Page 85 of Forever Endeavor

“I don’t have everything I ever wanted. I don’t have my best friend.”

Sonny stared in disbelief. “Whose fault is that? You chucked our friendship out the window, hit the reverse and backed over it repeatedly.”

Chad held up his hands and backed off. “Jesus, I know I’m a prick, okay? I’m sorry. Believe me, if I could take it all back, I would.”

Take it all back…?As the words sunk in, Sonny was struck by a lightning bolt of realization. What if Chad and Melissa hadn’t hooked up? What if Sonny hadn’t come home early from work that day and caught them in the act? Would he still be married to her? Would she still be screwing Chad behind his back? Well, fuck that. Because of what happened, Sonny was now free of them both. Maybe the hell and heartache he’d survived actually had its purpose. He was now stronger, more resilient, and open to new possibilities. Even more important, if he was still with Melissa, he would’ve missed out on Billie. “You know, I’m kind of glad things went down how they did.”

Chad’s eyes bulged. “You are?”

“It took me years to get to this point, but now I can see that you actually did me a solid. I’m lucky to be getting a second chance to build a better life. So, thank you.”

Chad scratched his head. “You feeling all right?”

Sonny took his own temperature. Nope, no fever, no clammy hands, no climbing heart rate. Not even the slightest tendency to bash Chad in the nose. In fact, he was feeling lighter than he had in years. “I’m done with being angry and blaming you because my life turned out different from what I’d planned.”

“Wow, man. I never thought—”

“In fact, you know what, Chad?” Sonny blew out a gust of breath, releasing the toxicity and ridding himself of the chip on his shoulder. “I forgive you. Doesn’t mean that I’ll ever forget what you did, but yeah, I forgive you. From now on, I’m only looking forward, not back.”

Billie

The realtor attached a SOLD sticker to the sign planted on the front lawn. Billie wasn’t the least bit sad. On the contrary. She was giddy with the rush of freedom and a fresh start. As the agent left, Carmen’s car pulled up. She got out to view the sign and nodded with approval. “Do my eyes deceive me, or do you have some real estate news to share?”

Billie beamed. “This memory trap is no longer mine. I accepted and signed an offer on the dotted line this morning.”

“Congratulations, Billie, that’s wonderful.”

“Thank you, it feels amazing. Now I can start to look for a place to really call home.”

“House hunting will have to wait because you won’t be around for a couple of weeks.” Carmen reached into her bag. “I brought over the details of your holiday book tour. Most of it will be done virtually, of course, but because the pre-sales have gone so well, we have planned several in-person appearances for you at Allure’s key booksellers across the Midwest.”

Billie scanned the whirlwind itinerary for dates, locations, and retailers. St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Des Moines, Detroit, Milwaukee, Madison. Nine cities in fourteen days? Wow, Carmen planned to put her through the paces. The vigorous schedule would mean a lot of miles on Billie’s car, but also a lot of Amethyst Jayde books being sold before Christmas.

“It’s the usual drill, an in-store reading followed by a book signing and the meet and greets,” Carmen said. “The publicity team is working on sending out the signage and advanced copies of the book to promote your appearance at each retailer, so all you need to do is show up and be your usual fabulous self. Think you can handle it?”

“Of course, I’m excited to hit the road. I’m already planning outfits to pack.”

One of Carmen’s bejewelled fingers shot up in the air. “Oh, dear, I’m sorry. I think I gave you the original schedule, not the revised one. Hold on.” She dug into her bag again. “Ah yes, this is it. We had a late bookseller come in after the schedule was made, but I assured publicity that you wouldn’t mind making one more stop.”

Billie quickly reviewed the new version, which appeared identical to the one she’d just read. “Um, this looks like the first sheet you gave me.”

Carmen flipped the page over and tapped a berry red nail on the reverse. “The addition.”

“Janus Lake? This has got to be a mistake. There isn’t even a bookseller in town.”

“No mistake. They’ve placed an order for five hundred advance copies.”

“Fivehundred? That’s more than one for every man, woman and child who lives there.”

“I don’t question the quantities, I just cash the checks,” Carmen said. “You’ll be doing the book signing at a local establishment called The Pelican.”

Billie grinned from ear to ear. “The Pelican isn’t a bookstore, it’s a bar.”

“It could be an underground gambling den for all I care. They bought a massive volume of books and Allure has assured the organizers that our author will make a personal appearance to promote sales.”

“Who put you up to this? Sonny?”

“I don’t recall the name on the order, but it wasn’t Sonny. Doesn’t mean that he won’t be there waiting for you, though,” Carmen said. “Merry Christmas, my dear.”

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