Page 31 of Smoke and Fire
Keesha,
I’m sorry to hear about your child. No mother should ever have to go through that.
I’m wishing both of you the best and I am glad you’re enjoying the books.
Would you mind telling me what hospital you’re in? I’d love to send you something.
Jess
My heart leapt into my throat. Twice, I read the email. Did he . . . ?
He did.
I scrolled further, startled to see the email chain continued a week later with another email from Keesha.
Jess,
Oh my goodness, I can’t believe you sent me all twenty of your books.
I’m . . . I don’t really know what to say. I just stopped crying. I haven’t had any money lately and I’ve been re-reading the first one because I borrowed it from the library and it’s the only one I had. I’m wild for Rodrigo.
My son has been undergoing some procedures, so I haven’t been able to leave to check out more books.
It’s more than just the books, though. You took the time to sign and send all twenty of them. I can’t believe you’d do that. Thank you for caring when it feels like no one else really does.
Always your biggest fan,
Keesha
“No wonder everyone loves Jess,” I exclaimed under my breath, wiping away moisture that gathered under my lashes. “Criminy, Bastian. There’s a puppy dog under your iron mantle.”
Several moments passed while I fell into thought, wondering what it was like for him to coordinate sending twenty signed novels. He must have done it, because he didn’t have anyone that worked for him. Or did he? Did they quit? Did he have piles of romance novels hidden where he lived that he just mailed off to adoring fans? Which, I realized, I didn’t know about that, either.
Wheredidhe live?
Here, likely. Or was it? Maybe he had an RV too. Maybe he lived in basements and bounced around jobs. Maybe he lived in a tent in the forest and had a huge home thousands of miles away, in Lamu, Kenya.
You’re getting carried away,Inner Me sang.
“I know.”
I shook my head out of the mental spiral by creating my own signature as Jess’s Assistant Manager. Whatever that meant. At this point, I needed to resign myself to the inevitable. There would benoend to the Bastian mystery. I’d probably always have questions about him, the walking conundrum.
Sure made life fun, though.
My fingers hovered over the keyboard before I created a folder titled BASTIAN and filed a similar sort of email away for him to respond to in two weeks. I hunted for emails with questions I could answer without being Jess, but only found two.
Once I went to answer them, I stopped.
Hey Jess!
Hope it’s okay that I emailed.
Saw this email listed on your website and thought I’d give it a shot. I have no idea if you’ll even read it, but I had to send it and say thank you for your books. They’ve given me something to dive into and be excited about.
Quick question for you: in Rodrigo’s books, you mention that he’s from Spain, but don’t tell an area.
Can you fill me in? I’ve lived in Spain for the last five years and would love to picture him in the right backdrop.
