Page 30 of Child of Mine

Maybe between now and then you can get your story straight,Quinn huffs.

“Oh, hey, if there are any requests that will get the kids out of the studio, will you let me know?” He grabs a pad of paper and a pen from the counter. “This is my extension. Anything we can possibly shoot outside of the four black walls of that so-called set.”

“Will do.” Taking the slip of paper from him, I fold it and put it in my pocket. He turns to go and almost trips over Newton, one of the store cats.

“Whoa. There’s a cat in here!”

I have to laugh. “There are actually two.” I cross from behind the counter to pick up our little silver tabby and give him a kiss on the nose. “This is Newton. He’s a terror.”

After I set him on the floor, Newton proves me right. With a hop, a skip, and a jump, he claws his way up one of the bookshelf facades that my mom covered in carpeting. Walking Henry toward the door, I point out our long-haired tortoiseshell, arranged artfully in the display window. “That’s Desdemona. They’re both very popular with customers. She’s elegant, and he’s a clown.”

Henry just nods. “I see.”

The cats remind me of Abby’s and Tami’s excitement yesterday and the idea it inspired.

Tell him,Quinn and Izzy whisper in unison.

I should let him go, but I do as they say. “You know, I did have a little inspiration yesterday, if you have another minute.”

He pauses with a hand on the doorknob. “For the show?”

My face heats as Quinn mutters,Well,I’minspired to—

“For the show,” I say, cutting that thought short. “When I picked the brains of some of Lilah’s friends, I realized that we’ll be competing with video games too, on top of other television shows, which made me wonder: What if we took a page from gaming and make the show a contest?”

“Like the kids compete with each other?”

“Or they have to meet goals set by some sort of authority figure? Not an adult. That’d never fly with Carol.”

“Hm. I like it.” The smile that takes over his face reminds me of the first time I saw him.

Kiss him!You know you want to,Quinn sing-songs.

That would be completely inappropriate,Izzy says.

“Anyway, it’s just a germ of an idea…” I say.

“I think it’s great.” Releasing the doorknob, he rocks on his heels like he’s picturing possibilities. “Could be just the zip the show needs.”

“Also,” I continue, energized by his encouragement, “the girls got super excited about a friend who got to watch kittens being born. That tells me that learning about the real world could be a draw.”

Still nodding, brow furrowed, he paces the length of the shopfront. The light filtering through the windows highlights the gold in his curls. “How would those two things work together?”

“Well,” I say, a nervous laugh coloring the word, “I didn’t get any further than that.”

Instead of crossing back to the door, he settles in an armchair in the front reading nook and leans forward, elbows on his knees. “Let’s figure it out.”

“Um, well…” I scoot back to the counter and grab my notebook. Holding it up, I head back to sit in the other chair. “I did make a couple of notes.”

“You know,” he says, “when James asked me to deliver those letters, he shared that he was worried we didn’t have enough viewer suggestions to fill the first season.”

“Which might make changes more welcome?”

“Exactly.”

At that, we jump right in. Ideas spark back and forth. We finish each other’s sentences in an easy rapport combined with a more combustible something that has me rushing to get it all down. He scoots his chair close enough that I can feel the heat of his arm. When I remember to breathe, his familiar scent wafts into my nose, a perfect blend of cedar, sage, and some other thing that reminds me of that night on the balcony.

“Do you want to make the proposal, or should I?” he asks, breaking the spell.

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