Page 211 of Smoke and Fire
After all, hadn't they come all this way to form a connection with the author they loved? Maybe these women could get their goal after all. And benefit Bastian at the same time.
"Katrina," I called. "C'mere!"
She came around the corner, her bright cheeks a bit flushed. She couldn't hide her eager expression every time the door opened and she looked at it, as if she still hoped that Brooke would walk inside. Or maybe she really did want to meet Jess, and she thought that Jess might walk in and announce herself.
The panic and apology in her expression had faded into the warmth of mutual purpose and camaraderie.
"What's up?" she asked.
"I've been thinking about this whole situation. What if there's a way to make it so this isn't wasted? You know," I added hurriedly, "because Jess may not show up. All these women traveled so far to solve a mystery or to give their support, so I'd hate for that to feel misspent."
Could she hear the sudden nerves in my voice? Lizbeth didn't know that I'd confessed to knowing Jess. If possible, I wanted to keep it that way. So far, Katrina hadn't revealed me, but it would be an easy slip.
Katrina's gaze narrowed. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you're a filmmaker, right?"
"Right."
“And you’ve been filming this whole time anyway, right?”
“Yes.”
"Do you have your equipment now?"
"Some. In my bag."
"Seems to me," I drawled, "that Jess might be kind of shy about who she is. Or maybe afraid that her fans won't like her? Or approve of her? Or maybe she has some kind of social anxiety or something? So maybe we can use this as an opportunity to showher how much her fans love her. No matter what," I tacked on.
"Oh," she murmured. Understanding illuminated her gaze. "Interesting."
My eyes widened. "Seems like a great opportunity to make something new that's never been done before. Might mean alotto Jess, and also give these women an opportunity to confess their love for their favorite author? She might be more inclined to reveal herself if she has video proof of the kind of genuine readers she has."
Katrina's eyes glazed over. She blinked, came back into herself, and grinned. "That is an amazing idea."
Your best idea yet,Inner Me said.
Let's hope,I responded,that Bastian doesn't hate me for it later.
He could see it as a point of pressure, like I wanted to force him into revealing himself by showing fan support. That wasn't the intent, of course. Bastian had more support at his back than he thought.
Perhaps, if he saw it, he'd realize all the love his fans had for Jess and want to communicate with them more, evenasJess.
Katrina faded away. Another car parked in the grocery store parking lot across the street—our lot was long since packed—and four women rushed over. Lizbeth watched them with a sigh. Another round of titters came from the back room, then raucous laughter followed.
"Any updates?" Lizbeth asked quietly. Although she hadn’t said the wordfire, I could tell by the undertones of stress that's what she meant.
"Not that I've seen on my phone."
Lizbeth frowned.
The levity of all these Jess fans seemed to float around, nearly inextinguishable. Growing haze and smoke and wind made it impossible to forget what happened in the mountains north of us, no matter how much these women seemed immune to the fire. Although, I couldn't deny that the distraction felt nice.
I had intentionally avoided looking at the fire plume until I couldn't help myself anymore. By the time I glanced at the northern skyline, it was too late. Smoke had moved into the valley, obscuring anything more than 100 yards away.
Only the churn of the reservoir and the stores across the street were visible. My throat hurt. The scent of burning wood filled every single breath. The eerie light it created was like looking at the world through an orange glass. It lent a still, strange feeling to all of Pineville.
Meanwhile, the Jess crowd continued to mill inside and outside.
