice.
“Hey, this is Mandy Blackwell. We met at the party, and you sent your book last night.”
I turn offDrew, stunned.
“I hope you don’t mind me calling. I was just so excited. I love this book! And romantic speculative fiction is hot, hot, hot right now! Literally, I couldn’t put it down. I was so invested.”
Flutters sparkle up my spine. My heart fills like a child’s party balloon. She likes it. She really likes it.
“June is just a spitfire, and the whole triangle between Sam and Kurt is riveting. But I have to say, I’m Team Sam. The ending is all wrong.”
The party balloon pops.
“June can’t choose the safe, boring guy. She has to choose the man in the book. He gives her the tingles. This is a romance novel. We need her to end up with Sam. It’s not a Happily Ever After if it’s not with the man she really loves.”
“Well, but she loves them both.”
“Does she, though?”
There is a beat of silence, and then Mandy goes on. “She may in her head, but her heart belongs to one of them, and it ain’t Mr. Boring.”
She’s right.
“It’s your book, sweetie. If you want it to end this way, that’s up to you. But if you want her to choose Mr. Boring, we need more extensive rewrites.”
“No, you’re right. She’s in love with the man in the book.”
I can practically hear Mandy’s smile over the phone. We talk foranother half hour on ideas of how that ending could work. She’s going to send me her notes, and I’ll start on the revisions.
When we end the call, I’m both energized and exhausted. I need coffee, but not the hospital kind. I want an actual Starbucks latte, with my name scrawled on the side and extra foam. I check in with the nurse, and they say there’s still a couple of hours until Grandma will be back in the room. I make my way through the lobby and am about to head through the sliding doors, when a man stands in my way. I look up into a chiseled face and fiery green eyes.
“Ed! Where did you go?”
