Page 43 of Feels Like the First Time
“Yeah,” Ali said, deciding to take her sister’s comment for what it was, an apology. “It could be something.”
And she needed something right then to go her way. Something good that was hers, and hers alone. Something that didn’t rely on anything other than her hard work and determination. No outside emotions, expectations, or qualifications.
Just Ali and her work.
“Open it, girl,” Loraine said.
Desperate to do something other than argue, Ali lifted the flap, which was already expertly torn, and glanced at Loraine.
“Okay, so maybe I peeked,” Loraine admitted. “But only because I knew how much this means to you. And if it was bad news, then I wanted to be able to soften the blow.”
Ali looked at the big breakfast and her palms went damp. “Maybe I’ll open this at home.” Over a bottle of Jack.
“But then you won’t have anyone to squeal with,” Loraine said.
Ali rested her steel-toed boot on the chair. “Do I look like a squealer?”
“Doesn’t matter, because I’m a great squealer.”
“So am I,” Bridget added, coming up behind Ali and resting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, don’t let us ruin this moment.”
Pushing down the frustration and hurt to deal with at a later date, when she was alone, Ali said, “No matter what’s in here, no one say anything to anyone until I contact Nolan.”
Bridget nodded.
Loraine grinned ear-to-ear. “I promise to keep my mouth shut until I get your okay.” And when Ali skewered her with athis is seriouslook, she added, “I haven’t said a word about you getting the cover, now have I?”
“The cover?” Ali choked. Loraine grinned. Bridget clasped her hands. And all of the stress from their argument vanished and a euphoric lightness filled her chest until she felt weightless. “I got the cover?”
“Well, Mr. Landon got the cover,” Loraine said, pulling out the contract and flipping to the page that talked about the shoot. “But they’re using his yard and the back of his house for the cover. And it says right here, ‘The Marshal piece will be in the foreground,’ she read, “and further down, look.”
Ali read the next line and squealed. “They are requesting the artist be onsite for some evoking words on her piece.” She clutched the papers to her chest. “They want me onsite while the shoot is happening!”
“That’s huge,” Bridget said.
And that was when Ali found herself squealing. Not a long, woo-girl squeal, but a little chirp of joy that refused to be held in. It felt so good, she did another one, until she felt her feet coming up off the ground. Loraine had lifted her up in a hug and was spinning her like a windmill in spring.
“Hawk is going to flip out,” Bridget said, and beneath all of her sister’s excitement, Ali sensed a small amount of longing. “He always said you’d do it. And you did. That’s pretty cool.”
“I couldn’t have done it if he hadn’t talked me up to Nolan in the first place,” Ali admitted.
She also couldn’t have done it if he hadn’t been willing to help her get all of her supplies up to Nolan’s place. And encourage her every step of the way.
Bridget gave a wistful smile. “That’s Hawk, though. Fiercely loyal until the end. Always offering his support and belief in people and always there for his friends.”
Ali wanted to argue that they were more than friends, but that would be ridiculous. Whether it was today or after Bridget finally decided to leave Destiny Bay, it was inevitable that Hawk would change his status.
And the sooner the better, because even though Ali was a master at pretending around those she loved, she was afraid that this game of pretend had turned too real for her.
Suddenly the victory didn’t feel complete. It wouldn’t until she was able to share it with her friend. She thought about calling him, then remembered he was avoiding her.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea for things to go back to being the same. Because she couldn’t imagine them being different right then.
Not if different meant losing her best friend.
***
In Destiny Bay, it turned out, promising not to keep one’s mouth shut did not limit the use of one’s fingers.
