Page 32 of Sunrise Arrows

Out front, the shop is painted eucalyptus green with gold lettering above the door and vines of creeping blush roses reaching up and over in an arch. Inside, she used old brick pavers from around town for the flooring and has robin’s egg colored rugs layered on top. New releases, best sellers, and employee recommendations are showcased along a collection of salvaged fireplaces painted in ecru while the rest of the store’s supply is displayed on the shelves of China cabinets in the same shade of old world white. With its tufted armchairs and old window panes turned coffee tables showing pictures of past events and a complimentary afternoon tea service every day, her store is the kind of place a bibliophile could enter and never return from.

Case in point, the first time Briar and I came in, we stayed until closing, not realizing how much time had passed.

“Found it,” I celebrate, holding it up triumphantly.

Briar gives me a little cheer and a shimmy, her drink precariously in her hand as she starts digging around in her purse. “Got it!” she announces, waving her phone. A few seconds later, the tone of a video chat trying to connect rings, and then Skylar’s bright face fills the phone.

“Look!” we both shout, shoving her book baby into the camera. “She’s gorgeous,” I add, gently hugging the cover to my chest. “People are going toloveZander. I mean, seriously, ugh!” I swoon.

“Please, please,please,can we put him and Maddie on Tins’s socials?” Briar begs.

“No!” Skylar laughs. “I told you both, I did not want any help with this book. It’s why I used a pseudonym and have reminded you both—numerous times—to keep your lips zipped about it. I want to succeed on my own merit. Not with Tinsley’s name or mine launching it out there.”

“That and people would shit a sideways brick if they knew America’s darling was writing filthy, panty melting, morally gray, masked daddy smut,” Briar points out.

“That too.”

“Fine,” I pout. “But after begging Ember to get the book in-store, we’re buying copies.”

“You know, I can just, like, send you one for free.”

Briar and I look at each other—eyes rolled, brows raised, and matching scoffs as we shake our heads.

“It’s like she doesn’t even know us,” I complain.

“I know. Like we haven’t already pre-ordered from her website, online, and downloaded the ebook this morning.”

Her hazel eyes shine with tears and a smile tugs on her small, full mouth as she sniffles. “I love you guys.”

“We love you too!” we both chorus with Briar adding, “Come join us out here. You can watch Tinsley flounder about over Archer. Maybe get inspiration for a Small Town Era.”

Quickly adjusting in her chair, Skylar leans into the camera and asks with excited conspiracy, “Ooo, how’s that going? Has he seen the… you know?” gesturing along her boob.

“Of course not,” Briar answers in exasperation.

“Girl, what are you waiting for? Show the man your little talisman for him and he will be falling all over himself at having lost you and begging to be taken back.”

“Or he’ll run scared because I’m a psycho who got a tattoo of his name years after we broke up,” I hiss, checking to be sure no one’s around to overhear us.

Shoving my face out of frame, Briar spills, “She’s living in delulu land. He had a house built—an actual house, Skylar—on the lake where they used to spend their days in the very spot he told her he would. The spot he said would be wheretheirhome would be. It’s likeThegoddamnNotebookout here, except neither one of them will make an actual move!”

“That sounds so romantic. Tinsley, what is wrong with you?!”

“Apparently a lot.”

In the background of the video call, we can hear someone knocking on the door of Skylar’s trailer calling out that she’s needed on set in ten minutes.

She gives us a heavy sigh, her exuberance evaporating as she says, “Work calls.”

“Skylar, why did you agree to do the spinoff series?” I ask. “Your show was great, but your character grew up and went off to college. It was a good ending for you and the network. You got to ride the whole series out without cancelation, which is basically unheard of. There was no need for a new, older demographic storyline.”

“I know but…” She looks off camera, hand coming to rest on her chin before remembering her film makeup is on and taking it away. Her shoulders lift in a halfhearted shrug and she mumbles, “Everyone associates me with Hadley Quinn. The show wrapped a year ago and I haven’t been able to get a job since. So when they offered a spinoff on their new adult network after seeing how great this final season’s ratings are doing, I took it.

“Look, they’re waiting on set; I gotta go. Love you girls.”

“Love you too,” we both respond, blowing kisses to the camera before Skylar hangs up.

It’s stuff like this that makes me grateful for Briar. She’s my best friend now and when we first met was an intern at the label, but she’s become a shark of a manager. Always unafraid of getting her hands dirty and unleashing her inner boss babe when people don’t want to play ball. As her one and only client, she’s all about what’s best for me and my career and won’t back down from anyone, myself included, if they’re trying to hold me back or force me into a mold.

---