Page 61 of Plotting Summer

“It’s good to hear your voice,” he says, releasing a quick breath that makes my ear rattle.

“Same,” I say like my insides aren’t dancing some kind of tumultuous jig. “So what’s up?”

“I was sitting here thinking about our competition. How we never chose a winner before you left.”

That’s it? That’s what he wanted to talk to me about? My next inhale comes more easily though my body is now buzzing with anticipation. Surely this is a good sign, right? Maybe he’s gotten on board with the whole summer fling idea. “I’m extremely confident you won.”

“Well, hold off on making out that dedication page to me for the time being.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because it wouldn’t be fair to choose a winner before you have a chance to plan another date.”

I don’t miss the way he calls it a date instead of an outing. Another good sign. “That does make sense.” I pause as if I’m considering what to do. “I guess, for the sake of fairness, I’ll have to.”

“Any idea when it’ll be? Not because I’m desperate to see you or anything. I’m just curious.”

I laugh. It’s a mix of relief and excitement. If I could just bottle up Tristan to use for all my male characters, my books would sell like hotcakes. But now that I think about it, that’s basically what I’ve done and why my books do sell like hotcakes. My characters aren’t necessarily Tristan, but they each have pieces of him. Besides my first book. That’s all Tristan. Hence why it’s the readers’ favorite. “Considering the latest I can have the manuscript to my editor is July first and I have to get a few things done here, I’ll plan to head that way the afternoon of the second. So how about the third?”

“I’m in a meeting until four that day, but any time after that works.”

“Great. Whenever you’re done, I’ll be ready.”

There’s a lull in the conversation, but I don’t want to get off yet. I search my mind for another topic, but my hasty attempt proves unnecessary when his voice comes over the speaker again. “So, did you finally get to go on that date you were looking forward to?”

His question surprises me, but so does the way he asked it—like he’s not sure he’ll like my answer but still really needs to know. And I kind of love it. “Yeah, I did. It was actually pretty amazing.”

He’s silent for a whole breath cycle. “Oh. What’d you do?”

“You know—dinner, a movie, and ended the night with a bubble bath.” I’m doing my best not to laugh, but I can’t hold out much longer.

“You’re kidding, right?”

And there it goes, my laughter breaks free. “Mostly. The date I first mentioned was a celebratory tradition I do when I get a manuscript off to the editor. But with the timing of everything and my new deadline, I forewent the movie and settled for takeout from my favorite Cuban place along with a quick bubble bath. It was a party of one.”

He gives an airy chuckle. “You think you’re so funny.”

“One of us has to.”

We chat for a while about the buyers for the retirement centers and what my editing process entails when I hear Sandra step into his office and say something about a meeting.

“Sounds like you’ve got to go,” I offer before he says anything. “But I’ll see you in a week for our date. Get ready to have your mind blown.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“The kids are in bed,” Tala says on our way inside her house. “They wanted to stay up, but I wasn’t sure what time you’d get here.”

I glance at the clock on my phone. Whoa, it’s already nine-thirty. “Good call.”

She drops her golf cart keys in the drawer and looks at me. “You look tired.”

“That round of edits kicked my butt. I made my deadline by four minutes with a time-stamp of 11:56 PM to prove it.” I don’t mention it took another three hours to get myself to fall asleep after the desperate scramble to finish on time. I was hoping I’d crash, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on me. Then I spent all day today doing the stuff I’ve been putting off until my edits were done—like laundry and cleaning and packing.

Tala rubs a hand down my arm. “I’m sorry. But you did it! That has to feel amazing.”

I nod, unable to stifle a yawn. “Yeah. It’s always a relief to finally hand off my manuscript.” And completely nerve-wracking that the story’s basically stuck in stone from here on out. Though I can make a few minor changes when I go through my proofread.

“Are you feeling up to celebrating?”