Page 19 of Between the Lines

Her laptop was open, as it had been all morning. The manuscript was up and waiting, her notebook beside the laptop had two pages of thoughts scrawled on it.

She’d written a few sentences before she’d gotten up to clean, intending it to be a quick break. A chance to move her body, reset her brain, and come back with fresh eyes.

Only the break had stretched. That was the way of housework, though. You started wiping counters down and ended up changing the sheets on the bed and doing a load of wash while thinking maybe it was time to clean the oven.

She could feel the pull of the writing even as she’d done all that cleaning. The story just sat there, waiting patiently in a way people never did.

The part she’d been writing was tender and sharp at the same time, and she’d found herself slowing down, not because she didn’t know what to say, but because she did. And she didn’t know how to do it justice. Wasn’t even sure she could.

Cleaning gave her something to do immediately. A way to take a break while still accomplishing something. And, okay, maybe it was procrastinating a bit. But at least it was productive procrastination.

She turned back to the counter and ran her finger over the spot she’d been working on. The stickiness was gone. At least she’d tackled that.

Beau padded in and leaned his little body lightly against her leg, his quiet plea for attention. Blaise scratched behind his ears.

“I’m going back to work in a second,” she told him softly, as if saying it out loud would make it true. Well, it had to be true. The book wasn’t going to write itself.

Her phone vibrated again.

Blaise picked it up, expecting another message in the group chat. But this time it was an email notification. Her pulse ticked up before she could stop it.

She stared at the notification for a second longer, then opened it.

The subject line loaded, and Blaise forgot about the counters entirely. The response was just what she’d been hoping for. One of the publishers she’d queried had answered.

She clicked through, holding her breath.

The email was shorter than she’d imagined it would be. She exhaled. There was no flowery praise and no instant validation. Just a few careful sentences that she read twice, then a third time, slower.

They thanked her for the proposal. Said they’d read it with interest. Said they weren’t ready to make an offer, but they weren’t passing, either. That was a small win. They had questions and they wanted to talk. Possibly a phone call, if she was available.

Oh, she was very available.

Blaise sat down hard in a chair at the dining table.

Her heart was beating fast, but not out of control. This wasn’t the kind of excitement that sent a person spinning. It was enough to get her breathing hard, though.

She closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her palm flat to the table.

Not a yes. But not a no. That was still something positive.

She read the email again, this time paying attention to the tone. Very professional. Polite and curious, but the best part was it felt like they were taking her seriously.

Her first instinct was to text the group and celebrate. Share the moment the way Paige had shared hers, but this was nothing like Paige’s. This was a maybe, at best.

Her second instinct, which won, was to call Cece.

Cece would know how to read between the lines. Cece would know what questions to ask. Cece would keep Blaise from making a mistake, and she’d know what to do next.

Blaise picked up her phone and called, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything.

Cece answered on the second ring. “Hey, there. Please tell me you didn’t change your mind about the podcast.”

“No! Not at all. I just got an email,” Blaise said, the words tumbling out faster than she meant them to. “From one of the publishers. And it’s not a yes, but it’s not a no, and they want to talk to me, and I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next.”

Cece didn’t interrupt, but she did laugh softly. “Okay, breathe. This is good.”

Blaise exhaled. “I think so, too. I’m really glad you do.”