Page 48 of The Moment You Know

“He’ll still know it’s me, Jules. He knows my maiden name.”

“He might think it’s another person named Paige Clemons.”

“The cover of the book is a picture of me with Carter. He’s going to know. And what if he’s pissed to find out about Carter in a book?”

“Then he’s pissed. And that’s on him. Not you. You tried to talk to him about Carter, remember?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“I know you think this time will be different. But what if it isn’t?”

Paige sighed before saying, “I still have to try because I’ve written a book about it, which means it’ll be out there. And he could say that because I hadn’t told him exactly what I wanted to talk to him about, then he wasn’t able to make an informed decision. If I had told him, he might have talked to me.”

“He could’ve asked you what you wanted to talk to him about, but he didn’t. He basically told you to leave him alone. So, fuck him,” Jules said, then took an aggravated breath. “Seriously. How was he not the least bit curious? He should’ve known you wouldn’t want to talk to him about something not important.”

“You really wouldn’t tell him, if it was you?”

“No. Jesus H. Christ, no. And if you ask me that one more time, I’m going to throw my gimlet in your face. And then make you buy me another one.”

Paige overlooked the threat, knowing Jules would never waste alcohol. A glass of water perhaps, but not alcohol. “If I don’t tell him, I’ll always be worried he’ll find out and be blindsided and I don’t want that.”

“Fine. Then tell him. But be prepared for another shitty response.”

That night after dinner, Paige emailed David about the book.

David:

I know you didn’t want to get together and talk about Carter, but some things have changed and it’s gone beyond you not wanting to talk about it. I’ve written a book about him, which is set to be published in two months. I’m letting you know in case you’d like to read it because you’re in it, although your name has been changed. I can send you an advance copy on e-file, if you’re interested in reading it—and if you do read it and have any real objections to anything, you can let me know and we can discuss them. I’ll take them into consideration, but that doesn’t mean I will make the changes. I’ve spent several months writing this book and I’m very proud of it.

Paige

After another lengthy wait, she finally got a reply back and at the same time that it pissed her off, it also disappointed and confused her; she didn’t know this version of David.

Paige:

After thinking about this for several days, I’ve decided against reading your book, so you don’t need to send me the e-file. I trust you and have no doubt that it’s a good book. Even if I did read it, I would never ask you to change anything, so I think you should publish it as is. Thank you for thinking of me before you published it, but it wasn’t necessary. I wish you good luck.

David

When Jules read David’s response, her response rivaled the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that took out Pompeii. “I knew you shouldn’t have contacted him about the book,” she practically yelled.

“I knew it. He doesn’t want to read it? Um, he trusts you and thinks you should publish it … and wishes you good luck? Why is he being such an asshole? God, it’s like he’s been taken over by the pod people. Fuck him. I mean it. Fuck him.”

“Please, tell me how you really feel.”

Jules, almost crackling with hate, attempted to rein it in by taking multiple deep breaths before telling Paige, “Publish. Your. Book.”

So … Paige did.

The day The Moment You Know went live on Amazon in the Kindle store, Paige and Jules went out to celebrate.

“To going live!” Jules toasted.

“To going live!” Paige repeated, feeling oddly giddy. She might not sell a single copy, but she was technically now a published author and it meant something to her.

The next day, when Paige found out she’d sold her first paperback book, Jules made her go celebrate again.

“To your first sale!” Jules toasted.

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