Page 82 of The One With the Mountain Man

Jessica, the store owner, got up on the stage. "Thank you everyone for coming out today. I'm so sorry for the last-minute changes."

The crowd laughed, eyes pinging from Jessica to Marley.

"Welcome to an Afternoon with A.M. Quill. I know we're all dying to hear from our favorite author so without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, A.M. Quill."

Marley smiled and gave the crowd a short wave before sitting closer to the microphone. "Hello everyone. Thank you for having me. I know I've been a little, shall we say, reclusive lately, but it really, truly is good to see all of you today."

She was smooth, warm, electric as she and Jessica went back and forth. Jessica would ask a question about the book or a character and Marley would answer. At length. Then questions turned to her writing process and if she had any plans for what came next.

"Not yet. I'm solely focused on the last book in the series. I have no idea what my next project will be, but I have a feeling it will be another fantasy series because you've all been so lovely and kind."

"All right," Jessica said. "That ends the conversation part of the event. Next up is...Q and A!" The crowd burst into applause and excited chatter while Marley took a few moments to sip her water. I waited to see if she'd look over at me and when she did, I gave her a wink and a grin. She shot me a small smile back.

"We'll take questions from the journalists first, then the audience. Who wants first crack?"

All the reporters' hands shot up and Jessica pointed to a woman wearing a green blazer in the fifth row. She held a recorder in one hand and pen in the other, a smile lighting up her face at the chance to speak.

"I've read all your books and I noticed that there are three characters that seem to pop up in every series you write. Are Paris, Amos, and Montague the same characters as Belle, Axl, and Cage?"

I turned from the reporter to Marley and froze. She sat still as a statue, the color quickly draining from her face. Then she looked down, swallowed hard, a thousand different emotions crossing her face one at a time. I saw deep sorrow, a flash of a smile, crippling pain, and then finally, peace. She nodded once, took a deep breath, and plastered a fake smile on her lips.

It broke my damn heart. What the hell was happening?

"Yes, actually. But not in the way you think." She paused to take another breath and let it out slowly. I wanted to cross the damn stage and pull her into my arms because if anyone ever needed a hug, it was the woman at the microphone holding herself together by a thread. "Those three characters are based on real people." She forced an even wider smile as her eyes began to shine in the warm overhead lights. "I put them in every story," her voice broke and she sniffed, swallowing again, "I put them...in every story...as a way to keep them alive." The tears spilled over but she didn't bat them away.

A collective gasp went through the room and based on the wide eyes and covered mouths, this wasn't common knowledge.

"Georgie loved fairy tales, so Paris and Belle love fairytales. Moses was the gentlest giant. So quiet and smart and strong. So Amos and Axl have all those qualities. Adam was the troublemaker." She sniffed again, wiping her nose as more tears spilled down her cheeks.

Marley was in pain. Something she hid so well that I only saw glimpses of it before now. But I could see it all now. She was lonely. Lonely in that cabin, lonely on that stage, sitting with the ghosts of the friends she lost so many years ago.

I wanted to fill her life with love. Not to push the ghosts out but to give them more places to play. Just like Marley did with her stories.

"Maybe," she whispered into the microphone, "maybe that's why I can't write this book. In these stories they're alive. I get to give them adventures they can't have, will never have. And they're with me." Her voice cracked again as she broke into a sob. I started to move. She needed me. She needed the audience to disappear. This was private.

This was heartbreaking.

But then she took a breath and straightened her spine and I realized she chose to do this. Maybe she evenneededto do it.

She licked her lips and looked out over the room. "I know how the story ends. I know it all. And of all the stories I've written for them over the years, they would have loved this one the most. Especially Georgie." She wiped her cheek, shook her head, and looked up at a memory only she could see. "But when I sit down to write, it hurts. And I can't make myself do it because I don't want it to end for them. This adventure has felt so real and ending it feels like losing them all over again."

My feet were rooted to the floor beneath me as she turned and locked her eyes on mine. "I wasn't ready." She wiped the tears from one cheek, then the other. "But I think I am now." Then she smiled and it made my damn chest expand. "And then I'm going to write them a new adventure. And another. And another." She wiped more tears away. "I hope you all don't mind."

At the sniffles and gasps, I tore my gaze away from Marley. Everyone was crying. There wasn't a dry eye in the place. And then they started clapping. A few people jumped to their feet.

"We love you A.M.!"

Felicity hurried onto the stage with a wad of tissues. She was just as surprised as the rest of us as she came to stand beside me, pale and wide-eyed. "Whatever magic you're doing in that tiny town, keep it up."

"For the book?"

She glared at me, then waved towards Marley. "For her. There's something different. Good different."

The old Marley was lonely and sad. The new Marley was vibrant. Still sad, but healing. She'd done the same for me. She found the Jackson inside me and coaxed him out. We were good together.

So damn good.

"She doesn't have more of these events coming up does she?"

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