Page 41 of Will Bark for Pizza
On the listing, I scrolled down to the ranking.
ThenIsquealed.
Number nine.
Husker hopped off the bed and paced around it, his tail wagging. He didn’t know why we were excited, but he wasn’t about to be left out of the party.
“This is real?” I asked, my words almost a whisper. Tears threatened the corners of my eyes. How long had I hoped for this kind of success? It seemed like years since I addedmake the top tento my vision board. Back when I was a newbie author hardly anyone knew. My books did well, especially after that viral TikTok several months ago, but this was a whole new level.
“It’s real, babe! I’ve taken, like, a million screenshots.”
“How is this possible?”
“You mean, how is it possible your book is doing so damn well, besides the fact you have the best PA in the entire world doing your release marketing and running your ads? And before you ask, no, I have not gone over budget.”
I let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah, besides all that.”
“You might have blown up on BookTok again. I’ll send you the video.”
I pulled up my sales dashboard and nearly screamed. “Holy shit. I could buy another Jeep,” I joked.
“Keep this up, and you could buy your own fleet of Jeeps.”
Her words were a sucker punch to my excitement.
There wouldn’t be a next time.
There wouldn’t be another book, or another series.
I tried for months to write after my Dark Ages ended, and the few hundred words I managed to force from my fingers were garbage. I hadn’t attempted to write something new in almost four months. My characters wouldn’ttalk to me, and the ones who did were too bitter to redeem.
I closed my laptop, suddenly choking back tears.
I should tell Lila.
Iwouldtell Lila.
But this conversation deserved in-person care. “When I get back to Omaha, we’ll have to do a dessert date,” I said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Kira,” she said sternly.
“I’m just overwhelmed.” It wasn’t a lie, but it definitely wasn’t the full truth.
“You sure you don’t want me to come to Colorado?”
“No. I still have to finish my apology tour.”
“How’s that going, by the way?”
“You know? Better than I expected.” I told Lila about my long conversation with Grandma Connie out in the garden yesterday. There’d been fewer tears than I expected, and a whole lot more understanding. “Connor doesn’t even seem fazed,” I added, remembering my very brief and easy chat with him. “I can’t tell if Luke’s forgiven me yet. I feel like I’m on probation with him.”
“What about your dad?”
My chest tightened, and tears threatened all over again. I swallowed them back, and replaced the sadness with anger.
